The Discovery

I love this place. It was just my husband and myself this time, but I would love to bring my kids and Grandkids here. Lots to see and do. The entrance cost was only 15$ per person, great value. Be sure to hit up their gift shop, it's got a bunch of cool stuff for sale.

We love this museum! Lots to enjoy for both kids and adults. We especially love the area where kids can play with the water and boats. I only wish their little kid play area was bigger.

Good place to spend a whole day with the kid. The Lake Tahoe / Truckee river watershed model is very fun. We even adult enjoy it a lot.

We had a fun time while visiting. Our kiddo loved the 5 and under area as well as the water table. If your kiddo is older I'm sure they would have more fun.

We love The Discovery! Perfect for a weekday morning to let our toddler run around & explore. I appreciate that the exhibits are entertaining for adults & children alike!

My kids and I love this place and get an annual membership. There is so much to see and do. The exhibits change but not too fast. The staff is friendly and welcoming, Jim is the best, he does the best science shows and is so great with interacting with everyone. It’s clean and so much fun

5 out of 5 stars! This place is awesome!!! Me, my 3 yr old and my husband were entertained for hours. SO much to see, and SO much fun stuff to do...for all ages. Staff super friendly. I know every time we return to Reno we will be making a stop here, wish we lived closer. Fantastic place to take the entire family or just yourself.

Entertainment for the young and old! Lots of exhibits and puzzles to interact with. It takes a couple of hours (total) to fully enjoy the different areas in the museum. Highly recommended for families, and the staff are accommodating for large and small school trips.

Honest kiddo reviews: Do it!!! For the kids! 5/5 So thankful I decided to come in today.... I haven't been in the discovery in years and I can simply say that it's an amazing experience didn't remember... From the 5 and under play place for kiddos, it's amazing to have a place where they can play and explore creativity with other children and get to experience so many sensory pleasing experiences that help stimulate children's creativity and energy. Then you have tech, as well as knowledge for adults to thrive in as well while kids play with stem toys and explore their engineering minds.. Simply amazing to have a place like this for children to find more of their creative nature.

My kids are about to go into middle school and we have been coming here for ten years. The thing I really appreciated about this trip with them was the maker space. They were able to use tools like cardboard cutters and hot glue guns to create whatever they wanted to. The creative outlet in the quiet room was a much needed retreat from the loud hustle of all the other rooms with spring break camps going on. One son made a skateboard, one made a pterodactyl and I made a Weiner dog. As an early childhood teacher I'd like to make the suggestion to move from typical "low temp" glue guns to "cool tool" variety, which is are significantly less hot. I know, I used them with my four year olds. I encourage the museum to get one and do an experiment to see the difference. While there I heard many people, including adults and my own son, reel from the hot glue on this skins.

This was a fun place to bring my 7 year old. There were plenty of different themed activity rooms we could explore on our own at our own pace. My son loved the interactive rooms where he could touch and look at all the displays. It's a fun learning experience that we could spend several hours at and probably will be back at some time in the future. The staff were friendly and helpful. The entry price was very reasonable, and unless you buy stuff from the gift shop which could be a bit pricy. We look forward to coming back!

Please take your kids here! Take yourself here! Learning through play is one of the best ways to get children ready to learn. The discovery has some many different activities for all afi ranges and my kids (5 & 13) have some much fun when we go!! Plus it's indoor so for this summer heat, it's a perfect afternoon activity!

my kids, wife, and I love this children's museum and visit frequently. there are plenty exhibits from the human body, green energy, conservation, arts and crafts, dinosaurs, water, conservation, etc. The update the museum every few months. we also provide birthday party celebrations and they have a store and a sitting area for lunch. Multiple times during the day they provided an entertaining scientific demonstration.

Such a great experience. We had friends in town with kiddos. So we headed over there and spent about 3hrs roaming around into each room. Lots of great exhibits and interactive rooms for kids (and adults) to explore and play. The bottom level has a cool display of the Truckee River water flow from Tahoe and a huge climbing "tree" that lots of kids were going up and down in. I'd highly recommend this experience. It was a great time and there's a gift shop. They also have a private parking lot.

Kids had a blast, lots of interactive things for both adults and kids. Drop by if you're bored and have nothing else to do in Reno!

We love this museum and were thrilled when our 3-year-old was gifted a year membership. Unfortunately, every time we visit, it feels overwhelmingly crowded, making it hard for him to enjoy. On weekends, there's barely any elbow room, and on weekdays, multiple school field trips happen at once. The exhibits and water play area become chaotic, and I find myself more focused on keeping him safe than letting him explore. Many older kids run wild with little supervision, snatching toys and pushing past younger ones, while their parents are often preoccupied with their phones or reading on a bench. I really wish there were designated times for younger kids to play safely. Until then, we'll have to be very selective about when we visit.

