Thinkery

I take my two kids to the Thinkery very often. All the «thinkers» are super great, but one in particular tops the others in a landslide. Her name tag reads Angelina Z. And it should read Angel. All the kids flock to her and for good reason! She is kind and patient, and somehow makes every child and parent feel heard and appreciated. I’ve watched her run around tidying up while simultaneously playing hide and seek with a group of giggling kiddos, and she didn’t even break a sweat. She is amazing and the Thinkery would, in my opinion, fall apart with out her.

Elizabeth F. is the best volunteer! She worked hard to get the kids involved in the farmer’s market.

There are so many things to like about the Thinkery. First, location. I love that it is right next to Mueller Lake park so you can walk around the lake or grab a bite to eat at the food truck park after visiting the museum. Second, there are so many things for the little ones to do! The exhibits are divided by different themes, from food to wind/​aeronautics to sound and a myriad of other themes. There are tons of hands-​on activities for the kids and pretty much everything is meant for clumsy little hands to touch. There are two floors of activities and even a quiet «mother’s room» for breastfeeding moms to have a little privacy when feeding their babies. Such a fun place!

I wish we’d had the opportunity to take my son here more while we still lived in Austin, but we left when he was only 7 month old. Still, we brought him when we were back in town to visit for a long weekend and he had a blast. The big train table was awesome and he easily spent 30 minutes entertained in the light room, but the hit of the place was the water room. He must have spent an hour playing with various contraptions and getting only mostly soaked while having a blast before leaving.
If you’re in Austin with kids – come here and enjoy the crap out of this place because you don’t know how luck you are. Most cities seem to not quite have the same thing.

We went here for the first time yesterday, my children had a blast. The staff was all so friendly, I must say the staff member who performed the 1:00 story time was awesome, well animated, and fun for the kids.
It’s very clean, and there’s plenty to do. Definitely a wonderful place. If we lived closer we would get a membership. My kids are 2 and 5 (reference for other individuals debating if it would be fun or not), also there is free parking in the parking garage, and a really neat playground across the street from the museum.

Not worth it when your child can’t even interact because of how annoyingly crowded it gets, regardless of when you go… gotta love Austin. I bought an annual family pass and can only count a few times where it was actually tolerable. Parents: save yourself the agony. Trust me on this one. Your kids are better off playing at the park outside adjacent to the Thinkery. Luckily my pass expires soon and I won’t be renewing.

This place was amazing for a toddler. We attended the story-​time on Saturday morning which was nice. My LO LOVED the water area. Bring extra clothes! My LO had so much fun her clothes were drenched. The huge light brite was also one of her favorite areas. A must stop for any family with small children.

The thinkery is an amazing place where kids can have so much funWhen my kids go there they have so much fun.

So much fun! Came here with my son’s school on a field trip. The staff was amazing! I cannot imagine dealing with children all day long — not just any children — field trip children!
Our guide was super energetic and kept the children entertained all morning. Even during story time the children were engaged.
I really enjoyed the light room! My son enjoyed the water room… I think most kids do as they can get wet!
I will definitely be bringing my son back here again! Thanks for what you do for schools and families — a great way to do something that induces learning!

Forget the kids. Oh, sure, they’re going to have a great time here, but that’s not really important. No, me thinks it’s more important that you, dear grownup, should be endlessly humbled at Thinkery for your essential ignorance concerning the building blocks of life, the everyday components to this whole existence thing that somehow you still don’t know, and you call yourself an adult.
We loved every angle of this science-​ish children’s museum, from the hands-​on spark shop and kitchen lab exhibits to the paint wall which inadvertently turned my kid into a walking Pollock canvas, the backyard climbing apparatus, and the light lab which only slightly resembled a Robert Palmer music video. The outdoor playground across the road was rad, too. And quite likely the most nutritious food pod eats on the planet. Across the board an interactive, solidly constructed, educational and thought provoking experience, particularly for us adults.
The strength of Thinkery, I thought, was the Why. Sure, you were more than welcome to launch your own rocket or mix oil with water for your masterpiece, but the museum really excelled at delineating precisely Why each material or substance or element behaved the way it did. The explanations usually broke down to, you know, the basics: the periodic table, universal laws of physics, that sorta thing. And most of that stuff, as it turned out, was totally new to me. And so my attempt to explain these concepts to my five year-​old, as it turned out, was particularly humbling. So yes, just go, you ignorant fool. As it turns out, you have a lot to learn.

