16 best American museums to visit with kids

Elisa Elwin
February 2, 2023

Take your kids and family on an educational adventure at these top 16 American Museums. Create memories and broaden horizons together.

From fossils to the future, the US is bursting with exciting and educational museums. Here are 16 of the best.

The United States is an incredible destination, offering many activities for children: theme parks and unique experiences. But for those looking for a more educational and fascinating experience, we’ve compiled a list of the best family-friendly museums nationwide.

Here’s a look at a different side of the USA, with 16 fascinating museums for kids in the U.S. that will keep kids – and their parents! – intrigued for hours.

1. Pretend City Children’s Museum, California

Combine a trip to Disneyland Resort in California with a visit to the nearby Pretend City Children’s Museum, which features a small, interconnected city. It’s designed to “build better brains” through 17 interactive exhibits and activities that encourage purposeful play, hands-on learning experiences and role-playing.

2. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC

See the Wright brothers’ first plane, the third space shuttle to fly into outer space, and touch a lunar rock sample at this museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft. The museum commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing this year, with Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit showcased in a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled display case specially created to protect the iconic outfit.

3. The Empire State Building Observatory Experience, New York

Learn about the history of the famous Empire State Building, from construction through to its current place in pop culture, as you make your way to the 86th floor observatory. The revamped galleries on the second floor include a black and white panoramic photo of the site in the 1920s, cast sculptures of construction workers, and the voice of a newsboy announcing the opening of the building as he sells papers on the street in the 1930s.

4. The Natural History Museum, California

Step back in time and discover a lush continent full of trees, giant amphibians and dinosaurs at the Antarctic Dinosaurs exhibition at The Natural History Museum in LA. One of the city’s oldest cultural institutions, it has more than 35 million specimens and artefacts on display. Kids can pretend to be a palaeontologist in the Paleo Play Zone in the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Discovery Center, marvel at the variety of bugs in the Insect Zoo, and check out mini dioramas.

5. Museumlab, Pennsylvania

Children aged 10 and over can use cutting-edge technology to create everything from furniture and interactive art to apps at this museum created by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. It all takes place in the former Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny, right next door to the Children’s Museum.

6. Seattle Children’s Museum, Washington

Imagination comes to life at this museum, which has a construction zone for budding builders, an eye clinic where kids can take turns being a patient or doctor, and a global village where they can sail the seven seas, create an African drum circle and pretend to be a master sushi chef in Japan. It also offers daily programs including plays, story times and art classes.

7. Space Center Houston, Texas

Kids can dress up in an astronaut suit, see real samples of moon rocks and other artefacts collected on space programs like Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, and check out the space simulator at this terrific Texas museum. There are more than 400 things to see and do, including getting up close and personal to NASA facilities and astronauts!

8. The Museum of Northern Arizona

Star Wars fans can see works by Native American artists who were inspired by the franchise in The Force Is with Our People exhibition, which runs until March 2020. They include a working R2-D2 replica designed by a Hopi artist and a nearly life-sized storm trooper etched in native designs. The Flagstaff museum has four festivals each year, including the Day of the Dead Festival and Navajo Festival of Arts and Culture, in which kids have the opportunity to take part in Indigenous craft and workshops and watch puppet shows.

9. The Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai’i

See ancient Hawaiian and ancient Polynesian artefacts at this cultural institution, which includes a large science centre where kids can learn about native Hawaiian animals, volcanoes, natural weather events, the ocean and more. Alongside the museum, the J. Watumull Planetarium immerses the audience in the night sky, travelling from Hawai‘i to Tahiti by the stars.

10. The Doseum, San Antonio, Texas

Kids can don a fake moustache and trench coat before taking part in covert missions and breaking codes at the Spy Academy exhibit, and role play at Little Town, which includes a child-scaled supermarket, vet office and airport. They can also experiment with light and sound at Sensations Studio, which features a DJ station and lasers, and learn to build at the Innovation Station.

11. The Orlando Science Center, Florida

Wannabe scientists can take part in a dinosaur dig, visit the observatory and delight in the KidsTown interactive play area for little ones aged seven and under, at this four-floor museum. It also has exhibits about Florida wildlife, art and the planet. It’s a definite must to add on to any trip to the nearby Walt Disney World Resort.

12. US Olympic and Paralympic Museum and Hall of Fame, Colorado

Located in Colorado Springs, this is a one-of-a-kind tribute to Team USA’s athlete journeys and the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. An inspiring visit for the whole family. Kids can try interactive sports demonstrations, see Olympic torches dating back to 1936, and converse with an Olympian or Paralympian at the Ask an Athlete Artificial Intelligence exhibit.

13. First Americans Museum, Oklahoma

A museum celebrating the shared history of the tribal nations in Oklahoma opened in Oklahoma City in 2021. Affectionately regarded as the Crossroads of America, the site sits along the Oklahoma River with its door and entrance facing East to greet the new day. Visitors to the First Americans Museum (FAM) have a chance to explore artifacts, arts, and crafts from each of the 39 Tribal Nations featured in the museum, and can participate in demonstrations, special events, and even taste Indigenous cuisine. Inside the Origins Theater is a 320-degree screen looping animation about creation stories from four tribes in Oklahoma. With tribal diversity and inclusion in mind, FAM narrowed down the stories selected into the common categories: stars/sky, water, earth.

14. Exploratorium, San Francisco, California

Conveniently located between the Ferry Building and Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, California, the Exploratorium offers 600 hands-on exhibits that inspire kids and grown-ups alike. Exhibits are divided among six galleries: Tinkering, Living Systems, Human Phenomena, Seeing and Listening, Outdoor Exhibits and Observing Landscapes. Don’t miss the Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery & Terrace and the Tactile Dome (additional fee; reservations recommended), a maze that visitors walk and bump through in darkness.

15. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Indiana

The 43,934-sqm Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is the largest children’s museum in the world and offers a staggering variety of exhibits and activities, housing over 120,000 artefacts of all shapes and sizes. The Dinosphere, for example, not only lets kids take part in a dino dig and touch real fossils, but it also contains one of the country’s most extensive collections of juvenile and family dinosaur fossils. In National Geographic Treasures of the Earth, visitors explore a pirate shipwreck and see actual objects found on a ship once helmed by the infamous Captain Kidd.

16. Charles M. Schulz Museum, Santa Rosa, California

Who says a trip to the famous Sonoma County wine region can’t be fun for the kids too? Sonoma County was the home of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, and old and new fans of the famous characters can see interesting displays and exhibitions featuring Snoopy and his friends at this museum dedicated to the famous comics and the man behind them. The museum also runs regular events for children of all ages, such as cartooning classes, arts and crafts activities and stories.

Elisa Elwin

Born in San Francisco and based in Sydney, Elisa Elwin is the owner of Elwin Media Pty Ltd and publisher of Out & About with Kids. A mum of two and a social worker by training, she's passionate about families bonding through travel, and about the tolerance, curiosity and connection it builds.

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