Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum

Such a great place to bring your littles! Well worth the $ 99 annual pass. Lots to keep the kids entertained and tons to learn! The presentations they do are so fun and the free workshops for the kids are awesome!

This was a great find. Lots to do for kids 1 through 10. We were visiting from out of town. A lot of locals go here. Worth taking a short trip up here if you are ever visiting Reno with young kids.

Always plenty to do and always a variety to do ! This museum never disappoints my active toddler or my husband ! Plus how can you beat half of Wednesday’s after 4 pm?

I been to a lot museum in California. From science museum to natural arts. So I kind of been ignoring this one. It was until last week at my daughter friends party that I actually visit this one. And might I say I was impressed. Seeing history seeing creativity and seeing discovery. Don’t miss out and discover what in downtown area.

What a find! Give your kids and wallet a break from the carnival games and let them engage in some intellectual play. Thank you Circus Circus for the tip on this engaging children’s museum. Though I goofed and left our two for one admission coupon in our hotel room, our visit was worth every cent. We braved the cool temps and icy sidewalks to walk. Once inside, we were greeted warmly by the volunteers and cashier. We received a military discount for the whole family since my boyfriend is a veteran. The cashier even sweetly thanked him for his service. We were directed to the self-​serve coat check and then made our way to the various exhibits. Almost every exhibit is interactive and many include digital elements. We learned more about Nevada’s history and enjoyed the newest exhibits, Monster Fish and Inside Out: An Anatomy Experience. My daughter and boyfriend especially enjoyed Da Vinci’s Corner and The Shop where they were able to work on Rube Goldberg machines and other contraptions. Though a volunteer was kind enough to review bus routes with us, we decided to walk to back to our hotel after a few hours here.

We try to make it weekly. They are doing a great job expanding and keeping things interesting!

Thought of spending an hr inside here for my 6yr old, but, its sooo amazing that, am gonna spend a day here! Love this place.

Let out your inner kid and play!

Tried to attend Halloween event today, that I was sent on line invite for. Advertised as 3pm-​8pm. No mention of special hours for this person or that person. Was turned around at door. Told only «members» could come in now, we could come back in two hours. Same thing told to other families that were behind us. Three kids in tow… in full costume mind you… and told to leave. What??? Then was told, if I buy a membership I my children could come in. $ 99.00 being the least expensive option. So, $ 99 and admission to not have to come back.
I showed the staff the invite and online info… no where did it say after 5 pm.
No Thanks! I had my daughter’s birthday party there and that was almost $ 600.and not a large party! I thought that was pricey, but ok with it. This just upsets me. Just rude. Especially to turn children away. I felt horrible as I brought another parent along with their child and I pushed this as a great idea… then has to explain to three children why we couldn’t go in. Pfffttt. Will not be attending functions in future due to way they handled the situation.

This place was amazing! Has to be one of the absolute best children’s museums we have ever been to… and we’ve been to a lot in both small and big cities. Huge play room for little-​littles and tons of stuff for toddlers on up to do. Lots of interactive things. The climbing and water were by far the biggest hits, but all of it was great.
Truly a great asset to the Reno community. What an excellent job of planning and maintaining.
They did give us a military discount. I don’t remember how much, but be sure to ask at the desk if this would apply to you.

We LOVE The Discovery Museum. We finally bought an annual membership ($ 99) and have already been so many time since August (it’s September as I write this) that the membership paid for itself.
There’s a dining hall with tables and chairs, a variety of vending machines, refrigerator, microwave, and sink. We pack a picnic lunch and eat there. It closes 15 minutes before the museum closes so keep that in mind when you decide to take a snack break.
We have two daughters, nine and six years old, and a year old son. We can let our son toddle in the «Five and Under» room while the girls explore the shop, art room, camping room, cloud climber, or any of the many other exhibits. It’s a safe and fun learning environment that never gets old. b This is a great place to visit, particularly when the weather gets too extreme in either direction to be out.
As members you also get exclusive invitations to events and 15% off the museum store which has AWESOME learning toys and general fun stuff. If you’re local to the Carson area, this place it much bigger than the Children’s Museum (which is nice in its own right, but you really can’t compare). Make the trek to Reno! You’ll be thrilled you did.
Notes: super stroller friendly. Changing tables available in bathrooms, separate from the handicap stalls, spacious. Toilets DO NOT auto flush (in case your kid hates that, they’ll be happy here ;) Everything is interactive in the museum, kids can touch pretty much everything here.