I am a school teacher with Austin Independent School district. We have been going to the Austin Children’s Museum for years and the Thinkery is even better. The exhibits are wonderful
and thought provoking. The staff is helpful, friendly, and patient. Everything is so well thought out and good for different ages and abilities. The price of admission is a very good deal for what you get. Wonderful place! Best museum in Austin!

Everyone who works here is super enthusiastic and clearly enjoy what they do (or are at least fantastic actors). I think us adults had more fun than my daughter — which is no knock to the amazing time she had.

The staff is wonderful, the place is clean, and it is a great place for kids to learn and parent’s to hang out or meet up with other parent friends. I visit the Thinkery regularly to meet up with a mom group and the staff is always very accommodating. They go out of their way to be sure that we are comfortable. The Thinkery is located in a great spot, next to Mueller Park, one of the nicest kid’s parks in the city. It is very convenient, because you can extend your day by going to both the Thinkery and the park. You can also take a walk around the beautiful Mueller Lake surroundings. All in all, this place is a WIN for families!

If you live in Austin and have a small child (under 11) and haven’t been to The Thinkery, you need to get there– right now! It’s an Austin kids staple, just like Zilker Park/​Barton Springs.
It’s a perfect little hands on museum for small kids. And great when the weather isn’t the best.
Not only is it right across the street from Mueller playground (which provides entertainment afterwards or on nice days), it has a playground on site along with water play outdoors.
**We have only been for Baby Bloomers ($ 4.50 non members so $ 9 for my son and I) on Monday mornings from 9am-​12pm.** (FYI There is also a Hike It Baby group that meets there if you wanted to do something different on a Monday AM).
Downstairs, there are at least 5 stations set up for the kiddos (crafts, sensory play) — there is a theme each week. There is usually some free music such as Staci Gray or Tunebugz. Spark shop allows you to «launch rockets»; Light Lab is dark with multi colored lights.
Upstairs, Let’s Grow has a play grocery store and kitchen with plenty of fake fruits and veggies. It has a chicken coop with fake chickens and eggs. There is a room with Rody (bouncy horse) and other foam play structures (and people dancing on screen which is pretty cool). There is a room just for those under 3 which has tunnels to crawl through and everything padded, which is great for crawlers. Currents has water play (and smocs and crocs to keep little ones dry). They have a story nook which has story time for the little ones. Innovators workshop, Kitchen Lab and Space 8 are for older kids and not open for Baby Bloomers.
Regular admission is $ 9 and kids under 2 are free (so same price as Baby Bloomers since under 2 still has to pay for BB).
There are memberships available, which costs $ 95/​yr for unlimited access for a family of 4 (we have enough monthly/​yearly memberships — gym, pandora, amazon prime etc…) Baby Bloomers is discounted to $ 2.50 for members.
Apparently they also have Thinkery 21 — adult nights, community nights which are donation based entrance, art programs for specific ages, family nights, birthday parties, camps etc

This is a place of I wish I was around when I was a child! We love the Thinkery and have had a membership for years and plan on keeping it. It’s always a pleasure working with Mandy Moore and also Connor! Honestly everyone in the facilities are wonderful and I enjoy all my interactions.
Also…I just wanted to take the time to thank Sandra and Kate for a wonderful birthday party last month! It was the best birthday party ever and all I had to do was bring the cake
Thank you guys for being interactive with the kids, helping pass out everything, the set up and cleaning! You guys are amazing and we truly love the Thinkery

This is a place I wish I was around when I was a child! We love the Thinkery and have had a membership for years and plan on keeping it. It’s always a pleasure working with Mandy Moore and also Connor! Honestly everyone in the facilities are wonderful and I enjoy all my interactions.
I plan on having both of my children’s birthday parties there this month and I know it will be great!

The Thinkery was fun but somewhat of a disappointment. My review is totally biased because we have been to the Children’s museum in Phoenix, AZ and that made me decide on my dream job: being a director of a Children’s museum.
There is quite a bit to do here but it is smaller and there is some wasted space. One of the coolest things I found at the CM of PHX was their incredible use of space and reuse of items in totally cool ways. Different sized bolts made into xylophones in the hallways, many tube systems where kids can put puff balls or ping pong balls in and they get spit out in different places and calves to control the flow of air, not to mention the 3 story climbing structure big enough for kids and adults indoors. Actual dedicated areas for age groups so there aren’t unattended bigger kids playing rough around teeny tinys. I understand this museum is definitely smaller but many places I looked had areas that could hold activities for kids which would in turn lower the complete madness in the dedicated rooms there are available. There were activities suitable for our 2 year old but located in areas indicated for older kids. We discovered them anyways and he had lots of fun.
I guess I expected more from this place since its in Austin and there is a certain culture of reusing and repurposing. I can’t wait to see more exhibits and hopefully a better use of extra space at the Thinkery.

