Habitot Children’s Museum

Love it here. My 4 year old kept himself busy with his buddy. He didn’t want to leave.

This is a great place for kids. Been here many times. My kids always have a blast and I get to relax and watch. Great for rainy days!

If you are wanting to be in a basement with no windows or ventilation and a bunch of kids running every which way then this place is for you. The activities are kind of cool but they feel dingy bc of the space. I am also not a fan of their short hours. If its not crowded then I guess it could be tolerable but I still would pick other spots over this one.

My boyfriend and I loved this place for our little one! At check in, we also got a slice of pizza for a dollar and surprisingly my daughter liked it! Today she got to really explore each area! She frequented the water area, the art station, the space shape, and the grocery shopping area. We absolutely liked the customer service here they were all so friendly. If you check on you get a cute free pinwheel! I really loved that. The only thing I can comment is that the place is small compared to the San Jose children’s museum but if you bring your little one on a non busy day it should be just fine. It wasn’t as busy today between 12:30 — 2:00pm. My favorite part was the art area I loved how it says they should feel free to be messy so it can enhance their Confidence and learning abilities. We will definitely bring her again. This place came recommended by a friend and we had to go since it also had a groupon. Awesome deal one child one adult deal for 13.99 is a steal! Love this place!

Went here for the first time on a «free admission day» that happened to fall on a very rainy Sunday. Being free and rainy outside it was packed and we were on a wait list to get in the museum.
The wait was very short and my 21 month old was totally occupied during the wait by looking around the store and playing with the toys there.
He had a blast and I wish we lived closer to I could take him all the time.
most kids were in the 1 – 3 age range. there is an infant area which was nice for the babies. There were some 4 – 5 year olds as well and thankfully they were being careful of the younger ones.
Bring comfy clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty! There is a water area so bring a change of clothes as well. Bring Snacks because your kid (and you will get hungry!) they sell snacks if you forget.
Also, stay out of your kid’s way and let them play! There was a few parents micromanaging everything their kid did… annoying. If they are playing nice and safe while having fun just step back, watch and let them enjoy being a kid.
Great parent resources as well.

I was happy to check this place out for my blog. A big thing for me is how long my son can stay occupied at a place. Since it takes about an hour for us to get there I wanted him at least 2 hours of playtime. He lasted a good 2 hours and actually wanted to stay longer. I love all of the parent resources and there is a lot for kids to do in a pretty compact space. Definitely go early in a weekday morning if you can, otherwise it’s very crowded. Would be awesome to add outdoor space when they move to get some light and more play areas. Overall good place to spend a morning with the kids!
Full review:

Hello Habitot,
I had a party at your facility last weekend and just wanted to thank you and your staff. The private party room was perfect! Very spacious, clean and nicely decorated. The staff was exceptional. I never felt like our private space was invaded, but if I needed anything someone was right there to help. The actual museum was so entertaining for the little ones. There was so much for them to do that we didn’t get to everything. I can’t wait to go back so that we can enjoy more of the facility. Thank you so much for making my little guy’s 2 year old birthday party a success! Will certainly recommend to other parents.
*Want to add for other parents that this is not a museum but more of a play/​learn/​create center for toddlers.

Calling this a museum is creative, more accurate description would be an indoor play ground. Good option to spend some time with your toddler if they are ok with crowds (on weekends). The employees are definitely a plus point, super friendly.

I took my son here (he’s almost 3 years old) on a rainy day, and it’s a bit pricey at $ 10 each. He was able to play in the water pools, paint, play with playdough, and run around a bit. It was much, much smaller than I had pictured in my mind (must be around 2500 sq ft?), but it was arranged nicely with separate areas to eat snacks, one for toddlers and babies to crawl around with soft blocks, a water feature area with 3 small pools, and wind area (which doesn’t really work and no one was over there the whole time), a paint/​playdough area, a train table, a baby changing area, a face painting area (they need way more crayons), a pet/​kennel area and an ambulance that made no sound.
However, there is no natural light and due to the size he wasn’t able to expend much energy running around.
They have really good workers who are always walking around cleaning or arranging so it never gets very messy. And they are very helpful and nice.
All in all, it was a good way to spend an hour and a half and then add on the 30 min driving each way — it killed 2.5 hours nicely!

