The Sandbox Children's Museum

I found out about this place through a school field trip. This place is beautiful and the playground area is amazing with the pirate ship playground! I love the additional water features that come with it. The staff was friendly and a joy to be around. I took one star away because they are featuring a non-Gullah artist artwork to represent the Gullah culture. I wish they would feature someone who is Gullah and have their artwork in there to represent the Gullah segment that they have. If I am wrong about the Artist, then I will amend this review. Otherwise, I wish they would consider those changes. Other than that, the place is great and I do recommend others to visit.

I almost don’t want to share how wonderful this place is because it feels like such a hidden gem…but it truly deserves the praise! The museum is beautifully laid out, thoughtfully maintained, and perfectly situated next to a great park. What really sets it apart is how well the space is maintained throughout the day. Staff regularly come through to gently tidy and reset areas as children are playing, so even if you don’t arrive right at opening, the exhibits still feel fresh, inviting, and ready to be explored. And it is very clean! It’s ideal for babies through early elementary ages (roughly 6 months to 7 years), with plenty to enjoy for older kids who love dramatic play or are visiting with younger siblings.

Great place to take the kiddos to cool off from the hot sun, or something to do inside on a rainy day… sells out quick so should book a day or two in advance. My kids had a blast and didn’t want to leave! Convenient parking and right next to a park and playgrounds.

We had a great visit during our recent trip to HHI. It was clean and the kids had a blast! I think the staff could be a little friendlier. The museum manager was a little stern/not very inviting attitude towards the children. They also don’t allow children to drink water inside which isn’t ideal in this heat. Overall the space was lovely and we’d return in future!

Beautiful playground for children! You need to book in advance for a specific time slot, but you can arrive at any point during that period. We went with a 15-month-old baby. He was the smallest one there, but he enjoyed it so much! Highly recommended.

Such a fun little spot to visit with young kiddos! We brought our 2 year old and he had a blast, especially with the outdoor play section. It was not very busy on a weekday morning in February.

Great place for the kids and parents to interact and play. Every toddler+ toy imaginable. It was so cute watching them share so freely. Even selfish kid didn't stand a chance to have power. The others would go fine and head off in another direction and grab something else to play with. Some families come weekly. Ventriloquist, art and craft person, a balloon artist that could make incredible things while talking to the child. Wonderful 3 hours windows that left the kids so full of joy.

This was a wonderful break from the sun and the heat! It is geared towards toddlers to younger elementary age. Our 8 year old loved it! There are art options, play kitchen, airplane simulator, cars, books, an indoor sandbox to play in, etc. There is also an outdoor play area if you want. It is next door to a wonderful city park and playground. They take reservations and I recommend making them.

Interactive play. Go online and make reservations if your children want to experience the museum. They fill up fast. You have morning and afternoon sessions available. There are both indoor and outdoor activities. You would have to see if it is a place your kids would want to play and learn.

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.

Great activity for the kids! Lots to do and the staff were very sweet and friendly. Make reservations beforehand because it does fill up early, especially if there is the hint of rain in the forecast or if it's busy season. Best stocked art room I've ever seen!

This is such a cute place! We are from out of town and needed an activity to do with the kids in our group. This is a great spot for indoor play. When they said interactive, it's very interactive! I really appreciate the precautions that the employees take when it comes to the safety of the children. They do a staggered entrance, and lock the doors after a certain amount of time. There was a plenty to do. There's a dress up area, a big slide, a play grocery store, sand play, race cars, a toddler area, a play diner, and even outside play! My favorite part of the place was probably the craft room. You could stay in there all day. There are endless supplies to make anything you can think of. I also appreciate all of the craft kits and ideas! I want to also shout out the staff, who were pretty amazing, especially Ms.Alicia (I think? Please forgive me), the executive director. My only complaint is that the place isn't bigger!

Book ahead multiple days! Impossible to get tickets, especially if there is rain the the forecast.