Thanks to my friend Kim K. I got to come here with my little girl on her membership. I will be getting a membership here SOON. My little girl LOVES the water area. There is so much to do here. She doesn’t want to leave!
This place is fun for all ages! I love that adults are able to play with the areas also. I can’t wait to take family back here and show them what a cool place we have in Austin. I can’t wait to bring my daughter back also. She now knows to ask for it by name. :)

As a parent, the bloom room is great for toddlers. It has the right amount of activities, occasional interactive activities by staff, and even a slobber bucket for toys and props that wind up getting chewed. On my recent visit I discovered that I get free admission because of my employer, and although I didn’t have my work ID with me, they took me at my word and gave me a complimentary ticket.
As an educator, I think that the excitement factor on the Thinkery is high, as evidenced by the volume in the exhibits while school groups are visiting. However, I’m not sure how well the state curriculum (TEKS SEs) are addressed by the exhibits here. The Currents exhibit is cool, but… where is that in the TEKS? Again, not that these exhibits have to teach the TEKS, but if a portion of your revenue is generated by school field trips, that funding is likely tied to teaching the TEKS, so kids should leave with that exposure.
This is an attraction for kids up to about age 9 or 10. The lower the age, I think the more you’ll get for your money here. Folks say weekdays after 2:00 are emptier, I’d believe it because by then the school groups are gone.

We had my daughter’s 2^nd birthday party at the Thinkery this past weekend and I just wanted to share our experience and rave about them because they did such a phenomenal job. We booked the «Mini Masterpieces» party for 0−4-year-olds. When we arrived, they had the room set up and ready to go with the exception of any food, party favors, beverages, and cake/​cupcakes we wanted to bring. We could have added more décor, but I’m glad that I didn’t even worry about it. It wasn’t necessary. They provided a cart for us to transfer everything upstairs and helped us with anything we needed.
They had a huge chalkboard down at kid height covered in chalk with bowls of water and paintbrushes for them to «paint» and see what happened to the chalk as children began to arrive. It seems like the simplest activity, but they had so, so much fun and the educator for our party, Elizabeth, sat directly on the floor and helped guide them, talked to them, and drew for them on the chalkboard. She was amazing!
I forget the order that everything happened, but they did two different paintings, story time, and played with a giant parachute in the room. They really kept the activities flowing from one thing to another which meant that the kids’ attention was captured and parents could mingle and talk without feeling like they were constantly on the lookout for their kiddos. We had food out for people to graze as they wanted to, did «Happy birthday,» and then chose to let the kids have some time to explore and play in the museum. Many of our guests hadn’t been there before and I preferred they got to play instead of watching E open her gifts.
The kiddos (2 and up because 2 and under are free) were given a pass to return back to the Thinkery anytime within the next year. It was a fun little bonus to be able to give the parents. I absolutely could not have been more pleased. I’m currently almost 38 weeks pregnant and felt so carefree and not stressed about anything party-​related or overwhelmed while I was there.

What a fantastic place to bring the family for an afternoon of fun! The staff is always courteous, the place is clean and orderly (hard to do with kids ruling everything) and we leave pleasantly exhausted. The playground located within the facility is so exciting for my little one and enables us to be in one place, yet enjoy either outside OR inside exploration. Thank you to the staff, you are appreciated!

We had a double birthday bash for our 1-​yr old and 3-​yr old who share birthdays in the same month. The venue was perfect for this age group. We selected the painting activity for the 3-​yr olds and the add-​on block activity for the 1-​yr olds. Both activities were perfect for both age groups! A few kiddos weaved in and out of both activities which was fine.
The parents were happy since the kids were happy and well-​entertained.
The staff was very helpful! There were 3 members who helped set up and take down the decorations and food/​drinks. The program educator, Elizabeth, was awesome with the kids. Once again, the children were happily well-​entertained = successful party.
Minus one star for the room setup and comfort level. We had boxes we had brought in our food trays/​decorations/​misc. party paraphernalia in. There was no place in the room to cover up the mess. The boxes were an eye sore and stayed in the party room as there was no other place it could have been moved to. Furthermore, the sun was beating down on the table where we set up our food. There is no refrigerator in the room nor shade in the room. The room was getting uncomfortably warm despite the 52-​degree temperature outside. I asked one of the staff members to turn the fan on. I encountered initial resistance as she said she was new, but she found out how to turn the fan on. I assume the A/​C was not on since it was chilly outside, so this may not be a major issue most months out of the year.
The room itself is well-​decorated with Thinkery’s red/​white theme. There is red/​white bunting across the high ceiling of the room, one light blue-​colored wall, a board to pin up banners, pictures, etc., an entire wall comprised of dry erase board where your guests can write a message or draw pictures, a board with Thinkery’s logo which also serves as a photo backdrop (props provided which the kids loved wearing throughout the party), and plenty of tables and seating for your guests. We used the vinyl table cloth provided which was red/​white. There’s also a sink for kids to wash paint-​covered hands, and cake-​covered mouths/​hands/​other body parts I didn’t know cake could reach.
We had a total of 33 guests, adults + children, and we were fairly comfortable.
There were 2 staff members present to help cut the cake and keep track of the time.
The kids received a free pass to use in the next 12-​mos as they merrily left with goodie bags.

