Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert

Wow this museum was so perfect! Took my 16 month old and we spent well over 1.5 hours here. It has so many kid friendly things to do and it’s so age appropriate! They keep the place so neat and tidy, and the floors have A/C vents which kept it nice and cool inside! I will be bringing my mini back here for sure. And the staff, SO NICE thank you guys for the awesome visit today.

My kids (7 + 6 years) LOVED the museum. We spent 3 hours here on a Wednesday morning, but we could have enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with the amount of activities and exhibits available. I definitely feel like the price of admission was well worth the amount of fun, learning and stimulation. My kids have been begging to go back!

A great way to get out of the heat. We've been to similar discovery museums across the country, and this was a good one!

This place is AWESOME!!! It is perfect for (in my opinion)toddlers up to maybe ten years old. Lots of activities but not overwhelming.

What an awesome place for our toddler! It was clean and there are tons of different activities for them to explore. Sophie and Emily were SO helpful in making my toddler comfortable in a new environment. Definitely sign the waiver beforehand on their website. We'll be back!

We love this place! My kids have core memories here. It has been redone several times with new exhibits. The price is a little steep for my family, but usually the grandparents help out while we are visiting. Bring lunch. We have a great time during the lunch hour and nap time since a lot of visitors leave then. Even my teens find puzzles or games to enjoy - and honestly they like being kids again sometimes (and they can with their little sibs). My 2, 4, and 7 year olds could have enjoyed two days here. So much for busy kids to take in. I recommend filling out the waiver at home before you arrive.

Thoughtfully created, inclusive, experiential, varied and lots of fun for my 5 and 8 year old grand children. The children made full use of it and we all enjoyed it. I thought charging full admission of $21.00 for 1 adult to accompany children was a turn-off, seeing that it made our admission over 60.00 for 3 of us. So it's not very accessible for larger, low income families. I did appreciate snacks and waters were only $1.00 each. Staff was friendly and helpful. If I could I would give 4.5, rating.

This place is awesome. My 2.5 year old loved it! So many different activities to keep them busy. Staff is super friendly and helpful!

Had morning to kill before it got warm enough for the pool. Kids (3y and 7y) LOVED this place and still talk about making a return trip even after many months past the visit. It reminded me of our home-town interactive science center although more clean and well-kept. Friendly staff were circulating and so it did not feel like an unsupervised, free-for-all space. I really thought the exhibits were great! The stop-motion video maker was a big hit. Our kids are really into magna-tiles and marble runs right now and they were thrilled to see those on a larger scale than what we have at home. There are also things to climb on and outdoor spaces in case your kids "need to get their energies out" as we say. We got there when it opened on a Thursday and I would recommend beating the crowds (though never really felt too full nor did we have to wait to play).

What a great children's museum with some many different interactive activities to explore! My son was thrilled to visit this place. We are temporarily living here as we just lost our home so trying to make the best of our time in the desert. We also just switched to homeschooling to accommodate the transition and this place stirred so many fun ideas. We made a day out of it and decided to start our morning at the Farmer's Market nearby which was great except we had concerns about our cheese haul in the hot car. We planned to carry it inside with us but staff did even better and offered to refrigerate it for us. Everyone was so kind and even engaged with the children throughout the museum. I think my favorite part was the sound garden with the beautiful view! What a great day! Thanks, Children's Discovery Museum!

Kids paradise in the desert. What an amazing place for children. Super friendly staff and very clean establishment. Great family value with so much to do. My kids couldn't get enough. They played and interacted until they passed out. Pictures don't do it justice. A place worth visiting. The puppet show and taco garden were their favorite. As an adult I enjoyed it.

First time back since the remodel, I had a great time w my niece. I felt like everything was overpriced but I'm understanding in this economy. It was very crowded for a Monday morning.

