Julia M.
Yelp
This is the second time my daughter and I took my granddaughter to the Sandbox Children's Museum. The first time we went, there were no issues at all. The little one had a great time and we felt very welcomed by the staff.
However, this time we felt the experience was not as good and the main reason was because of the attitude & actions of some employees.
First off, while we were checking in, the staff was not as friendly and helpful as they were on our previous visit. They had a bit of an attitude because we didn't make reservations before coming. We have a toddler- it's not always easy to preplan your whole day when you have a toddler. Reservations were not full so we were able to go right in.
Later on, my granddaughter, who will be three in a month, wanted to play in the area marked for children two & under. At the time, there were no other children playing in that area, so we let her play. An employee walked by and asked how old she was. We told her and she rudely said that she had aged out and that she needed to leave that area. So we left the museum.
We could understand if there were children younger than her playing there at the time, but there was no one else in there at all! And my granddaughter is a toddler, not a 6 or 8 year old child, for goodness sakes! It was silly. Use common sense and reasonable discretion when deciding when to enforce certain policies! But truly, the rude & condescending attitude of the employee is what made it so irritating.
My daughter did reach out to the Executive Director to discuss the situation and received an apology, so we will give them another chance next time my daughter & granddaughter come to visit.
The place is pretty small overall and I would not recommend for older kids as all of the exhibits/play spaces are limited and really geared for younger kids.
I personally think $12 per person for admission is a bit much for what the place actually has to offer, but as long as my granddaughter is entertained, we are willing to pay it. She wil likely "age out of it" in a few years unless they add some new & more advanced exhibits/play areas.