This is a very good children's science museum. I was concerned it might be "too young" for my teenagers, but they were right at home with the content. Here are some highlights: 1. There is a water table exhibit on the basement floor that shows how Lake Tahoe delivers water to the Truckee River and then Pyramid Lake. That was a lot of fun to experiment with little boats and moving rocks around and opening gates on the river. There's also a climbing into the clouds exhibit alongside, but my kids were too big to climb. Looked amazing for smaller bodies though! 2. There's an Astronomy room on the basement floor as well where you can build a container to go into space, including equipment, energy source, communication devices, and then you test it on a table to see if it can survive the rocking and rolling of getting into space. Very enjoyable for both teenagers. 3. The Mindbender Mansion had tons and tons of puzzles for all age groups. It was fun for at least an hour. Highly recommended for adults and kids. My only suggestion would be more places for adults to sit while kids play. There were a few places, but if I could have sat down for a bit longer, the teenagers would have stayed a lot longer.

Loved this place! We came here while vacationing. Our little one loved every minute of it. Unlike some of the kid museums in California, most of the items were functional here hahah It wasn't super crowded on weekend which was nice and we got to take our time doing all the activities. The only downside would be the cost but worth it every penny.

Always great for the young kids. Water play in Lake Tahoe, rope tower to climb, 5 and under play area with toy car to fix, building blocks. Most recently with an anatomy section.

This place is awesome! We were staying in Reno, after going to the snow and this was the best thing we did the whole trip, including the snow! The employees were as sweet at cream, there were puppies, and so many kid activities! 1000% recommend, and will return anytime we are in Reno. Wish we had something like this near me. The bathrooms were clean and accessible to families on every floor, which is always appreciated. They had a science demo which was hands on and all the kids participated. Everything is hands on, which was super cool. So much more fun than we expected!

I took a tween here and was frankly expecting to kind of dread it, but it was so fun for both of us!! What a great place for the community.

What a great way to spend an afternoon with young minds! Okay I'm a grandpa and I found myself engulfed in some of the puzzles and fascinated by the scientific displays! There are lots and lots of things to keep kids of all ages busy! It is educational and fun! There is a seasonal area to make it easy to return and keep kids interested in what's new. There is even a craft building area! Stop by the gift shop to get some cool toys and science based kits as well!

Great space for kids. Clean. Interesting and educational rotation exhibits. Gem of a spot downtown.

A super fun hands on age appropriate experience for kids of all ages including grown ups. The displays change regularly and they even have various meeting rooms for private events and parties. Strong community support keep this center going and they have a variety of entry fees based on your interest. We got a pass to bring grandkids.

Great place to bring the kids . Seemed like they offered classes for children as we seen various rooms filled with kids and colored coordinate shirts. They have a gift shot to purchase a bunch of interesting games for children. I did not see a place to buy food such as a cafeteria however, we stayed in the main play area areas.

Had so much fun taking my little lady here. She has dementia, aphasia, and macular degeneration. I love taking her places where she can see vivid things, watch the children laugh, and play. We did some hands-on stuff, watched some videos, and learned some new things. It was very busy and loud due to all of the kids being on Christmas break . Next time, we'll try going when the kids are back in school. Wonderful place for kids and adults.

GO-TO WHEN VISITING RENO WITH THE KIDS This experience is inclusive to children and adults of all ages. You enter on the second floor where there are rooms designated for different exhibits, activities, and children of certain ages. My kids are under 2 years old but we were still able to visit and interact with every room in The Discover. During the time we went, they had a special mental health exhibit, which I, as an adult, enjoyed going through and learning from. On the lower level of the building are more rooms and a water play/playgroundish area. We spent nearly three hours playing in The Discover and not for a second were we bored. When we went, there was a field trip of nearly 100 fifth graders. Upon checking in, the lady at the front desk was very nice to warn us that it may get very loud and overstimulating for our kids and that if we couldn't handle it at that time, we were welcome to come back any time of the day. This will always be on the itinerary when visiting my in-laws in Reno.

My son loved this place. I was a little disappointed with how expensive it was ($27 for me and a 4 year old). (**updated after faulty remembering, still is expensive since there was only one area he could really participate in**) Glad we could bring our own food and drinks and make a day out of it, which I did. We came on a day with a field trip of 5th graders but that didn't really impact our visit. Would recommend it just a little expensive considering most of what was there was over my son's head and outside of his understanding.