*Something New to Discover* Drive by here all the time but didn't realize what's inside... Was having lunch with a friend at a place down the street, then afterwards I felt it was time to stop by the Children's Discovey Museum to cleanse my inner child. When I asked my buddy if he'd ever been here he said, "yes but not since I was a little kid" so that was good enough for me because I love discovering new places...love museums...and kids too. When I pulled into their parking lot, I was taken back at the beautiful architecture design of the Children's Discover Museum. Whenever I've driven by on Gerald Ford Dr, the museum is set back so I had no idea what I was missing. The second we stepped inside, we were warming greeted from the gal & guy behind the front desk and asked if we'd be here before...and we shared what I expressed above ;) We struck up a really nice conversation with David, the charming, kind and humorous soft spoken Irish gentleman...and then he offered to give us a "quick tour." David made us feel special...and as we walked up & down the ramps and all throughout the museum, children's laughter & excitement echoed throughout this magical safe space. It wasn't until the end of the tour, when we were back at the front desk, it was mentioned that if & when we decide to return, we must have a child present. Hopefully David doesn't get in trouble and receives a timeout for breaking the rules ;) Because we appreciated our brief encounter and time together. What I also love about this place is it's not tech-driven...and children play & learn without the aide of computers, tablets and screens -- like when I was a kid. If you've never been here...and you have children to accompany you...I highly recommend a visit. {{{Big-High-Five}}}

If you have a child under 8, this is a great place to spend a few hours. Great staff and all sorts of fun things for kids to do. Our 16 month old toddler had a blast. Anyone living in the area with a child or grandchild should consider an annual pass. We were welcomed warmly at the front desk where you sign the obligatory waiver. Then let your child enjoy so many fun things. There is a separate toddler area in the back with lots to toys and things to explore.

Came all the way here just to find out that I can't keep my autistic twins in their stroller past the entrance. So unfortunately we had to leave. Looks like a neat place and my kiddos were sad they couldn't go because of their disability. If you have a child with any disability where they are unable to walk through the attraction then you might as well stay home. Cute place through. Pricey and small, but cute.

What an amazing time we had here today! We brought my 3 year old here for some play time and it was a great find. Admission is $20 per person. We spent several hours here checking out all of the exhibitions -- we also got to meet their resident tortoises! This place is great for Montessori-aligned learning. Most exhibits promote creativity and offer lots of engagement for the kiddos. When you pay for the day pass, it's good for the whole day -- we left to get lunch and came back to play after. Just make sure to save your receipt. As someone who is a member of the Phoenix children's museum, it is truly a tough museum to step up to -- this museum had a lot of great things to offer and had similar installments to Phoenix. My daughter enjoyed it very much and it was very clean. The staff was also excellent and engaged with our daughter when possible. Thank you for a great day of play!

Lots of fun activities. My 2 grandsons spent 2-3 hours of fun here. Definitely recommend.

I have been to this and other museums and this one clearly outshines the others. My two and five year old grandchildren were entertained for a few hours and would have been entertained with the outdoor activities if it wasn't so warm outside. I will definitely take them back for those activities in the fall.

There isn't much for kids to do in the summer heat here so its great they have something like this setup!! we came before covid AND after covid. All the exhibits weren't up yet and won't be until july 1st but the play kitchen area is all my kids cared about. Thank you CDMOD for the relaxing time and freeing me up so they can just play their hearts out for hours. Pro tip, come early and park in the shade! it's a life saver!! All the workers were so nice and welcoming!

I had the pleasure of volunteering at the museum prior to the reopening. Cindy and her staff are such a joy! We all worked together painting and planting. I can't wait to bring my boyfriends kids! Plus I plan on volunteering for some of the upcoming crafting events. CDMOD is a gift to the community! Thanks for all your hard work Cindy. 5 STARZ

I was very impressed with this children's museum. The best part in my opinion is all the staff walking the exhibits and monitoring cleanliness and adherence to the rules. It's very frustrating how many people let their kids run wild without paying any attention. I saw staff step in multiple times to protect my child when bigger, even if well meaning, kids were being too rough in the 4 and under area and I really appreciated it. There were a ton of different play areas and my toddlers had a blast. We stayed for almost 4 hrs and didn't run out of things to do.

The hyped up reopening reallllllllllly was a disappointment. It's overpriced, and you can spend a max of about 1 hour before you run out of things to do. I excitedly purchased the membership and now regret it- I even spent extra to add my son's grandparents to our membership. $270!!!! The feather air tubes are fun but a team member snapped at my 4 year old and said "one at a time- no handfuls of feathers." which really irritated me considering the cost of my membership versus the cost of a handful of feathers (which need to be replenished- there are about 6 feathers for that entire exhibit). There is not alot to do. It feels run down already. There is zero hand sanitizer in place. The grounds are in very poor shape, the grass needs to be redone badly in the back. Whoever is running this place should be embarrassed.

