Discovery Center for Kids at Museum of Science

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Official Website: Discovery Center for Kids at Museum of Science
Occurs at: Boston Museum of Science
Location: Science Park, Cambridge, MA map
Phone:617-723-2500
Hours: Open Daily from 10:00am - 4:45pm; Fridays until 7:30pm.
Ages: Infants, Toddlers, Kids
In/Outdoor: Indoor
Cost: $$ see below

Designed for children from birth to age eight and their accompanying grownups, the Discovery Center offers an assortment of fun, hands-on activities that are designed to encourage discovery through play. An ideal area for early learners, this educational environment emphasizes the use of real objects and has an extensive teaching collection for exploring natural history, physical science, and technology topics.

Discovery Center staff and volunteer interpreters enhance the learning process by inspiring curiosity and wonder. Young scientists can put an animal skeleton together, touch a real fossil, or observe a variety of live animals up close. Magnets, periscopes, mirrors and building materials are featured on the Mezzanine level.

The Experiment Station offers a rotating schedule of science experiments and engineering challenges, and Discovery Boxes offer families with young children an in-depth exploration of specific science topics. For children ages five or younger and their grownups, the Discovery Center’s Children’s Gallery provides a safe place to explore science through play with puzzles, costumes, mirrors, books and more.

Preschoolers can climb into a honeycomb and tend to baby bees or splash in the ‘forest stream’ water table. For babies who cannot yet walk, the Infant Area allows the youngest scientist to explore cause and effect relationships in a sea-themed environment; this area also features exhibits that allow grownups to explore cognitive science concepts. The Discovery Center is also a unique venue for examining how young children and their caregivers learn from each other through inquiry and play.

The Discovery Center collaborates with researchers from MIT and Harvard University to bring current research in cognitive development onto the exhibit floor as part of the Living Laboratory initiative. The 4,300 square-foot, the Discovery Center is situated near the Mugar Omni Theatre and Charles Hayden Planetarium in the Museum’s atrium.

The Discovery Center is open daily,10 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., and until 7:30 on Friday evenings. During the summer and school vacation weeks, hours are extended; call 617-589-0433 or visit mos.org/discoverycenter for more information.

Cost

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Free with Exhibit Hall Admission