Visited the kids museum during their survival of the slowest exhibit. They open at 10 am, Kids tickets $11 and adults are $13. (Side note you can purchase tickets as gifts for birthdays, holidays, anniversaries etc.) The museum has two levels and is very open. We especially like the play area under 5 because it allows the kids to use their imagination! My son enjoyed seeing the animals and running around from room to room. We can't wait to come back !

I spent the better part of my day here with my kids. I love that there's something for all ages here. I miss when my oldest had these same curious eyes as my toddler. I love that we can all learn every time we're here. We had a blast from building a habitat, learning about the different types of energy to exploring outer space. Before we knew it; 4 hours flew right by. I think I know where my next birthday party will be hosted. On our visits here, staff has always been fairly friendly. Thank you, Discovery!This mom appreciates you giving my kids educational fun! We'll be back soon!

After many trips to Reno in the past few years I am so glad we finally visited this museum. There is fun and learning for all ages from baby to 100. I brought my 1 and 6 year old to the musuem thinking we'd only stay for 2 or 3 hours but ended up staying all day until they closed! We visited all of the learning environments and gained a little more knowlege from each room. My son got to hold a lizard, watch the sloth feeding, feed a turtle and participate in an "oobleck" science experiment. We explored science in the areas of living repiles, anatomy, electricity, motion, light, sound, outer space and art. There is also a toddler playroom with a play structure, car garage, mining area and more. I LOVED that all the exhibits have hands on activities with age appropriate and easy understand descriptions. Lastly, on the bottom level is a very large replica of the Truckee landscape with river flowing and cloud climber. Now that we've been once, I'm sure we'll be back again. I would much rather spend my time and money at this museum than the casino arcade.

The kid loves it here. They have $5 Wednesday after 4 so it's perfect in the winter to keep the kids entertained

Great for toddlers - would really keep them entertained for hours! The exhibits for older kids seemed a little lacking though. My 3 yo especially loved the climbing structure, water area, and PAINTING! They mix their paint with dishsoap so it comes off of clothes easily. Definitely save the water play for last and bring a change of clothes.

This was a pretty nice museum for kids and family to explore. It's not as big as other children's museums we've been to, & it's all indoor, but it has some cool features. We really enjoyed the Truckee Connects water area and the Cloud Climber. Some areas were very hands on, and we had fun in the Mindbender Mansion. Kids of different ages can appreciate different things. Lots of different kinds of info to browse. Several "out of order" signs here & there were a bummer. The Under the Stars room seemed too dark. Staff upfront was nice. There is a cute gift shop. Restrooms seemed well-maintained. Hand sanitizer dispensers were located throughout.

Review specifically for the adult night event! We attended the Social Science Freakshow event last night and overall had a great time! Really enjoyed the special event exhibits and activities (I mean I can't say I would've tried 3 varieties of crickets and ants anywhere else!) as well as exploring the traditional offerings. $25 for admission plus two drinks and food felt extremely reasonable! Only drawback was the number of people, so minus one star for that. I wish they would've sold like, 25% fewer tickets. Lines for a couple of the activities were suuuper long and we spent like 40 minutes in just one, and didn't even have time for another. For an event that's only 3 hours, it's a pretty large portion of the time. But overall, a great time and we'd probably come back for another!

Came on a Monday and our 2 and 5 year old and had the best time. There was so much to explore and not enough time to see it all. The different rooms had themes, like puzzles, space, and art. There's also a fun physics demonstration. The biggest hits were the climb structure and river feature downstairs. Staff were super friendly. They even told us there's in and out privilege which is helpful since there are no food options inside.

The Earth Day Reno Group I volunteered for this past year hosted a private party/appreciation dinner for it's sponsors and volunteers. Our group had the whole venue to ourselves after hours on a Saturday. Pretty spanky, huh? Great place to bring kids, little and big kids, as the museum is interactive and very informative. The space is huge, so kids can run around in a safe place, get their energy out, making it a great place for moms and dads too. Our event was catered and there was a place where food could be heated up, then served in a private dining room. Great place to host parties for families with children. Cool exhibits. My favorite exhibit were the rocks of Northern Nevada and also the parts of the body. Cool souvenir shop. I don't think it was open for our event though.

Kiddo loved it. There were lots of campers released to explore when we were there but hey... summer camp/break is a thing. Lots of a variety of exhibits. Some more interesting to the 5 year old than others. The truckee river display (obviously... water), the outer space room, the da Vinci room and the little kid section all took up a large chunk of our visit. Joined as we will def be regularly going there to learn, explore and have fun. Props to the scientist man that did the fog ring experiment for everyone. It reminded me of the caterpillars smoke rings in Alice in Wonderland.