Came for the long awaited reopening, it was underwhelming to say the least. Many of the supplies to participate in activities were not where they were supposed to be or just totally a mess, no balls for the ball drop, pizza station in complete disarray, etc. The brain teasers placed so high that a child younger than 10 would not be able to reach it and it was used mainly by adults. So many of the play areas felt dirty and unsanitized, looking back at the old museum it seems almost exactly the same as it did 4 years ago before COVID. Admission is affordable, but there's only so much you can do before your kid gets bored. We had really high hopes, hopefully when the rest of the exhibits open it'll be better. For now, we'll wait until the summer to try it out again

My grandkids were so looking forward to re-visiting this Museum, but were terribly disappointed! They even left the venue early and said it was NOT AS GOOD as before--terrible disappointment! My daughter said that it looked like they spent more money on the donor plaques than they did on the new exhibits. Never going back!

One of the few indoor kid facilities in the Coachella Valley that allows kids to experience different tactile and stimulating exhibits in English and Spanish while being air conditioned and assisted by caring staff. Just reopened and is being updated with age appropriate sections for tweens and teens as well. what a resource to let kids explore their world at their own pace.

I mean, $60 for my husband and son ? I definitely expected a lot more. I waited 2 days to write this review to see how I really felt about this place. We got there at 4pm (1-hour before closing) and I was a little stressed cause I thought "oh man we won't get to do the whole thing!" And I still decided to take my little one (he's 23-months). As soon as we entered, I was bummed out, everything was out of place, the first room looked like an unfinished indoor playground. We walked outside to the second room, a little better (for me not for my LO ). Then in that second room there was a better place for my LO to play (Train railroad station, kitchen with a grocery store, building blocks) that was the spot for everyone so it was a little overcrowded and things were ofc everywhere (what can you expect with little kids). We decided to go outside and there wasn't much out either. I would recommend a playground at least for the kiddos. Overall I give this place a 3.0 rating. I think then charging for my LO ($19.95) was too much! I wish I could get my money back lol. Note: This wasn't a museum, it was more of an unfinished indoor playground.

Great place for the kids to run around they can touch anything and everything! Spent two hours there. You can leave and return on the same day. So we will do that next time. The pizza kitchen was the favorite of my 3 yr old grandson!

Children's Discovery Museum you let us down today!!!! First time ever, we've taken grandkids here over the years and never been disappointed. Not sure what's happened here but most of the exhibits are not up to your or OUR high expectations??? My 4 granddaughters 4, 5, 7 & 12 yr old were so looking forward to today with old memories and expecting new adventures too! Wrong! The first thing you notice is there is nothing worth looking at in the toy store area (usually you can find educational gifts that are unique) not today almost totally empty. The first play area to your right looks like nothings changed here since the last time we were here. Next up is the creative area, My granddaughters love to play & make things but today it was closed off except to the kids club. The Toddler area has expanded, grocery store has more carts & groceries. Pizza parlor was ok. Upstairs was closed off to us only kids club???? Second building didn't have much, some block puzzles. Cars weren't even working. Third building has had some great exhibit over the years today is not one of them. It's a dinosaur area but not a lot to see or do. We left after 1 hour, that has never happened to us. Usually the kids will cry when we leave but not today as the 7 yr old said boring! What's going on we expect more out of you! Until they do something don't waste your money, your kids will be bored.

60$ price for 1 adult 2 kids ages 10&13, the museum is a kids play center or fun center, there's not much learning going on. And for older kids they lost interest within the first 10min. If you have kids under 8 this is more for you! Specially little kids 5under I can see them entertained here

I was looking so forward to the Grand opening of this Museum. Let me first say that the price is way to much for what is offered. After spending about 45 minutes browsing around I was sure there would be another building or something more to see either inside or out. I was wrong. There is so little in this area to keep young family's amused and this is not a place I would recommend.

Great for youngsters. Teens would probably be a little more bored, but awesome for the little ones.

This is a wonderful place to bring your child to beat the heat! It has a bunch of areas that can keep kids interested for hours; cars, grocery shop, lights, puzzles, fossils etc. it's a great place where kids can learn through exploration. I'd recommend ages 3+ though, they can do most of the activities besides the puzzles geared towards older kids. My son had a blast! -$9.99 per person -clean and big -perfect for ages 5 and up so they can do the mind puzzles too!