We loved the Sandbox! The staff was extremely welcoming and friendly. We ended up being able to walk in right away because of a cancellation. Would recommend making a reservation! There is a ton of different play areas set up and everything was extremely clean! This would make a great gift for someone visiting or a local! Our girls (5.5 and 3) absolutely loved it and could have stayed for hours.

The Sandbox, Children's Museum of Hilton Head, SC Date of visit : April 29th, 2024 So this is a little unusual review. My son was playing on the playground next door, which by the way is super cool with pirate ship and all. He bumped his head and started crying. I was out of the park with the dog, since dogs are not allowed on the children's playground. I went toward them and grab my son which happened to be right outside of the Sandbox outside area. One of the workers, heard him and told us to come inside. Once inside, they were the most friendly people ever, they not only got an ice pouch for his head, but also gave him a popsicle and we even got a tour of the museum and they let him play with a few of the toys there. He was so happy and felt better in no time. The inside is pretty great, they have a fake supermarket, some sensory area, a plane cockpit and so much more. If you are in the area with you kid, I highly recommend checking it out, I know for sure we will go next time we are in town. Just do keep in mind, you must have reservations as they used timed entry system

This is a fun spot for kids. We didn't do pre-order tickets but we did go and purchase tickets at the door. The lady at the front counter was scolding us a little bit about not having pre-order tickets. I thought it was a little weird because they weren't busy and we just walked right up. She mentioned several times about the time limit inside the museum. there was also a few times where she was following people and families around and micromanaging them on how to use certain items or what to do with things. I honestly thought it was a little much. As people have mentioned the place is small, but there is a lot of things to do if your kids are on the younger side, we used up our whole time limit for the museum and we honestly could've stayed longer if we could. Don't forget that there is also an outdoor space where there is some activities to do. If your kids like pretend play or dressing up, then this is the perfect place to go. I would definitely go here again if I was in the area. It's also close to a lot of other main attractions.

This is a great little spot with easy access for kids. We visited and the price point was good for kids ages 3-10, I'd skip it after that unless your kiddo has additional needs then they may love it!

Great space for kids in a great location. Made a reservation as recommended (it's not an endless space, so I understand the need) My 5yo had a great time doing a bit of everything and making friends. Amazing park next store (happened to be a small music festival going on) which made for a nice break from the beach.

Drove 4 hours to attend this museum and then arrived and was told we had to have a reservation to attend. Have some very sad kiddos. Absolutely ridiculous.

Just being a child again was so much fun! Oh and it was also fun to play with my grandson! So many activities and such a learning experience! This is one of the best children's museums I've been to especially for a learning museum! Will definitely return when I'm back in Hilton head again!

The staff there was awesome! It is encouraged to make reservations which allow for 3hr timed visits. You can go within that time block but can only stay for the amount of time left in that block. This is a very small but activity packed children's museum. We took our 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old tans they had a ball! We only went for about 2 hours of our reservation due to naps but wish we would have went sooner to utilize the whole 3 hours block. There is a lot to do and the museum has a pretty open concept that I could watch both kids at one time in a lot of the centers they had to offer. Excellent arts and craft room! Do it first so your stuff can dry before you leave. We will be back again for sure!

We showed up from out of town for my daughter's 2nd birthday and unfortunately learned the hard way that you need a reservation. We made one for the next morning. The place was really nice and we stayed longer than we have stayed at other play areas. The car building/racing station was a big hit with my 4.5 year old son. My daughter loved the outdoor area. It was so hot out, but they do have it shaded. I took a star off- due to having to pay for adults. I've never had to pay for adult admission at a kids' play place. I was also disappointed when we arrived the first time and found out we couldn't get in- I explained to the lady we have never been to the area before and asked if there was anywhere else we could take our kids to play and she told me "no, not really." So, we went back to our resort pool. When we were there playing the next day, behind their building is a nice big playground we could have gone to when we were turned away the day before ! If we are ever in HHI again, we would still visit this place again.

