Childrens Museum of Virginia is Hands-On Heaven for Kids of All Ages

While improvements are always welcome, this remodel is so big that the museum is relegated to just a few rooms during the project. Yeah, they're giving a $1 discount on admission, but even my kids felt that the reduced size hardly made it worth it at this point.

Become a human elevator on this pulley experiment.

My recommendation? Skip the museum until the summer of 2011. Instead, visit the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk, the Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton, or Newport News' Virginia Living Museum, just to name a few great alternatives. Click here for links to these museums and other great attraction alternatives!

(I'm keeping my old review below to give you an idea of the types of exhibits you'll probably see at the remodeled Childrens Museum next year...)

The Childrens Museum of Virginia is a hands-on heaven for toddlers through early teens, and kids of all ages. Make gigantic bubbles (with you in them), become a living elevator, “drive” a fire engine, “touch” electricity, see the stars come out in a planetarium, get “inside” a model train set...there’s so much to do. We even dare adults to not get involved.

The museum has two floors and over 90,000 square feet of hands-on, interactive fun where kids can experiment, marvel, and dress up. We can’t possibly name everything you’ll see there, so here are our kids’ favorite parts:

• The Bubble Room - It’s chock-full of stations for trying large-scale bubble experiments. The best part is a soap-drenched ring (looks like a Hula Hoop) which you stand inside. You then pull up the ring by pulling a lever. As the ring goes up, it makes a giant bubble. Voila! For the first and probably only in your life, you’re IN a bubble! And that’s just one of the bubble experiments you can do (you can even blow a flat bubble!).

Don't miss the Kinetic Art Form room!




• The Rock Wall Room – See how high you can get on the rock climbing wall…and see a globe suspended in mid-air.




• The Computer Room – Climb inside a “computer,” type out a message with your feet on a giant keyboard, and watch electricity arc out to your hand when you touch a huge plasma ball.




• The Train Room – A train set lovers’ paradise! See lots of model train sets…then climb inside an observation bubble to get an up-close look as the trains go by.

Try your hand at the rock wall




• The Kinetic Art Form Room – Use your body movements to make weird and amazing images on a screen with video imaging techniques.

On the first floor, there’s a large “make believe” area where kids can pretend to do real adult stuff. Go to the bank and measure your height in quarters. Take a turn driving a real fire engine, a real bus, and a motorcycle. Go shopping in the grocery store. And read a story in a really, really big chair.

We’ve been to the museum twice. Both times the kids have had so much fun with the exhibits that we’ve never made it to the planetarium, so I can’t comment on how it is, but if it meets the same standard as the rest of the place, it’s must be excellent.

For moms with tots, they have a large toddler’s area (complete with a gate to foil escapees) where the bambinos can safely crawl around and over foam obstructions without being trampled on by older kids.

There’s so much to do that your kids could easily spend 3 hours here and still be reluctant to leave.

Admission is $6, ages 3 and up; Free for 2 and under.

TIP! Are you a teacher? Bring some proof of your school ID and you'll get in for free, always!

Touch a plasma ball.

It’s strictly BYOS (Bring Your Own Snacks) as there’s no café in the museum. One kid-friendly restaurant that’s nearby is Whistle Stop (509 Middle Street, Portsmouth) which has a great kids menu. If you want to make it a full museum day, top it off with a visit to the Sports Hall of Fame which is just a few blocks away.

Another option is to have lunch at Doumar’s, an old-fashioned drive-in where they serve yummy but cheap burgers and fries, and killer milkshakes. Click here for photos, our full review of Doumar’s, and the delicious treat they invented.

Childrens Museum of Virginia hours are Tuesday – Friday, 10 am to 5 pm, Saturday 10 am to 9 pm, and Sunday 1 pm to 5 pm. They’re closed Mondays.

Childrens Museum of Virginia address: 221 High St., Portsmouth, VA 23704
Childrens Museum of Virginia phone number: (757) 393-5258

Childrens Museum of Virginia Google map.


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