Perfect for both my 2 year old and 6 year old. Oh and my 34 year old husband. There's a lot to do, activities that help stimulate kids minds. What I liked about it the most were the different areas that help kids discover new things. There's an area with "brain busters" with activities to test their minds, a mini grocery store, a science room, puzzles, an arts and crafts room where kids can make whatever they want and so much more. This place is very interactive and a great way to challenge the minds of young people. This is a great outlet for the kids in the desert. My kids loved it, it's clean, fun, and the staff is great. The $10 admission is well worth it. They have air conditioning, so it's the perfect place to go to during the summer.

After 5 years of staying in a resort just down the street with my wife and kids, I finally found out about this museum and decided to take my two daughters here while my son was napping at the resort. It was really hot the day we came (like 115F) and they do a great job of air conditioning the museum so check marks there! Walking between building 1 and 2 is okay, but walking to building 3... that was a bit tough on a hot day like that. Building one. This is by far the largest of the buildings and we spent at least 90 minutes in here if not more. My girls were 9 and 6 at the time and most of the brain teasers in the first big room were way over my 6 year old's head, but my 9 year old and I really took to them. I didn't even solve half of them :( but I guess that's the fun in doing them. They have a large craft area which my girls love crafts so they spent 20 minutes alone working on a paper craft which we then forgot to take with us. (We were waiting for the glue to dry and didn't think of it till we got back to our resort.) In the second building is a lot of fun physics displays in the back part with floating balls and paper tops as well as the electric cars and science games. Also, they have a fairly decent wildlife activity area in the front of the building. That only takes about 5 minutes to do, but the back, my kids played there a lot longer. There weren't a lot of people the day we came so we could revisit exhibits over and over again and we did. After being in the third building, my kids wanted to come back to this building and revisit the exhibits. I think it was their favorite of the buildings. The third building was disappointing, especially with the heat we suffered through getting to it. They had just opened this as a sea-life experience, but it was kinda lame. It's a really good idea to do a sea life room, but the displays weren't interesting and we only were there for maybe 5 minutes tops. They should set up the little theater with an interesting sea-life movie for the kids to watch that is 15 minutes or so long, and redo the maze to actually be interesting and challenging and maybe make it a maze in the first place? It's supposed to be a kelp bed, but there isn't really anything to do except walk around. If they peppered a lot of facts throughout this for older kids to read which could give them clues to walk through the maze, it's a decent enough size to make this much better. I think when all was said and done, we spent nearly 3 hours at the museum which was a good chunk of our afternoon. That length of time made the pricing worth it though I think I'd be more in favor of them reducing the rate for adults since we don't really benefit much from this museum and keep the kid prices the higher price. Opposite of how it usually works with adult admission being more expensive, but I stood and watched them most of the time except in the first building where I participated in the brain teasers. I'll probably come again next year. It really is fun.

Oops, found this in my drafts! Great place to bing the kids, we do a summer get away to Palm Springs every year and this is always a fun stop. Get out of the sun and the kids work their brain muscles. Great place, and great staff! Sorry for the late post!

This place was a diamond in the rough for us. We came to Rancho Mirage/Palm Springs for my hubby's math conference early November of 2018. My young daughters and I needed something to do outside of our awesome hotel (we needed a pool break). There's not much stuff to do geared towards kids in this city except when we randomly found this place. We arrived a bit early and there was a toddler time/ Mommy and me play date sort of thing happening. I'm not sure if I paid more for my two girls than had I waited 15 minutes for their regular opening, but oh well, we were desperate for fun activities. Overall, this place kept my girl's (1 and 4) attention for a few hours. There were a few buildings to explore but we mainly stayed in the first two. It was pretty hot out and not much shade in between. My daughters enjoy building things, hearing things crash together, jumping on/off of stuff, and running around... all with a healthy dose of energy. We would definitely return!

We visited on Monday, 8/15 and it was not that busy. The kids ages 10, 7 and 3 all enjoyed their time here. We spent 3 hours exploring the whole museum. There is something for everyone, even adults. In building 1, which is the largest building also housing the entrance and gift shop - there is so much to touch and figure out. They have brain teaser tables, science games, music, pretend areas like a pretend vet, archeology dig, art area, reading, puzzles and blocks area, huge separate baby and toddler area, pretend grocery store and pizza parlor. Building 2 houses more reading areas, games of height, weight, strength, balance, flexibility, a lie detector, air science game and a giant race car track with Knex building prices to make race cars. Building 3 has games galore including a giant chess set. Was super a fun way to spend the morning on a hot day. Ask about reciprocal admission if you are visiting the area and have any children's museum pass. We saved 1/2 price that way.

