Hands On Children’s Museum

Awesome place for the family to go for a couple hours. They have plenty to do inside for kids to learn and play at the same time and if it’s a nice day outside they have plenty to do outside. I really enjoyed it with my daughters who are 4 years old.

We love this place and can’t rave enough about it! Not only is it super clean and engaging for the kiddos, there are indoor and outdoor play areas that feature a wide variety of themes! The café inside also offers yummy and affordable snacks. We bought a membership after going the first time, knowing our daughter would insist on going back frequently (which she does – it’s one of her favorite places in the world)! Highly recommend this place if you’ve got littles and are in the Olympia area.

I was very excited to come here with my niece and nephew. We had so much fun! It’s amazing how much stuff there is to do!

Oh what a fun fun place to take your kids where they can have fun and release some built up energy. I’ve always heard what a great Children’s Museum this was, and always wanted to take my kids here but was deterred due to the costs of admissions. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind paying, but when you have a Children’s Museum that is closer to home that is pay what you can, I usually go with that choice. Especially when you have a family of 6, admissions fees can get pretty steep. But after visiting this museum, I can see why. This place is huge with a lot of different areas for your kids to have fun and enjoy themselves. Even my 13 year old was having fun, and that says a lot since he thinks he all grown now ;)
The facility is two stories with a lot of imaginary play on both floors. They also have an outdoor area as well. I didn’t visit the outdoor area as much with my 2 year old but my 10 and 7 year old had a ton of fun outside. It also has several different rooms where they host activities and art projects. When we went they had a rat, bunny, and goat that the kids can visit and touch in one of the rooms. Although this place is pretty big, I can only imagine how busy and crowded it can get during the weekends. We went on a Friday (spring break no less) and it was pretty crowded.
My family will definitely be back again. Our first visit, I found a Groupon which is one of the reasons why I decided to take the kids. However, the next time we come, I will definitely take advantage of their annual memberships, especially with the costs of admission. Here are the prices below:
ADMISSION PRICES
General admission (2 – 64) — $ 11.95
Military w/​ID: $ 9.95
With that said, if you have a big family like I do and plan on visiting more than twice a year, I highly recommend getting the membership. It will pretty much pay itself after 2 visits. They have several different types of memberships but here’s the basic:
MEMBERSHIP PRICES
Basic family (All member benefits for two named adults and named dependent children in the household (up to age 17): $ 135
Military family All Basic Family Member benefits. Must provide current Military ID at the time of purchase: $ 95
The museum also has a parking lot besides it which charges $ 1/​hour. But be prepared, cause your kids can stay here for HOURS and not want to go home. I literally had to drag out my 7 and 2 year old cause the other 2 were getting hungry ;)

I could write a ten page review and still not be able to convey how awesome this museum is. Activities for kids of all ages! My six-​year-​old niece had a BLAST. The wind tunnel room could have entertained her (and the adults!) for hours alone. LOADS of interactive exhibits, both indoor and out: sculpting, silk screening, BUGS!, a stage w/​costumes for dressing up, a place to build your own sailboats and race them, a room that measures how loudly you scream, a veterinarian’s office complete with stuffed animals in cages that you can get out and play with, x-​rays!, a fake market with food you can «sell», the list goes on and on… and that’s just inside! Actually, that’s probably just the upstairs… such a cool place, definitely worth a visit, and in an AWESOME location. You’ll definitely get your money’s worth.

Best Children’s museum we’ve been to. So cool that our kids from 11 years old down to 3 years old all could spend the day here. We became annual members on our 1^st visit.
This place is Great in every way!!!

A must for kids 3 – 10. My two never want to go home and they always go to bed exhausted on visit days.
The smaller ones can easily get lost in the fold on the weekends or super yucky weather days as this place can get very busy. Older kids can easily get bored, unless they enjoy the art room. A lot of set-​ups are just too small for kids after 9 or 10 years.
The toddler and preschooler area is clean and has several things to do. My little one (age 3) loves the Lentil and play-​dough tables. The natural tree slide up there is a big hit as well.
The coat room can often get crowded with strollers, but so-​far-​so-​good with items being where you left them when you return.
Bathrooms are centrally located in the same place on both floors and can be quickly accessed from pretty much any spot in the museum. I’m always amazed at how clean the bathrooms are for how many kids go through this place each day.
Damaged toys/​displays are removed/​fixed pretty quickly and the museum is very clean for a children’s attraction.
Prices are pretty high for a single trip. It’s definitely worth-​while to get a membership if you’re local and have kids in the right age range. A family membership in a two child household pays for itself ridiculously fast.

This place is Amazing! Two levels to go completely Bananas in. This place has it all… water activities, climbing trees, air tubes, and best of all emergency service vehicles! The fire truck and coast guard helicopter were so much fun I had to be Dragged Out.

We had so much fun! Came on New Years which was not smart lol, very busy. But I understand why! Such an amazing place we had so much fun! Defiantly will be back !

Super fun, clean, friendly and safe.

This is the BEST children’s museum in Washington! Great for toddlers! We joined and use our membership all the time!

This place is awesome. If I lived here Id buy a membership. Out toddler had a super time and so did our whole family. Aunts and Uncles included. This could be a multi day trip.
Café could use some more options, but overall the best kid place ever!!!

The staff was very friendly and kept the place organized and fun! My kids love this place. We will be coming back!

I have three kids: 11, 8, 7 (all boys). I feel they’re too old for this museum, it’s not as much of a learning experience as it would be for younger kids.
My kids did enjoy it though. They liked the emergency area that had helicopters, firetrucks, and police cars to sit in. They were able to paint a castle in the outside area and run crazy through the nests.
There were staff members everywhere to help. And little benches placed in every play area for parents to sit :)
I probably wouldn’t take my kids again, only because they are too old. But if I have a day out with my younger nieces and nephews, I would definitely take them. I would recommend this museum to kids 2−5yrs old.

My 3 ½ year old daughter LOVED this place! Her favorite places to play was the grocery store, the house, the restaurant, and the stage upstairs. We had a hard time pulling her away from the grocery store to go see anything else. LOL We also loved the fact that they don’t let adults come in without children. My Mom and step dad came in after we did and they asked where their child was, they said they were meeting myself, my husband, and their granddaughter. They walked them into to make sure which I thought was wonderful and was glad my daughter was safe and so were the other children.
Wished we had a place like this close to our home in CA. We would come often. Will definitely be coming back when in WA again.

I have 20 month old and we have been coming here since we moved here a few months ago and bought a membership. I work part time so on my days off I usually end up here Thursday and Friday mornings from 10 – 12 so I don’t have too much experience with other days or times during the week but I can say that it is always quite busy on Fridays much more so than Thursdays. And I refuse to come here on the weekends because I know better. I have been here a few times on the weekends. Saturday they have members only hours from 9am-​10 but it still gets pretty packed not too long after 10. So save yourself the annoyance on the weekends and do something outside with the family!
With that being said, this place is phenomenal. The activities are endless and I can see us really growing with this place as my child gets older. I am very impressed with the staff and the facilities. Let it be known that the staff aren’t babysitters. They aren’t a replacement for the parental unit. Be responsible for your own child. Make sure your child watches out for the little ones (like mine) so I don’t have to reprimand your child for you. Because if you are sitting in the corner on your Phone updating your Facebook status about what a great mom you are for spending quality time with your child then I will have to do your job for you to protect my small single offspring.
If you move here and have small children, the deluxe membership is worth it. You can also buy a yearly parking pass which is worth it if you come more than once a week. Also parking is cheaper if you use the meters and not the back parking lot.
They have a small room with lockers (cost a few bucks), coat rack, and shelves to put your diaper bags. You can also leave your stroller in this room because you won’t want to maneuver it through the museum so bring your baby carriers if you have a tiny baby and you need to chase after your older children. I always bring a small cross body messenger bag to keep my wallet/​phone on me and just leave my diaper bag (with nothing valuable in it) on the shelf in this closet. I see way too many moms shlepping around a heavy bulky diaper bag while trying to chase their children and play with them. It does not look fun.
They have a great little deli and eating area if you want to have lunch here. You are also more than welcomed to bring your own food from home which I think is pretty amazing. Just leave your lunch boxes in the coat closet!
I cannot say enough amazing things about this place.

We drove from Seattle based on all of the rave reviews. We’re so glad we did. Our 4yr old was there over 2hrs and he didn’t want to leave. There was so much for the kids to do that they can easily be there for 4hrs. I’d recommend eating before going so that the kids can play longer. If not, there are some good restaurants on the water very close by. There’s grassy areas so you could bring your own food and have a picnic. Well be back!

I recently went to the Hands On Children’s Museum with my son’s Kindergarten class as a chaperone, and he had a blast! I tried to show him as much as I could, but he got fixated on what he wanted to do so I just went with it. My daughter and her friend have gone there quite often – probably 8 or 10 times – and they don’t get tried of it.
They are open 7 days a week, and the weekends can understandably get pretty busy. There are Members Only hours on Monday and Saturday mornings. Membership pays for itself in a few visits. First Friday night of the month, it’s free from 5 PM to 9 PM, so you can try before you buy.

Well worth the price for a membership if you live in the area. My son played non stop for 3 hours. We could have stayed all day. I found prices for food to be very reasonable. It’s a very busy place so don’t come if you have a splitting headache.
I love that they offer lockers and a coat rack. You can bring food from home and have a picnic. Overall a very nice affordable outing!

Since we moved to the Seattle area from Portland a few years ago we have been missing the great children’s museum that Portland has. We tried the one in Seattle once and found it to be a bit grungy and old. The one in Factoria in a shopping mall wasn’t much better. While exploring on Unilocal one day, I noticed the great reviews for this relatively new museum and we decided to drive and check it out… It’s amazing!
The entrance fee is a little steep for a family of four which makes a membership quite worth it since it pays for itself in four visits (closer to three if you count the fact that they give you three free one-​time guest passes with the basic family membership). The hour and a half drive from Seattle’s Eastside is a plus since our two year old typically naps.
This museum is really exemplary though, I know some other reviews mention that it gets crowded but it is nothing like what the museum in Portland used to get with neck to neck children in some of the popular areas. Yes, it is busy but everything is quite clean and it is perfect for both our 2 year old and 7 year old. Our 2 year old loves the water table and train exhibit downstairs while our 7 year old loves the craft area upstairs where she did screen printing (one of the one time tasks they rotate) and played with modeling clay. It is nice that there are areas that they can both enjoy such as the vegetable garden/​grocery store when you enter the museum with our 7 year old practicing her math behind the cash register adding up the cost for the basket her brother has gathered and the 2 year old enjoying identifying the fruit he has found.
I do wish this museum was located closer to home but we’re all so excited to have found a spot that is a new favorite on our household.