Great museum for elementary level kids!
It’s not a huge place, but the exhibits are very hands-​on and engaging, and very well-​run. The staff is very nice and helpful too.
There’s a toddler-​only play section on the second floor which is good for younger children, as well as a water section where the kids can get pretty wet playing with various water toys. The play structure outside is pretty impressive as well.
The family membership is a great value for taking kids back here again and again, and it’s also very flexible as you can bring any four kids on a visit, so it’s really great for bring kids’ friends also.

This place is pretty fun! A friend and I brought our four kids (5mo — 5yr) and each of them had a good time. There is a baby area downstairs in the middle of the museum, and another baby are upstairs near the grocery store. The outside playground is pretty awesome with it’s cool net tunnels, but we were surprised to realize there was no slide at the top — it’s just a jumble of climbing areas. There is a large water table upstairs — they give you smocks and Crocs to wear. They had some cool exhibits and hands-​on activities for the kids. We were there a little over two hours and could have stayed longer.

This is a wonderful place to spend a morning or afternoon in Austin! My 8 month old loved the Bloom area and enjoyed watching the older children play in the other parts of the museum.
Story time was noisy, but fun!
The staff was wonderful, facility was clean, and we had a blast!
I can’t wait to come back when she is older and try out the rest of the exhibits — we will definitely return in the future!

The answer to a lot of «I’m bored» statments. We opted for the year pass and we take advantage of it as much as possible. The kids love the place and never want to leave. The staff is amazing and very accomadating. The kids love story time as well as the «farm». I wish story time was offered a little more during the day but overall, can’t complain. Parking is really good and the area has really developed. Tons of family friendly food choices withen a couple of miles. A great way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday.

I took my twins (2 years old) here with a friend who had a 2 year old as well and we had a great experience. I was able to get an employee discount they have a few companies on the wall that may qualify you. This was my first time coming here and I must say I was impressed. There’s a lot of stuff to keep kids occupied including an outdoor areas where they can climb and play with water toys. There’s not much teaching science to a 2 year old so I can’t really speak too much on the science of the exhibits, but this is a museum that will grow with them and this should definitely be a family destination for all parents and visitors with kids to Austin. There must be at least 15 exhibits and this will be worth your time.

This place is awesome! It’s small but fun. My daughter loved it more than the Children’s Museum in Houston. She ran around the baby area on the 2^nd floor like a boss! It’s full of gross motor sensory stuff for the crawlers and beginning walkers. She went on for almost a full hour and didn’t want to stop. Totally exhausted but wanted to keep going. On the 1^st floor, right in the middle of the play area, is a small enclosure for non walkers. It’s full of visual and fine motor sensory stuff. She loved that, too.

I came with three 2-​year-​olds and I think this place was perfect for entertaining them for a few hours. The science of it all was above them but they weren’t too small for anything. Everything was super interactive. It was full but there didn’t seem to be a real wait to use anything. They had a special play area for infants and toddlers which was nice. They also had a playground outside.
The Currents area with the water play was especially fun. They also had a fake market, stove and chicken coop. We adults also had fun. There was a station that froze everyone’s shadow which we all got a kick out of.

We are in Austin for a few days. I needed something to do while my wife was at her conference. We’d heard good things about the children’s museum, Thinkery, so I decided to try it out. I bought tickets online. They have several time slots where they had a certain number of tickets available for that 30 minute time period. We arrived just before our 10:30am slot. We parked on the street. They advertise parking in a garage around the corner, and there is a park across the street but they post signs that say it’s for the park only and they’ll tow you, so be advised. It was an easy check in with my phone where the tickets were emailed to me. There are several sections to visit, including an outside area and an upstairs area. Lots of things for kids to do.