This is the worst children's museum we have ever been to. From extremely rude employees to lackluster play equipment for younger children. Definitely don't recommend

Brought our two and a half year old while visiting the island. First off, it's tiny. The outdoor alleviated some of the crowdedness, but it was also nearly 100° that day and too hot for our little guy. Second, they let you know the second you walk in that some exhibits are only for "school age" (6 and up) but they had no problem with teenagers jumping off the shrimp boat and going down the slide two at a time. Kids were throwing cars across the room while parents sat on their phones. Cool. My biggest issue was that my son painted a picture and it was gone by the time we left. 45 minutes tops and he couldn't even take it with him. It cost $36 ($12 a piece) to watch my son get wedged in the corner with some Melissa and Doug toys. Maybe we're spoiled at home with nicer opportunities for all ages, but this was little more for us than some reprieve from a hot day.

The new location is is nice and clean but feels smaller then the old location. The younger kids had lots of fun.

Our 2 year old daughter enjoyed playing with the other kids and with most of the play kitchen/house today (Sunday morning). However, there was one particular staff member (short, older lady with short blondish hair) who was likely the "team leader" and seemed to single out our family. Our daughter was minding her business and playing with some of the dolls with the stroller outside, when that lady suddenly came up and sternly said that one of the strollers needs to stay outside the playhouse. My daughter was playing with the strollers exactly where she found them. Maybe about 15 minutes later, our daughter was calmly playing inside with some dolls with no other children present, when the same lady came and asked our daughter's age, and after our reply that she was 2, the lady said that the area is only for under 2 years old. We were basically kicked out of a play area where there was no one but our daughter playing. The sign, which was hidden behind another lady, stated that under two years are welcome; it never said that 2 year olds weren't allowed in the play area. Our daughter left crying and upset as we had to pull her away from the area. We left right afterwards, with a very sour taste in our mouths. We paid $30 fully expecting to have our daughter enjoy the museum, but didn't expect that this lady would single handedly ruin it for all of us! We will never be coming back here again and will not recommend it to anyone of our family and friends.

It was a little too chilly for a beach day so we decided to explore the island on our bikes. About 40 minutes into our ride I did a google search for things to do in the area and The Sandbox came up. Though it was only 0.5 miles away, we rode past the Sandbox twice on our bikes. It's very easy to miss from the street. The bike rack is also a bit hidden, near the entrance to the left. Check out my pics. We paid $35 for two adults and 3 children, ages, 2,5, and 9. This place wasn't what we expected. It was much smaller than we anticipated BUT they have utilized every square inch of space for fun, learning and art. On the first level, immediately as you enter there is a fish tank with a mushroom anemone. My kids spent a full 10 minutes checking out this cool creature. On this level there are several stations, an art center, a pirate ship, a play cafe and cashier and a toddler play area,to name a few I can recall. Upstairs there is a small library, a vet clinic (with some pretty impressive dog stuffed animals), a choo choo train and race track as well a second art area. All and all my kids were thrilled to visit the Sandbox. It was the perfect activity for a rainy day. While I did find that my 9 year was bored after about 40 minutes, the younger kiddos could have stayed for hours.

4.5 stars? Is this a joke? There's no way those are real reviews. I can't believe I paid money for this when the park beside it is FREE and 1000 times better. Absolute joke. The toys at a Goodwill are better than this. You all are out of your minds if you think this is worth any amount of money. Not to mention the woman running the place came out 5 min late, wouldn't let anyone in, locked herself out, acted like she needed to explain what we are supposed to do when we go inside. Man, this is unbelievable.

Excellent spot for our 3.5-year old while we waited out the rain. Several types of play areas keep the kids interested depending on what they're into: simulated cock pit to sit and toggle switches, a pirate ship to crawl around, a cash register to scan your groceries and place them on a conveyor belt, art area, instruments, train tables, book nook, kitchen with play food and picnic table, and more. We were there for over three hours but I think that may be a bit longer than other kids, even though we frequent children's museums wherever we are. Fantastic value for the admission price of only $6/child, $7 adult and if two adults are present, one can take the .5 mile jaunt to grab coffee (to drink out on the porch, of course). Highly recommend The Sandbox for little ones. A bit cramped for older siblings and adults. The staff is friendly and the facility is clean. We'll be back the next time we're in town!

Super cute children's museum located on the Southend of Hilton Head island. Geared towards ages 2-7, with lots of play areas including a pirate ships, cafe, airplane, grocery store, house build and bank. The museum itself is small but they pack a lot in a small space. One of my favorite areas is the art studio which has all kinds of materials for creating a masterpiece from crayons, markers and paint to pipe cleaner, stencils, jewels and googly eyes. Upstairs in the loft you will find a vets office book corner, a model train, and my son's favorite the race ramp where you can build your own car and race to see whose is the fastest. I would love to see an outdoor play area added to the space. There is a small gift shop in the museum and snacks for sale (which must be eaten outside on the porch. Definitely great for rainy days, too hot days or just a break from the beach!

Great inexpensive place to bring your kids and get them out of the heat for a little bit. Excellent activity options and they give you free reign of the entire facility for you and your little one.

Not a great big place, but has a lot for children's imagination. Not a bad orice either. My daughter loved it so much, she didn't want to leave when it was time to. They have play areas to work their pretend play. Such as cafe/kitchen, a shopping area where they can actually scan items in a real working scanner and shows their total. A plane cockpit with control panels they pull, push and such. Pirate ship, construction area, and a bank with play cash so they can make change and learn to work with money. Also an arts and crafts area with material and binders with craft ideas and instructions. A station that looks like a doctors office. Dress up, games, and etc. Will definitely be going back.

This place is the ultimate beach rainy day kid sanity saver. Price is $6 per person. It's a bit small but loaded with activities from toddler to about 8 years old. Plenty of make believe play areas like a pirate ship, flight simulator, Kroger checkout lane and cash register. There are two great art rooms to keep them occupied as well. Upstairs adds a book library, board games, model train, build your own soapbox derby race track and legos plus more. It's definitely a great place at a fair price to break up the day or escape the rain.

Perfect afternoon gateway for young kids (and adults who love to act like kids!). For just $6 admission fee you can escape the sun, relax and spend some quality time with your little ones. Fun things to do at Sandbox: * Be a pirate on The Adventure ship * Pilot a real airplane or direct a puppet show * Shop at the International Bazaar * Fight dragons while rock-climbing I've posted some cool videos and photos from our visit last month. Check it out: http://shoutaboutcarolina.com/index.php/2008/08/the-sandbox-children-museum-hilton-head-kids-activities/ Travel Tips: 1. The place is relatively small and gets crowded quickly. Best to go early morning or late in the afternoon. Sandbox is open Tue-Sat from 10 AM to 5 PM. 2. Charlie's Playhouse is perfect for babies and toddlers and has some awesome rocking chairs with your name on it! 3. There is no food served there (nor do I thing is encouraged to bring your own). Don't worry there are plenty of restaurants around. Sandbox is located near Sea Pines Circle. Have fun!

It was a little hidden away but once we found it, this place was great for my 2 1/2 year old. It had so many things for her to do and experience. Everything was new and exciting. Would definitely go again!

we stopped by to take our kids and the price was fair only $10 per child. HOWEVER, you have to pay for adults to just to sit in the room. there is NOTHING for adults in there which I assumed BUT what's the point in paying? Also, they had displays in there that were open and kids could not touch. so be prepared to tell your toddler 5000 times not to touch it. Why make things accessible to kids if they can't touch it??? The staff was rude minus one lady who was a retired teacher she was WONDERFUL. The concept of the place was cool but it could have been executed a little better (maybe that's me being picky from my years of ECE) BUT there's only enough stuff to entertain your toddler for maybe half an hour so if your looking for a short and sweet time this is the place.

Cute little children's museum geared for little kids. While we were there a summer day camp came with older children who were running wild. Some of kids seemed way too old and after 10 minutes were just running wild. I feel there should be an age limit.

This place was amazing! My boys loved it and it was so clean! They sanitize everything! You pay $8 per person and get a 2 hour window to play! It was such a great experience! They have so many different things for the kids to do! I highly recommend this!