With interactive exhibits and displays the discovery museum is perfect for kids and adults. While not an adults museum so to speak I cannot tell you how many time I find myself playing and interacting with the exhibits while our daughter plays. We purchased a museum membership this past year and our favorite thing to do is go on Wednesday morning for the small wonders time. This is a special time for under 5 to enjoy the museum at a slower pace. The adult nights look ABSOLUTELY amazing and hopefully we can partake in the after hours fun A must-visit destination that combines fun and education in an exceptional way.

Ok Patrick. I suppose when I purchased 5 tickets for my family to visit doesnt count as "paying admission" to use the restroom for 60 seconds.

I haven't been back to this museum for nearly a decade. I use to always bring my nephew here because he loved the cloud climber and the Trucked Connects at the lower levels. Today we came back to see the allosaurus and "Monsterfish" exhibits, and discovered the "Mindbender Mansion" where we all had fun solving some of the puzzles.

I was pleasantly surprised by this discovery center. They have lots of science exhibits (light, energy, space, animals, human body, etc) that are very informative for both children and adults. The kids will absolutely LOVE the watershed model where they can learn about the local natural water resource and "race" their boats along the flowing water. Don't forget to check out the "cloud" play structure, which is packed but lots of fun. The animal exhibit is a favorite which has live lizards, and also a sloth (you can watch them get fed sometimes). Parking lot is small so be prepared to drive around a few times.

Hosting a private event at The Discovery is the best idea you could ever have! If you know me, you know I've hosted several myself, but I finally got to attend one as a guest and it was an absolute blast! For starters, it's an interactive museum and there's fun around every corner, whether you're a kid or an adult, or an adult there with a kid. The exhibits are all so engaging, and they're advanced enough for absolutely anyone to have fun. The space is massive. For really large groups that means plenty room to spread out and plenty of space to setup whatever you may need for your guests. During these pandemic times this is extremely nice because you can social distance and everyone can feel comfortable. There are several smaller private rooms too that can be used for the event. During the party I attended one housed all the food and another was setup with an experiment and activity lead by the museum! Lastly, they added a beautiful state and light setup in the recent past and that can be made available for events as well. Basically this is a turn key venue in a lot of ways and when you book here you know you're supporting an important institution in the community!

This place is one of my son's favorite places to visit. I've been here several times with my kids and with students on field trips. They have different areas for kids to explore and hands-on learning is encouraged. From climbing the cloud, playing with boats and balls in the Truckee River watershed, to the various STEM activities there is something for all young kids. They have a room just for kids under 5, which I appreciate as a parent of littles. They have party rooms that are great for birthdays too. We have a family membership and it's definitely worth it! You get your money's worth after a few visits. If you have kids, this is a place to check out.

This was my first time back at the Discovery in years! I forgot how large it is! I took my 2 year old as we were gifted some tickets for her birthday. While the museum itself is a great experience overall and there is lots to do, I wouldn't say it's good for 2 and under. The top floor had a lot of fun exhibits to explore, but again, not for a 2 year old. I was definitely more interested than she was haha. She did seem to enjoy the monsterfish exhibit though. I tried to show her some of the interactive things, but I did find that a lot of stuff wasn't working properly or at all, which was very unfortunate. There was a fun station to move lights/dots around a board so we spent some time there, and I saw behind us there is a giant scrabble board which I think could be so fun! We also had some fun with the clear coloring wall! There is a room dedicated for 5 and under that we spent most of our time in that had a fun treehouse/slide, a car to work on, some foam rocks/mining stuff. She had a really great time in there and I do appreciate the dedicated space for the young ones to enjoy. We eventually made it down to the lower level which was very busy with the different camps happening. I chose to not allow her to go up in the cloud climber because there were just soo many big kids I didn't want anything to happen, but I do recall going in myself a few years ago and it is a very fun attraction! There is a very fun and large water feature for the kids to play in and there are areas that are shorter than others so the young ones can enjoy it as well. Overall the museum has tons to do and as an adult, it is all very fascinating. It's a great place to take the older kids for sure. I just wouldn't recommend if you only have a 2 year old like myself.

Took the kids here twice this year and every time there is always something new. The staff is amazing: so friendly and informative. Customer service is definitely a plus especially when you have eager kids with so many questions. Also the place is always kept so clean and I'm not sure HOW? with kids all over the place all day LOL. My kids' favorite area is the big cloud structure downstairs where they can climb up to the top.. it looks a little scary to me but it keeps the kids occupied.