We took a little family trip to the palm springs area and wanted to take our little toddler somewhere she can explore. So to the Children's Museum we go! We haven't ventured to many Children's Museum, so the last one we went to was in Phoenix, and that one was pretty freakin' amazing. So this one seemed a little less "amazing", but still we had a lot of fun exploring the entire place. It kept our little one entertained and we enjoyed the outside grassy area and walking to the different buildings. She loved running through the grass! So that was a plus to tire her out. Overall, I definitely would check it out if you have little ones. Worth the time and admission.

Kids learn to share, imitate, & imaginary play with science like projects. Outside area to hula hoop, run around the grass, & picnic benches. Inside has events on weekends like paint some pottery & make paper google eye things-- all included in the 8$ entrance fee! What a bargain for 3-5 h of science & fun. My kiddo (22 months) loved the rope tangle thing, magnet wall of tin cans, magnet nuts & bolts, grocery store, & imaginary car. (2.5 h of occupied attention). Other kids (older like 5-7) were enthralled with the fan, harp, pizza place, paint the VW bug, & dress up upstairs. I was surprised the noise level wasn't higher. Lots of interactive stuff including a CHIPS motorcycle! I enjoyed watching my only child socialize & imitate the bigger kids. Take off shoes for the rope tangled thing. Lots of grandparents & dads here. Attendants are nice & in good spirits. Bring your neighbors kid too so your kid will have a partner to play with while there. Lots of couple friends with their kids so adults can chat it up while kids are playing & learning within view. Worth a season pass if you live close enough.

Our children, ages 3 and 5 had the best time here! This museum has an outdoor area of activities and three buildings to wander through. Admission was a fair price, although they do start charging for kids 12 months and older which seems young to me (My Sister and her family have a 1 year old and a 6 year old that also attended) All the kids said they had a wonderful time and when we come back to visit this will be a stop our family will traditionally make.

Always a good place to take the little ones. Soo much to see and do. Price is fair. The only down fall is hours of operation. A bit late to open. I know it's the desert and maybe not too many kids but not to open till 12N is late.. and warmer especially in summer. We enjoyed the market, dress up and paint the car (awhile back).

I give it 4 stars only because I have been to a good number of children museums. I can compare. This museum is good for ages 2-7 maybe. They have three buildings. One main one featuring brain teasers, toddler room, etc. One for assembling cars and racing them. And one for table games. My 5 yer old son liked the car racing the most. My daughter liked stuff for toddlers in the main building. Compared to other museums we have seen such as Las Vegas, San Jose, San Diego etc we went through very fast and kids were bored after 1-2 hrs.

MUST visit if you have a child and in the are! Our toddler loved it and our hour stop ended up being almost 4hrs she couldnt have enough of the play & discovery!

Our children, ages 3 and 5 had the best time here! So much different than our Children's Museum in Seattle. This museum has an outdoor area of activities and three buildings to wander through. Admission was a fair price, although they do start charging for kids 12 months and older which seems young to me (My Sister and her family have a 1 year old and a 6 year old that also attended) All the kids said they had a wonderful time and when we come back to visit this will be a stop our family will traditionally make.

This place was great! I thought there was enough to do in the 1st building. Then discovered there's 2 more (albeit smaller than the 1st). This is our 1st time visiting, and we spent over 6 hours here and my kids (6 and 3 yo) still didn't want to leave. Unlike other Children's museums I've been to, this place can keep an adult decently entertained as well (if you like puzzles). I was determined to get through as many of the puzzles as I could. The only downside is everyone needs to pay, including the adults, which got a bit pricy. Although since it's a 501c nonprofit organization, and seeing how many exhibits they had and need to upkeep, I felt it was reasonable.