Habitot itself was pretty fun. My son really enjoyed it, and there was plenty of things to do for the under 3 crowd. It is, however, in a basement without any natural light, which isn’t that awesome for long stays. It’s also fairly expensive, in my opinion (~30 for my son and I). we also have a Chabot Membership, which I thought covered us at Habitot, but apparently it did not according to the girl in the front.
It’s a bit preachy in terms of their rules, too. As in, if you’re a parent you’re not supposed to be on your cell phone. Now, I’m not really on my cell phone at places like that anyways, but I don’t really appreciate a sign which feels a bit like enforced parenting. I feel like parents can make the decision to be present for their children, or not. And if you’re a nanny — well — I think you need a break once in a while.
Anyways, I may be back, but didn’t feel compelled to get a membership or anything like that.

After paying $ 30 for my child and father we thought this was a complete dud! The day prior we went to Superfranks, paid $ 8 and had a ball. Not sure how this place gets away with charging such high prices…

My 19 month old daughter loved this place. There are various activities involving all senses. We went there early in the morning before it gets crowded. The price was fine when I considered that is a Nonprofit organisation.

I always welcome new places to take my busy toddler! Habitot is more of an indoor play area than a museum, but fun all the same. We happened to go on a free admission day, so as you can imagine — it was wild and crazy in there! They have managed to cram quite a bit into a small space. The toy library is also a marvelous idea!
We followed up our visit to Habitot with a trip to the library across the street. A successful day, overall.

Great place for toddlers… Good thing I’ve bought a good deal from Groupon. We will surely come back. Staff are very nice too and accommodating especially the lady with short black hair in the painting/​clay area…(sorry I didn’t get her name)

I was super excited to take the 2.5 year-​old girl that I nanny here this morning (let’s call her Sarah). It was very easy to find and the lady at the front desk was welcoming and kind.
Sarah has already been here with her mother and immediately went for the medical area. There are several stations throughout the place, which offer nice variety.
The water area is currently being renovated according to a sign and has been temporarily replaced by foam objects to build and climb. Fun! We really enjoyed all of the areas they have to offer.
Some things to note:
–strollers are not allowed inside (due to space and kids running around, I assume), so you have to leave them outside in the hall. Everyone else’s strollers were in the hall, too. However, I would’ve felt safer having it inside somewhere. And had to carry my wallet with me the whole time.
–the baby dolls in the hospital area are anatomically correct in their «private areas». This may lead to uncomfortable conversations with your child. Sarah didn’t seem to notice, but I noticed.
–a parent/​guardian climbed into the wiggle wall with her child. I didn’t see a sign saying not to do this, but it seemed odd and not safe for the other children. Clear signage for adults here would be nice, especially if a guardian needs to let another guardian know «the sign says we aren’t supposed to go in there» to protect his/​her own children.
–a lot of the buttons and switches didn’t «work». I expected lights and sounds for some areas, such as the ambulance. It looks like it should work. A bit disappointing as it would’ve added such fun (for me and Sarah).
All in all, we had a great time and were there from about 10 until they closed at 12:30!
Be sure to show them your military ID for a discount!

A baby sitters dream! !!! Just make sure the children play nice and share. Mommy’s get a little uptight about their kids shopping carts so watch out lol
Wear water clothing or bring another pair.
Have fun!

If you’ve been to other children’s museums like the Boston Children’s Museum (look it up it is AWESOME!!)… you’ll think Habitot is a dump.
Like much of the East Bay, Habitot is cramped, a little run down, rough around the edges and leaves much to be desired. However, I am SO GLAD they exist.
Somehow, they manage to squeeze SO much enrichment into a tiny little space. In about ¹⁄₂₀^th (I just threw that random number out there but will look it up and edit this review later***) the space of the Boston Children’s Museum, Habitot manages to squeeze in a climbing wall, a fake «vehicle» (I’ve seen a space shuttle and a fire truck across multiple visits in a 4 month timeframe), a mini supermarket with produce and shopping carts, an arts and crafts area, a padded climbing area that’s great for crawlers and pre-​walkers, a water table area, a train table, a leaf blowing/​collecting area, a toy lending area, and a gift shop.
They also offer loads of reading material to help parents deal with relevant topics such as sharing, how to interact with the different areas of the «museum,» and creative ideas to integrate STEM into your child’s life.
I’ve completely warmed up to Habitot and wholly support their cause.
They are EXPENSIVE for drop-​ins but they are a member of the ACM (Association of Children’s Museums) so if you become a member here or at another participating children’s museum, you do get 50% off at the other museums in the network. I signed up for the SF Creativity Museum so I get 50% off at Habitot.
My daughter still stays at home at 22 months because we were supposed to move soon and she just LOVES being around the other kids at Habitot.
I don’t think Habitot would be fun for kids past the age of 4… but my daughter is still wild about water tables, trains, shopping carts, and getting behind fake wheels so +1 for Habitot.
Habitot doesn’t sell lunch so bring your own.
It also closes at 12:30pm between Monday-​Thursday and 4:30pm Friday-​Sunday. which is silly. At least at BCM, my toddler could could take a nap and resume her day of fun.
*** So, BCM has 177,074 square feet in an entire building to work with of which 88,575 square feet is allocated to program space, exhibits, and collections, 30,998 square feet allocated to administration space, and 57,501 square feet towards tenant space. Habitot only has about 7,000 square feet of TOTAL space to work with. It’s a wonder they manage to squeeze so much into the place!