Great spot to take the kids for an afternoon of activities. We came here on a rainy day and it could not have been more perfect. Pulled up and expected it to be a bit bigger... but the size was packed with a crazy amount of fun per square foot. Could not recommend The Sandbox more if you're in the area with little kids.

What an amazing place! My two and five year olds (and their dad and their grandpa and me) all had a great time on a very rainy day during our vacation. The space is set up beautifully and engages kids of all ages and interests.

So much fun packed in a relatively small space! We came here for a break from the outdoors for my 2 year old. We came pretty much when it opened at 10am and stayed for a little over an hour, but my son could have played for hours (we had to leave for lunch and had to pry him away with tears flowing...needless to say he loved it). It is a two story single building full of activities, arts and crafts, kitchen and grocery play area, pirate ship, rocket ship, infant area, sand box, construction area, train area, and more. Definitely a good place to have your kids burn some energy and time. Really worth it.

Awesome place. We came here with 4 kids (7, 5, 4, and 3 years) on a cold March day and played for 2 and a half hours and no one wanted to leave! Great stuff for lots of different ages. All my kids loved the craft area. I highly recommend this place!

The Sandbox Museum was a fantastic and inexpensive way to spend a couple of hours in Hilton Head. Our toddler had a great time exploring and playing - we shut the place down and had to coax her into leaving! Would definitely recommend for small children.

Small but well executed children's play location. There were many interactive areas which were very smartly designed. Some better than the large museums I've visited. Highly recommend this as a destination for young kids when you need a break from the beach and pool.

Some neat activities/play centers for children (cockpit of a plane, a wooden boat to climb in, a grocery checkout stand, a sandbox, arts/crafts center. We went during a special event day (Christmas in July). It was about $30 for a 1yr old, a 3yr old and an adult. It was a nice event, and hot dogs were included, but it was claustrophobicly crowded inside. Kids and adults were crawling all over each other and you couldn't even find a place to stand. Would be a hit if it wasn't so packed.

Our 15 month old had a blast at The Sandbox. We will definitely return if we ever come back for HHI. They had such a cute set-up with different themes in each space. There was a working grocery store scanner and conveyer belt, a pirate ship, an air plane, a bank, a construction site, a music station, a picnic area, a vet, a couple of craft stations, and a toddler area. We spent a little time at each space and our daughter never got bored. I highly recommend this cute little place that is tucked away on HHI.

You can't compare this to big city Childrens Museums or you'll be disappointed. And this is for young kids only. Where bigger CMs can entertain Tweens and adults that like to stay young this is really only suitable for early elementary age and below. But if it's a rainy day or you need to avoid the sun for a day it's a great activity that will keep kids busy for a couple hours at least!

When in Hilton Head and you need an indoor place for kids, stop and check this place out. Pay close attention on where to turn. Only downfall was the sign to turn in is pretty small. Kathy, at the front desk, was very helpful. We had hours to pass before our flight and had checked out of our place we were staying. She was so kind to let us put our stuff in her office while we were there. Carry ons and a carseat. Porter loved the varies play and interactive areas in the museum. They have a replica pirate ship and airplane that he didn't want to leave. Upstairs the race car track kept him very engaged. Lots of arts and crafts, dress up, books, puzzles, and everything my toddler loves. I was very impressed with the quality of the options to play with and how much they had to interact with.

Visited The Sandbox with my 2 yr old daughter recently trying to beat the heat. We were desperate to stay out of the 100 degree heat and the sandbox was a perfect fit to kill off a couple of hours with the little one. There were plenty of activities for the little ones to do including dress up and kitchen time which my daughter loves... A favorite place may have been the activities room where the kids and parents can work to create art pieces with the many tools provided, Nice Touch!!. My only negative comment would be at times it was extremely crowded almost to the point you could not move without bumping into others. Would maybe recommend somehow limiting the amount of people so the kids can enjoy the various activities. We also enjoyed checking out the live crocodile that was living under a bridge very close to The Sandbox. Overall would have another visit.