I LOVE this place for my kids. They are 5 and 1. They really enjoyed coming here, my son loved the glow in the dark area and my daughter loved the little shopping/​farmers market area :) It was a bonus that Military get in free all summer which we were not aware of until we showed up and tried to pay :) We will be back! Especially on rainy days :)

Exemplary children’s museum for a range of ages. Plenty of spots for babies (I like that they mix them in among the «older kid» spaces) and so many good exhibits for kids to learn, play and burn off that kid-​energy!
My 4-year-old’s favorite is the water exhibit upstairs. He also was fascinated by the ferrofluid exhibit, and of course the outdoor play space and water feature.
The museum’s only downfall is its popularity. On busy days it is sheer madness. But on less busy days, it’s a wonderful place to take a seat and let your kid play his or her heart out, knowing that the learning is taken care of! :)

My 3 year old daughter loved this place. In fact she is always asking to come back here. She calls it the «Water Museum.»
So I’m seriously considering buying an annual membership for her which means an annual membership for mom and I as well since there are plenty of days in the year where we have nothing planned and a trip to the thinkery would just make sense.
Better than spending a day in the scorching summer heat or sitting around at home and doing nothing.

Threw a birthday party here for my boy. We had a nice private room where there was an activity for all the kids. You can bring in your own food and drinks for the party. Afterwards there were many things for all the kids to do. There is a parking garage so parking was not an option. Don’t park in the parking lot across from it. Great place for the kids.

Oh my goodness, Im not even sure where to start.
Some friends of ours invited us to go the other day… Since we had never been, and have been wanting to go. we happily accepted!
A very well executed plan… absolutely.
First things first.
If you are a family of 3 or 4… and have never been… make sure the day you decide to go you plan of spending $ 95. Yep, that’s right. For a 12 month membership. The first day you go, it will $ 36 (for 4) so. in exactly 3 visits, the membership has MORE than paid for itself. What a great deal! That membership will get you discounts on bday parties, access to the museum before hours on certain days, adult night access… etc etc. Just do it. You wont regret it.
Now, for the place itself.
Roomy.
Safe.
Fun.
Exciting.
Something for everyone.
Clean.
Plenty of seating if you need.
Nice parents who (most of them) interact with their children and don’t just leave them off to wonder aimlessly getting on everyone’s nerves… like Mt. Playmore. ha.
Decent kids. Mostly well behaved little ones. Such a nice change from the above mentioned.
Everything there is fun in its own unique way and educational. So many different ways to spark curiosity and learn why things do what they do. So many things to do, period. You can move around freely. There are workers there in most areas to assist.
Some activities:
Lite Brite peg board (HUGE)
Frozen Shadows (too awesome)
Light painting (so magical)
Water Xylophone
color board that changed color panels when you touch the circles
Splash Stations
Water Drums
Mechanical peg boards
Rockets (build them, test them and launch them)
Story Time
Farmers Market with real scales and produce that looks REAL
Toddler areas
and more…
easily spend multiple hours in here without getting bored. Love this place. We WILL be back for sure!

I tell you what — if I had a million dollars, I’d probably move to the Mueller area. If you have a kiddo, it the perfect situation! The Thinkery is now the crown jewel of Mueller.
The Thinkery is just what Austin needed, it is such a cool interactive kid’s play space! You simply can’t miss the bright red building. It is very modern and attractive, with all types of delights inside for the family.
There bottom level has a gift shop and check in. Then a huge train table. There is a cool light blocks room, think mega lite brites for kids. Through December only, they have a special attraction called «Junk Town» and kids make junk buildings from recycled trash and odds and ends to add to the junk city. There is also an infant playspace downstairs so you can let the tiny one play while the older kids are nearby moving gears and mechanical machinery around. There is a super cool playground just for the Thinkery but beware — the «nest» located at the very top of a mesh tunnel on the playground is NOT adult friendly and many kids think it is funny to go all the way up there and not come back down… my two year old thought this was hilarious, until my chubby a$$ climbed on up and claimed him.
The second floor has an reading nest with storytimes. Also a «market» with fake veggies, fruit and a kitchen for pretend shopping and cooking. There is a tumbling space nearby with pads, cushions, hoola hoops and projected kids yoga on the wall. There is a special «crawlers, infants and toddlers» area that the Thinkery does a good job of isolating for the smallest kids and keeping older kids out so the little ones can explore safely.
Community free hours on Wednesday evenings only (recent change, used to be sunday evenings too) –gets crowded! Special labs and workshops all through the year.
Located in the Mueller area off 35/​Airport, after the Thinkery, go visit the duck pond, walk around the lake, play at the playground or visit a food truck!