The discovery museum is a fun place for children to go that is indoors. There is a toddler room called Little discoveries for children who are too small to climb on the big cloud in the center of the building. It seems to fit all ages from two years of age and up.
I had to change my review for the five-​star to three-​star for a few different reasons. As I walked in The staff at the front seemed friendly. After telling them how many children I had they gave me a price that I’m not normally used to. I don’t know of the Price increase. It was crazy at the discovery museum today.
I feel with $ 10 entry fee for everyone is unreasonable. Especially for the adults because they normally just sit around and make sure the children are safe. They walk around with their children making sure they are treating the materials appropriately.
As I was paying after I found out it was $ 10 per person. I gave them my payment of $ 100 bill. They looked at me crazy and asked if I had another source payment and I replied to them now I do not. They then said that they will most likely not be able to break that amount. Even though I brought five people with.
I am not sure if the year pass is still $ 85. If it’s $ 85 then it’s worth getting because if you come three times it pays for itself. But I’m not sure if they raise the price on the year membership either.
I highly recommend if you are coming to the Discovery Museum to call ahead of time. Find out exactly what the prices are for that day. Also make sure they aren’t planning huge field trips.

$ 10 per person both kids and adults. Look for a coupon or discount if you have a large family. I had gotten a room at Circus circus and was able to pay for two people for the price of one.
I really enjoyed it here. I felt like I was able to play along with the kids and not be totally bored. My favorite was the light version of the etch a sketch. Blinky pretty lights can do no wrong. The kids will absolutely be drawn to the downstairs section which has the water table and the clouds that you climb all the way to the ceiling.
My three year old likes running from room to room. There was always something he could play with while the 7 seven year old tried learning something. I enjoyed the shop room where you were encouraged to build something, and with real tools! I liked the science room and could spend all day on those mind benders.
It’s a great place for kids to learn and interact and definitely a great place to beat the heat.

Dad gives it 4 stars.
Threenager gives it 5 stars.
Dad wins.
Honestly we love this place and I would give it 4.5 stars if possible. It excites my little one’s imagination and curiosity, and the only thing that stops her is sheer exhaustion. The staff is always friendly, encouraging, and knowledgeable.
If you have no problem letting your little one explore, LET THEM… follow, answer questions, enjoy their excitement and curiosity, and encourage manners please. We always see the parents who are overbearing and controlling of every move… those are the parents and kids who are miserable there. If that is you, stay home and read your kids a book.
My ONLY complaint is that sometimes some of the experiment tables and exhibits are always missing critical pieces. But, I can’t imagine how much staff it would take to keep track of everything at every minute (hello parents, this is where you come in).

So much fun! The Discovery Museum reminds me of the Exploratorium in San Francisco, on a much smaller scale of course. There are many hands on activities that are both entertaining and educational.
I was lucky enough to get to check out the place during a super fun Unilocal event, which meant no children. If you are like me and the little ones scare you away be sure to check out their website for the adult only nights.

I’m surprised by how good the reviews are of this place, I was very disappointed in the staff and the facility. For what they charge as much as the San Francisco Children’s museum for admission and they are about the size of a walk in closet.
I came in to ask about the spring break day camps for my older child, the people at the front desk were confused and unable to answer my questions, they had a staff member call me later, which was with in 10 minutes. I still feel like they seem disorganized.
My three year old was having a great time playing on and in all of the the exhibits, she loved the arch exhibit and the river exhibit, that was until a herd of field tripping giants (I say giants because they were all as tall or taller than me, I’m 5’10) came and literally pushed her and other small kids out of the way, the staff and chaperons seemed oblivious to the aggressiveness of these kids, they took over everything and made it impossible to enjoy anything. I’m sure my daughter would have LOVED the climby thing in the center of the building, but it was over run with really really big kids, she didn’t even have a chance to try it out.
I understand that a place like this is hands on and that it is prone to field trips but these kids were all at least ¹³⁄₁₄ and had no business taking over and climbing on EVERYTHING, more than one of them made my daughter cry, they ruined the entire experience, we stayed about 30 minutes, which is ridiculous based on what I paid. I would have appreciated some warning about this before wasting my time and money and gravely disappointing my child.
I’ve taken my kids to several children’s museums, this one is by far the worst, that includes the entirely community run and sponsored by local business children’s museum in Stockton, Ca (has far more hands on activities and a staff that is actually aware of what’s going on)