This place takes the "Discovery" part of its title seriously. Music, lighting, climbing, pulling, lifting, hoisting, acting, caring, cooking, shopping, playing and more, your child will discover new ways to learn, imagine and have fun. There's so much for your little ones to do here. My four year old spent almost an hour at a few stations/exhibits here - that is a LONG time for her. Her favorite exhibit was the "Today I Want to Be" exhibit. She loved playing veterinarian and helped each stuffed animal nearby with things from "ouchies", to "bad stomachs" and even did "surgery" on one. Next, she and a few other children played in the grocery store. Surprisingly, the children all got along (probably better than I've seen some adults act at the real grocery store). Finally, she loved playing pizza chef and waitress at the pizza parlor. Her imagination was allowed to flourish in such a playful environment. She also loved the exhibit "Let's Get Physical" exhibit's "Pull Yourself Up Pulleys". She was shocked that she was strong enough to pull herself up on the chair using the rope (and pulleys) and had a ton of fun showing off her muscles. The exhibit "Brain Buster Road" kept mom and dad busy for more than a half hour, as we tried to figure out some of the brain puzzles and even debated on solving some of them (Yours truly was 4 for 5 on the ones he tried to solve - thank you very much). At a cost of only $9.95 per person (ages 1 and over) and the fact that my child was entertained for hours while simulating her brain, this place is a great value, a great way to spend time together as a family and a great way to beat the Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage heat! We'll definitely be back on our next trip to Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage.

One of The best kids museums we've been to. Love the modern architecture, the brain busters, the vet, the pizza parlor and the over all vibe. The staff is so attentive and sweet. I love that they have a discount program for families on a budget. Every minute spent here the kids were busy having a wonderful time.

Great fun children's museum that is interactive and fun even for adults. Visited the museum with my 6 year old son in July and had a fun time. The interactive puzzle games are challenging even for adults, and the interactive "toys" like magnets and building toys are fun for all ages. Great place to escape the heat, and let the kids have fun. There are plenty of activities there to last several hours or longer.

This is one of, if not the best thing to do with children in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area! Inside is decently sized but open providing enough space for kids to let loose. Everything inside is hands on and 98% educational. Some of the brain teasers are evens difficult for adults, or at least me! They have multiple buildings with different themes including dinosaurs, and science. There is also a small tortoise exhibit, a trike course and musical instruments outside for use. We bought a year pass and will come back every chance we get. I can not recommend this place enough for anyone looking for aowmwhere to take their kids.

What a spectacular place! So much to explore. Fun for kids of all ages. It's playful and whimsy. Our visit was short, but was memorable! I will say- staff members were not very friendly. Not a single one of them cracked a smile. In one particular building (which was basically empty) this one gal literally watched our every move and literally came behind us to "clean up" after us. I get it- you want everything to look perfect. There is a way to do that without being uninviting. Not taking stars off for any of this because I'm reviewing the museum and not the adults that work here. However, You should take interest in creating a wonderful experience for your visitors. I took several pictures- I'll caption each one. Please message me if you have any questions. Bottom line- DO check this place out! It's pretty special! P.S- there is so much parking! There is a membership program- don't know many details though. Today members were building gingerbread homes! Admission prices were reasonable!

We enjoyed our visit with our two-year-old. Things he liked included an lighted exhibit which comprised primarily of plugging in and removing these light-up cylinders; the pretend grocery store; and going up the stairs. It appeared that the museum had activities for kids up to 10 years old. The museum is bright, sunny, air-conditioned, and nice. It seems you can buy a membership to the museum, and given how hot it gets out in this area, it seems like it could be a really good deal. ToddlerTown wasn't really a hit with my toddler, but it would've worked really well for him when he was between 4 and 18 months old. The place was also very clean. The toys looked good. It's $9.95 per person for everyone ages one and older.

Had a great time here . My 3 year old loved all of the cool things to do . They have three buildings with activities for all ages . Staff is very nice and helpful . Will definitely return soon

For me, this museum was 3 stars. My 4 year old daughter liked it quite a bit so I think 4 stars is about right. I've been to my fair share of children's museums and this one, well, it was a little lackluster. It was clean and not crowded, both very good things. However, a handful of the displays or machines were out of order, which is always kind of a bummer. But three or four exhibits in particular stood out, including the little pizza parlor, the grocery store, the dress-up area, and the area where you can paint a real VW Bug. We spent three hours at the museum which is not bad at all in terms of value. Obviously, charging adults and kids the same price is ridiculous but in a "fair" world, the kid would be charged $20 and the adults would be charged $3 based on how much each person gets out of the place. I suppose it all shakes out in the end. Food and drinks are prohibited but, as far as I could tell, they don't serve any food or drinks there so it's not the competition they are worried about. I'm counting this as another strike. Kids need to eat or snack once in awhile and they need to drink, too, and so do most adults. I know you don't want to get the floors and displays all messy but how about just making folks eat outside or in a little designated area? Problem solved. I don't know if I would come back but the kid liked it and she would likely enjoy it again on a return so 4 stars it is.