This is a great escape for a few hours with curious toddlers who like to explore (which toddlers don’t?!). Sensory, creative, social, educational, and many other experiences. I love that there are staff people taking care of things throughout the place, with dedicated art staff in the studio as well.
They have a toy lending library, great informational resources including a parent resource library, and even handouts on various aspects of parenting. If you don’t know what a toddler needs, spend some time here and you will get a good idea on activities they love and how to set up your own space at home. (Thank you to Nora for awesome art project ideas for home!)
Play is so important, especially in the urban environment we live in, where we can’t even let our children run down the sidewalk for fear of a car pulling out of a driveway. They need free play where they aren’t constantly admonished for bumping into something fragile or restrained for their own protection. This habitat is so important for that reason. Take the spirit home with you.

Purchased a LivingSocial deal for Habitot after hearing a friend say good things about it. Seeing the regular admission price, I wasn’t expecting much, but it was still smaller than I anticipated.
However, although it seems small at first (especially compared to other Children’s Museums in the Bay Area) there is a ton for little ones to explore.
The woman at the front desk was very friendly and I had no issues using my voucher. I was with my energetic and «curious» two year old.
Some highlights:
The rocket ship exhibit was pretty cool. My kid really enjoyed going into the rocket ship and pressing all the buttons and steering the wheel. The art room is really cool. They have workers constantly cleaning up and making the room look tidy, which is definitely a challenge when a bunch of toddlers are running around with paint brushes. My kid really enjoyed painting on the big wall.
The water area was a bit of a disappointment, but only because I envisioned it to be like the one at the San Jose Museum. This one was basically a pool of water with a bunch of toys in it. There was a stream that you can pour water down and it trickles into a bucket. I’m guessing because of the drought, it wasn’t living up to its potential, which is understandable.
The wind tunnel was also kinda cool. If anything, it’s a great way to get your kid to start learning how to sweep!
There’s a small infant/​early walkers area that’s kinda blocked off. There’s also a quiet room with some books and a pile of legos. My kid wasn’t very interested in the little grocery shop other than pushing the shopping carts around and naming some of the random fruit.
The train table isn’t that impressive, but it’s a good distraction while waiting for the bathroom.
The con: There’s only one bathroom inside the museum.
The pro: It’s a nice, big bathroom, equipped with plastic bags for those stink bomb diapers and a diaper pail that seals those babies away so the smell is minimal.
The wall maze is a little strange. My kid wasn’t really into it, but some of the other kids really enjoyed it.
I would definitely come back, but probably only if I can find another deal on Groupon or LivingSocial. Although $ 10 a kid and $ 8 an adult doesn’t seem like much, you won’t spend more than 3 – 4 hours here, tops.

We purchased a LivingSocial voucher to Habitot. Like many of the parents said, it is a small space located downstairs in the basement, but it has several rooms for the kids to explore. My 2 year old stayed the longest in the arts and crafts room and in the space shuttle room. The space shuttle and «control room» is pretty cool. There are astronaut costumes to dress up in. There is also an infant and small toddler room that’s enclosed, a water play room and pretend grocery store. We tried to do the face painting but the crayons were hard to apply even after dipping them in the water cups. This is a great little space to occupy the kids.
Tip: you can show your AAA card for a $ 1 off entrance fee.