I have been wanting to check out this place because I’m a nerd like that. I live for museums and conventions and pretty much everything in between (except haunted houses!)
I was checking their website when I came across the «Science of Chocolate» on their event page. It piqued my interest so I posted about in on the Talk and even added it to the event page… because who doesn’t like chocolate, right? Well, it was a bit of a let down. I somehow expected it to be a full exhibit on how chocolate was made and other interesting things. What it really was: a table with three different brands of milk chocolate and a staff/​volunteer asking you to describe the difference between each brand after sampling it. Did you know that the first ingredient in Lindt’s and Hershey’s milk bars is SUGAR? And you know what they say about ingredients order, whatever the product contains the most of, that is what’s listed first!
The other exhibits weren’t too bad. I really liked how hands-​on everything was. My inner kid was excited to explore what they have to offer. They also have some cool stuff you can take pictures with and I am so glad Jeanie decided to meet up with me here. I got to take a picture under a giant tire. The car enthusiast in me was beyond excited :)
I also like their sense of humor… a heart dissection demo for Valentine’s week? Why not?! I’ll spare you the gross pics though: P
$ 4 after 4pm on a Wednesday is a great deal and free parking too!

One of the best places for kids in Reno that I have come across. The munchkin loved her visit here and then some. She wanted to let you know she rated it a 1000 on a 1 – 10 scale.
The staff was very friendly and open to working with kids in a way that only those that love children are able to. They all had a lot of patience and were open to repeating themselves lots of times. the guys in the craft making shop were doing yeomans work as well. The folks in the inventon area discussing and showing how electrical things work was very Kewl as well.
The facility itself was very clean for the number of visitors that they get to say the least. I really appreciated that aspect of this museum a lot as well. The bathrooms and water fountains were also nice and clean.
They had a lot of typical children’s science discovery museum style places. However they also had a lot of specific things to the history of northern Nevada. So I was able to learn a lot about things that I hadn’t known about as well.
This was absolutely a great place to visit and if you have kids and are in the Reno area, you need to come here.

I enjoy going to places that cater to children the way I love sorting recyclables and having week old beer soak my socks. Even as a child I hated Disneyland. Every so often my children beg to go to one of these kid places like Chuckee cheeses or bounce land, and I want to go to these places the way I want to experience a North Korean prison. Pretty low on my priority list. Did I mention how much I dislike these places?
However, there’s one place with a focus on children that I don’t mind visiting, in fact I look forward to it. The Terry Lee Wells Discovery Museum; it’s an amazing place. It is beyond fun. We’ve had a family membership since they opened and we have milked that thing for all it’s worth!
They have Nevada specific activities, science experiments, art, tactile learning, group activities, seriously there’s just too much to list. You should just trust me.
There’s stuff for the wee little ones to do as well. Not only do they have a toddler specific room, they have Small Wonder Wednesday – the museum opens an hour early for families with children 5 and under. This is such a cool idea because as anyone with a toddler knows they’re all psycho and exude traits of potential serial killers, so getting’em in early and tiring them out for nap time is the best idea in the history of ideas.
I love the Children’s museum; even when I have to de-​shoe to go find children that have disappeared into the recesses of the cloud (has anyone else had to do this or am I the only one that has children with selective hearing) I really don’t mind, I mean, it’s actually a good excuse to climb up there. My loathing of children’s specific places simply doesn’t translate here. This place rocks. It is one of those rare places that’s worth its weight in naps…

I’m old, but I still act like a 2 year old most of the time. If you don’t believe me, just ask Ashley. I’m sure it’s not always appropriate, but I can’t help myself. There’s something fun about that youthful innocence that allows you to explore the world free of societal norms and constraints. And of course, I like seeing people’s reactions to whatever I’m doing!
Well, thankfully for me, and others like me, there is a place where this type of Tom Foolery is totally acceptable and even encouraged! #SocialScience at The Discovery is when you get to unleash your inner child and run rampant at the museum without the kiddos!
Fuel up for fun with tasty bites from Whole Foods, enjoy local beer or wine (two included with admission!), and feel completely free to explore the entire museum! Tap away feverishly on the interactive mining game as you search for the motherlode! Jump up and down on the seismograph in an attempt to make the biggest earthquake! Believe me, the people eating below you will think it’s real! Power up the Reno Arch with your own pedal power. They even let you Climb up into the clouds!
But #SocialScience is a lot more than just the cool exhibits. Behind every corner there are interactive experiments and demonstrations too! We shook it like a polaroid picture while making own ice cream, watched bubbles filled with dry ice burst into vapor in the palms of our hands, and even saw a fire tornado swirl furiously for a few seconds!
I was amazed at what The Discover put together for this event, and might go so far as to say this is one of the best times to be had in Reno. It’s $ 20 for non-​members, includes two drinks, food, and 3 hours of amazing fun! You’ll leave feeling like a kid again! I’ll see you there next month!