I'm confused by all the very high ratings this museum has received. We live here full time and road travel more than the average family- we've been to different children's museums all over the country and in other countries and unfortunately the town we live in has the worst one. It's outdated, with weak exhibits and the for the size of the three buildings, there seems to be a lot of room for more exhibits and more things to do. Many times the exhibits are cluster of beat up toys or just really something so completely uninteresting to anyone. We have been coming here for 4 years, since our kiddo was 1 - and we've never spent more than an hour or so here. The only redeeming thing about this place is that it's a relief from the incessant heat and is a makes for a lackluster indoor playground - an expensive one at that. So if money is a concern - you are better off going to the movies or mini golfing or the library. The director here needs to take a day trip to Phoenix and see what a really wonderful and successful children's museum looks like. The differences are night and day and makes this children's museum look pitiful in comparison. I realize Phoenix is a much bigger city - and don't foresee a little town like ours to go for the gold in that sense - but does it have to be as bad as it now? We have had a membership for two separate years in a row and thought each time what a waste of money. We sure hope they get someone in charge there that can make a difference there and in the community.

Here you are - in the desert - your kids are waterlogged and you are starting to lose patience with applying sunblock to your little squirmers....what to do what to do? Head to the children's museum! This spot will keep the family cool and entertained for a couple hours. There are plenty of interactive displays for kids of all ages. Just watch the adults get sucked into solving the puzzles or building a car! Fun place, bring a picnic lunch and make a day of it!

Cute little shop that sells little gift items for your tots from those small plastic wild animals (My daughter chose a polar bear, buffalo and parakeet.) to puzzles and kid's jewelry as well as limited snacks (chips) or drink choices for the adults. I think the only options were Pepsi, Diet Pepsi or Water. What about us Coke drinkers? Just kidding! I'm sure that we'll take another stroll or two through here if we come back to Palm Springs because my daughter enjoyed their museum, although Mom, not so much. =P

Came here with our 4 year old for something to do besides play in the hotel pool all day and to get out of the heat. Air conditioning-wise the museum was great. But that's kind of where the great ends. Greeted by a semi-friendly staff person at the desk who explained they have 3 buildings and their new theme for the farthest building is Splash and Bubbles - PBS Kids. Everything here seems drab and needs a huge refresh- get rid of the nasty carpet and replace it with vinyl tile that can be cleaned more easily. Even new paint on the walls and fun kid-friendly murals everywhere would help right away. First room in the main building had some items that entertained our kid for a total of about 15 minutes and then we moved on. The ramp to go upstairs was closed for camp so next we went to the archaeologist area for less than 5 minutes. Our kid blew past the toddler area and made her way into the next room. There were tables with various items to build with and a grocery store and pizza parlor that held our kid's interest the longest. However, inside the grocery store and pizza parlor there's no actual money for the registers, a couple of the aprons were ripped and most of the food looks like it needs to be replaced. Had we known not much else was going on in the other buildings we probably would have stayed longer in this area. Saw one employee in the first room and he worked on picking up stuff that was left out - not much interaction with anyone. The biggest draw in the next building by far is building your own race car and putting it on the track. They have a ton of parts for you to start building, but only 3 motors total. So, you end up waiting until another kid loses interest and you can use their motor (meanwhile your kid is getting bored and wondering why the race car isn't built yet). Note: the motor we finally got was on its last leg so our kid was totally annoyed that the race car barely wanted to move. Saw one employee in this area and she appeared out of nowhere to tell a kid to get off the race car table and then disappeared again. The last building was the worst. The room was all about Splash and Bubbles, but there really was no discovery stuff of any kind going on in there. We spent about 10 minutes total in there. Saw two employees here - one was in charge of the older camp kids and had to keep on top of them for misbehaving and another just walked around telling kids not to hang on the help forest ropes. On the walk back to the exit our kid found the outside musical area and had fun playing different xylophones, but it wasn't shaded so we didn't let her play for long. There are so many ways to make this place great and engaging for kids of all ages, but it's not happening right now. Reading past reviews it sounds like they got rid of some of the more popular items (namely painting the VW bug), which we had seen in pictures and forgot about when we went. Maybe the director needs to visit some children's museums in other cities because this one misses the mark by far! Overall, if you have literally nothing else to do with a young kid and want to spend some money to get out of the heat, come here for a small portion of your day. If your kids are 8 or older this place will definitely not interest them. When reviewing our day today with our 4 year old, she didn't even mention going to this museum...and that's saying something because we were there for a few hours.