If you are looking for something to do with your small children, The Sandbox is a nice change of pace. As the previous poster stated, there are different areas for the kids to play - the pirate ship (with pirate costumes), the real airplane cockpit (with captains uniforms and sounds), a small virtual kitchen, a room for toddlers (with two relaxing rocking chairs for mom and dad), a construction site (so the kids can bang away), an arts and craft area (complete with paints, paper, glitter, etc) and an upstairs area as well. The price is still $6.00 per person (kids under 2 are free) and there is no discount given for age, etc, so if you have more adults then kids, it may be best to leave some adults home. The facility has two kid friendly bathrooms (which are clean) and does not serve food. (it allows food outside on the porch) In all, while not the largest children's museum we have been to, it is certainly a nice size for small kids and a welcome get away for an hour or two. We will return again I'm sure.

Honestly was very disappointed. The staff was nice, but the place was a mess. We have been to other children's museums & playhouses in our travels....and they had staff constantly picking up & cleaning. No one was making any attempt to organize and clean at this location. It appears to be under funded, and everything looked aged and wore out. The up stairs level looked like a hurricane hit it. Very small location also.

I treated my son here for his birthday and he totally had a blast. I highly recommend parents to treat their children here. There are many educational and learning activities for the kids and parents to engage in together. They had many toys and gadgets that I had when I was a kid. We most definitely will return.

Small but my kids loved it! There was so much to do! My girls are 4 and 1.5 and at the time, the little one had a broken leg. You couldn't bring a stroller in but there was a baby section that was perfect for her! Inside there was a pretend airplane, pirate ship, grocery shop, moon sand, and so much more. There was a room dedicated to crafts too! My girls were happy to spend a few hours there! It's a definite for a rainy day

The Sandbox museum provided a nice getaway on a rainy day for our family on our vacation to HHI. Staff were very friendly and helpful. The organization had clearly made a nice attempt at developing an interactive museum experience for children on the island. Our concerns had to do with the fact that we had to wait for 30 minutes to enter because of the large amount of visitors that day and because our child was just 11-months-old, the only room we were able to use with our child was the toddler room. We were also disappointed that there was no hand soap in the bathroom. Otherwise, it looked like it was a nice place for families to escape for a couple if hours with their children who were between the ages if 2-8 years.

A great rainy day activity! We went for the Wednesday learning program, but they said there isn't a special program, so we were a little disappointed but found other things to do nonetheless. Our 4 and 6 year old spent 3 hours there and could have stayed longer except we wanted to go outside and enjoy the sun. It was a beautiful day, so almost nobody was inside so we had the whole place to ourselves. My 4 year old even put together a 100 piece puzzle without being disturbed! That has never happened in any museum I have ever been to! Just know that this place is tiny but they sure pack a lot of good stuff in there! Our boys' favorite thing was the pulley in the construction center!

My 2 year old son loved this place. We went here on a rainy Saturday morning. There was lots to keep him busy. He especially loved flying the airplane and pushing around the wheelbarrow.

We are vacationing in Hilton Head and the kids were ready for a change of scenery. I went with my sister-in-law - between us we had a 5 year old, a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a sleeping baby. We put the sleeping baby in a stroller only to find a sign on the door saying no strollers. We went inside and the kids played on the first floor for some time, but it was extremely crowded so we tried to go upstairs. We were told the upstairs was closed because they were doing an activity there until 11:30. We had come at 10am and needed to leave by lunch time, so it was crazy half the museum was closed to the public until almost lunch time. There is no place indoors to have snacks and food and drinks are not permitted. The last straw for me was an obnoxious sign saying "playing with cell phones - DISCOURAGED. playing with children - ENCOURAGED." I was using my phone to take photos and found the sign unnecessarily judgmental and rude. The last thing parents need is to feel shamed by museum staff. The kids seemed to have an OK time, but the lack of eating area, museums closures, inability to bring a stroller and rude signs were a big turn off for the parents.