Children's Museum of Houston

While in Houston we went to the Children's Museum of Houston. We were able to get in for free during their free Thursday evening from 5pm to 8pm.

Now, as with anything free, there are swarms of people that come out to take advantage of said free admission. With that, be prepared for a crowd! If you are going to visit the museum any other time, the admission is $9 per person for anyone over 1 year of age. For awhile there was so much people in the museum that it was hard to move and enjoy the exhibits, and even harder to keep tabs on little ones darting about, so keep that in mind.

The museum is rather large, comprising a basement, main floor and smaller second level. There is so much to see, touch, build, climb and play with that even an entire day would not be sufficient to really delve into everything offered. There are areas geared just towards little ones, others more for older children and some in between.

*If you want to use the museum as a tool to actually teach, or reenforce, a subject, like the use of gears or how dams work (for example), I would advice you not to go during the free hours because the place is so crowded and loud, it would be hard to have a meaningful discussion about said subject while actually inside the museum.

That said, the museum is a wonderful place to tinker with and learn about how different things work. It is a great place to spark the interests of young and old minds alike.

In the PowerPlay area, starting in the basement, and working its way up, is a cool network of circular steps enclosed in a web. There are various entrance and exit points, and openings within the structure to link different sides together. There is a sign that says no flip flops or crocs. I let my kids climb without their shoes.

This man loved talking on the pay phone, which had a video camera to see who you were talking to.

Here we are building an arch, which we learned all the red parts of the blocks need to face into the center of the arch, otherwise it just become a tower.

The rock climbing wall is in the basement of the PowerPlay area. The night we went, there was a worker there to make sure kids went 1 at a time and that climbers had tennis shoes, or other shoes that covered the entire foot. So, if you want to climb the rock wall, be sure to either wear or bring a shoe that covers both the toes and the heel. The wall is not high, maybe 5 feet at most, but it does wrap around for a bit (maybe 20 feet).

 In the same area as the rock wall, there is a set of monkey bars and an obstacle course.

 Outside there is a jungle gym with foam blocks to build different things

 There are also 3 different water stations to play at outside. At the water stations, kids can manipulate where the water goes by turning the various segments to cause the water to cascade along a certain path. Another station allows kids to experiment with how valves work. Of course there are toy boats to just float along the water as well.

There are picnic benches and a mini nature area as well outside.

There is a little mock Vietnam set up, portraying what houses, boats, fishing huts and everyday life is like in Vietnam.

Our kids enjoyed the museum, though we were overwhelmed by the amount of people there at the same time. It would have been nicer, and more relaxing, to visit the museum with half the size of the crowd. There were times when it was literally hard to squeeze past some while chasing after my toddler.