It was my first time visiting this museum with my 17 month old. We were very excited. The first thing we did was visit the room that was meant to be for children 5 and under. As soon as we entered, we noticed many older looking kids, once of which almost trampled my child if I hadn't Intervened and pulled my child out of the way. There were many children obviously older than 5 in there and no staff to enforce the rule. Those older kids have the whole museum to explore but we're in the one section that is safest for the littles. I was very disappointed and will be calling tomorrow to follow up.

My first children's museum so I have no basis for comparison, but my almost-3 year-old loved it. Clearly built by someone who understands children, and they even allow you to go in and out as many times as you want for the entire day. The exhibits are amazingly thoughtful and clever, catering to an impressive age range at varying levels. Educational but also very fun, and their cloud climber is so cool. Their newest exhibit even has a live sloth! If you have kids, it's definitely worth a visit, and you'll probably enjoy it too.

This venue was excellent for both children and adults. My husband and I had just as much fun as our kids did. With multiple rooms and exhibits, it's ideal because you can easily spend an entire day there if you want to.

Wow, what a great place for kids and kids at heart. We were there for close to 4 hours and could of been there for another 2 if we didn't have a prior engagement. It's great fun for all ages - (the mind bending puzzle room was my favorite). They truly had everything to peak interests. Anatomy, magnetics, puzzles, space, art...Well worth the money, which wasn't much for our family of 5. My pictures don't do it any justice and I would of taken more but I was having so much fun I forgot I even had a phone for taking more. :) All the staff were so polite and friendly. For the COVID concerned-99% of the staff were walking around with spray bottles disinfecting everything touchable. Masks were a must and they had disinfecting stations throughout the facility.

This place was great for my 7yo son and 5yo daughter. We stayed four hours on a Wednesday afternoon, and the kids made friends and loved playing in the water area and climbing in the clouds. They and I also had fun in the puzzle room.

Boy, I wish a place like this was around when I was a kid. I took my niece sister and brother-in-law here for my nieces fifth birthday and all of us had a wonderful time here the exhibit we're engaging and informative. I am so glad that they made the monster fish exhibit a permanent addition to the museum. I highly recommend it with one proviso double check the calendar for the Museum Because we had planned to go to the previous day (11/3) but it was closed due to a fundraising event along with that there is at least one small corner of that was previously they're traveling exhibit area, but now is a makeshift play area. I hope they will be adding a new exhibit space in this part of the museum.

First time at this museum because the reviews were so good and I am glad we found time to stop by. This was a wonderful place to visit for our 19month old. She loved all the parts of the museum! The staff is so friendly and very engaging with the guests. It looks like the staff does a few demonstrations or share outs for the guests. We didn't get to watch a few of the demonstrations because our little one was so excited to walk around but we heard the cheers from the crowd who seemed to love it. They have a lot of interactive activities for all ages and lots of different reptiles, animals, exhibits on the human body, an area for da Vinci, display of some of the Great Lakes, and much more! We will definitely come back next time we're in Reno!

Ok so this is the first year I didn't have a membership and now that we are here on a Wednesday for the after 4pm $5 deal, I am regretting my decision of not getting a membership. So that will be happening today. Anyway....there are so many rooms of activities and learning! I can find something for my kids (under 5) in each room which is great. Of course the most fun being the under 5 room, under the stars, truckee connects, and all the crafts. I highly recommend to anyone wanting a day to get the kids energy out and use their brains! It's so much fun for everyone! I catch myself playing in the rooms as I watch them!

This place is amazing! We had a random empty day to fill on a Wednesday while visiting from the Bay Area. We've been to many science museums but this was one of the best ones yet! We started our day at 10am and the kids asked to go back after lunch. I personally loved the exhibits about mental illnesses. What a cool place!

This place is amazing! So many exhibits that are fun and educational. Upstairs, there are many stations like a marble run and even one that times you to put together platters of food as it moves (think Lucy and Ethel at the chocolate factory). There's a giant electro sketch and my 4 yo was so happy to create energy that launched a magnet. Super pleased and would absouleuly come back. We came here at 1030am, had a snack, and I literally had to drag my kiddo out at 2pm.

We have recently become members & let me say, it is WORTH IT! The staff here is excellent at maintaining clean play/learning spaces. The discovery is constantly rotating their exhibits and they strive to bring in new educational experiences for littles! The crafts are always great and inventive. My absolute favorite thing they have implemented is the snack area in the gift shop because it gives my kids something to look forward to on the way out! Thank you for continuing to provide educational experiences through play (: