Truly 3.5 so rounding up here. I've visited this children's museum twice now and there are some pros and cons. Pro: it's inside the beautiful Tohono Chul Park. The long stroll through the park to the museum is beautiful. A whole additional aspect to explore on your outing since admission to the park is included in visiting the museum and vice versa. Con: the walk through the beautiful park is LONG. Pretty, yes, but not the most convenient if you're toting multiple kids and all of their gear. Pro: the museum itself is compact and concise and has both indoor and outdoor exhibits. There's been different things each time we've been there and it's not overwhelming in terms of things to do. Con: it's compact. The interior portion is small, like just one room. Yes some cool stuff in there like the scarf chute, a grocery store, and a slide, but it's smallllll. It also appears to house the staff's fridge and personal space area. Not certain on that but that's what it looked like to me. And while there were multiple staff members standing around chatting with each other, we had no interaction with them. Overall my toddler daughter has thoroughly enjoyed herself while here and I think it's worthy of a visit, especially if you take some things into consideration. In particular I don't think this museum would be very fun to visit in the summertime with the long walk and the small interior space. read more

The Oro Valley Children's Museum at Tohono Chul is a fun option if you're on the NW side of Tucson! One thing to keep in mind is that it's a bit of a walk through the gardens to get to the museum. It's nice to look at the plants along the way, but would definitely recommend a stroller for littles! It's not a big museum but had an indoor area and outdoor stations. I felt that some of the areas could use some updating. For example, there was an outdoor art area with easels and no materials to paint or color with. Overall, my son had a good time. It is open 9-1 Tuesday through Sunday. Children under 5 are free but adults need to pay admission to the gardens. They also have daily story time at 930. read more

Children's Museum Oro Valley - Children's Museums Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Such an adorable place! I have always loved the Tohono Chul gardens but adding the children's museum here was a great idea! I don't mind the walk through the garden to get to the museum, it gives me a chance to teach my kids about different plants and lets us admire the pollinators. Although I have many positives about the new location I do really miss the size of the indoor room from the original oro valley children's museum. read more

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Nicely done! Great selection of activities for kids 2-4, maybe 5. Friendly staff that do book readings, etc. Our grandson really enjoyed the wind tube with colored handkerchiefs that he could turn the valve on. He also enjoyed the cubby with mirrors - his comment: "I'm upside down!" I like that you can come back all day long. Nice to let the child have a nap, then come back later. Our grandson lives in Portland Oregon, and this facility is better than anything they have there. Kept him occupied for over an hour. read more

Children's Museum Oro Valley - Mirrors in the walls and ceiling of this cubby - Children's Museums Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

I stopped by the Oro Valley location today and felt I needed to share my disappointing experience. My daughter and I were greeted by Haley who was quite nice and welcoming. I was then confronted by a different staff member whose name I was not able to get. This other staff member approached Haley and I with aggression telling me that I was not allowed in the center because I was under 18. This is certainly not the case as I am 24. I felt it was disrespectful for stating this unfounded claim with such aggression, when a simple and kind question could have been asked.After this was cleared up, she then told me I could not bring my daughter into the museum because she was not my daughter. This is absolutely unfounded and untrue, and I am confused as to why she would make this unnecessary accusation as any child with adult supervision as consented by the parent is allowed into the museum (such as nannies, grandparents, and other care takers). It was quite upsetting to my daughter to have this interaction, and I feel hesitant to return to the children's museum. This is disappointing as we have been members since June of 2021. The staff member I had this negative interacted with is a white woman in her 40s or 50s. We love coming to the childrens mueum to play and meet new friends but with staff like this it is hard to say when we will be coming back. read more

Know before you go: the Oro Valley location of the Children's Museum is small and great for playdates but not a fully interactive museum like the one downtown. That being said it's a terrific place for those with small children I'd say ages 6 and below to go and have fun. The have different activity areas which are quite cute. They have a book reading nook, a farmer's market with play foods, an area with a table and chairs to do crafts in, a suction/air wall where kids can put scarves in and change the route, as well as some things to crawl into. Think a scaled down version of the museum downtown. We recently attended a birthday party here and it was particularly fun! I think this is where the location really shines. The prices on the birthday packages are reasonable and all birthday parties are held after hours so your party has full reign of the play place. They also do guide led actives like making slime or rainbow foam which were quite a hit with our 4 year old and our 6 year old. All in all it's a great location for those up north who don't want to drive all the way downtown with screaming children in the car. read more

I've been told Tucson's Children Museum was awful, so I was really excited when I heard about this place opening. First off, my child would give this place 5 stars, she loved it. It is very small. But a good amount of stuff for a toddler to do. From a book corner filled with puzzles, arts and craft (including buckets of scissors!!!???!!), slide and stairs, farmers market, infant corner, random hill of latches and sensory objects and a big vacuum type thing you put scarves into and they go through the maze and shoot out over your head. But that's it! They charge you $6 per person, so mom and dad taking their child is going to cost you $18. In no way do I think it's fair to charge adults for a place like this. It's way too small and it's all directed towards kids birth to 5. read more

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Calling this location a "museum" is quite a big stretch...maybe an annex would have been better. It is a large room with about 10 interactive stations perfect for children under 3 or immature 4 year olds and it smells like feet. It is $7 per person (for $2 more you can drive into town for an array of stations for all ages and no smell). Very disappointing and a waste of money. Use your money to drive into town. One star for price, one star for personalized activities. read more

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The Oro Valley children's museum is a tiny little museum; much smaller than the Tucson downtown children's museum. If you have a child that can sit up on their own , under three they're gonna love it because it's made for them. There are usually crafts, activities for the kids to do, put on by the staff. Outside they have a few little musical toys to play with. And when I take my clients that are under two they seem to just love it. There's rubber vegetables and fruits to play with, there's painting activities for them, dress up, slide, story time, and that amazing vacuum tube display like at the Tucson children's museum. There's no eating or drinking inside the museum, also they have plenty of restroom with changing stations for patrons. It's a fun place for little kids that's not overly stimulating but just enough to engage them in lots of different ways. There are no TVs or video displays at this location. Just ordinary simple interactive things for them to play with like puzzles,blocks and stacking toys. What a gem read more

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Love coming to this location. It's definitely small and I would say only geared towards kids 3 and under. The staff are very friendly and are on top of keeping everything cleaned up and put away. read more

Visiting my parents for spring break so we decided to bring my son here. I had high expectations because the children's museum in Phoenix is amazing and so big. However this one was small and it really didn't have much to keep my son busy for a long time. Although it wasn't bad experience I was Super disappointed . read more

A more accurate name would be 'The Children's Museum Play Area'... We came on New Years Day with our 14-month old. We wanted a place she could walk around and expend her energy before nap time. The admission is $2 per person on the first and third Tuesday's of each month. The normal price is $7 per ticket. For 3 of us, we paid $6 vs. $21. Honestly, if we had paid full price I would have been disappointed. Like others have said, it's one room with multiple sections - a reading nook, farmers market, slide, art center, tunnels, and wind tubes you can put scarves through and watch them travel. I like that you can leave and come back the same day! I'll definitely be back especially in the summer when it's too hot to play outside. read more

Great for kids up to 4 years old My grandson-4- loved it Lots to climb and he loved the tube wall read more

I think museum being part of the name throws people off.... it's not really a museum, as much as an indoor play place for small children. My kids enjoyed it (1 and 4.) My older one got to look all around and paint, while my younger picked a few toys here and there and wandered a bit. It was clean, and had places to sit. read more

This museum is geared to the toddler -5 and under crowd. So, if you are reading this and your kids are older, go downtown and save yourself a trip. This is toddler heaven and parent nirvana. Now don't be thinking I'm one of those mom's sitting on the sideline Facebooking my life away. Heck no, I'm in the mix getting my fun on too. We love it here! I am so thankful my daughter has a place to chill without a bunch of big kids plowing her over. It never gets super crowded either. If we lived closer I'd be hanging at Toddler Town on the daily. We are all about interactive play-based learning. I am developing our future prodigy after all. Pro tip: stop at the front desk after you check in and there is always a coupon for a free kids meal at a local restaurant like Baggins or Panera. While you are at the desk just get the membership! We did and it paid for itself in no time. Plus, we get to go to the downtown museum as well. If you don't buy a membership on your first trip, save your receipt as your entrance can be discounted off the price of your membership in the future. This place is small and not at all what you would expect when you hear "children's museum". It is literally just one big room but one big room of awesome. It's location is also not what you would expect as it is inside of a strip mall. My daughter loves the farmer's market, climbing into the rhockett ( I like spelling it that way), going into the mirrored house (my obsession), exploring the sensory hill of toddler town, and hiding in the peek-a-boo palace (another fav). Personally, I like the talking puzzles. I dig it. Weekdays at 10 and 2 and during weekends at 11 and 1 they have activities like story time or an art project. Each week has a different theme like transportation or down on the farm. Who ever designed the place I want them to come to my house and design a killer playroom. Hanging books from the ceiling, the alphabet tree, the neutron light. Hopefully they read this and hit me up for a consultation. read more

To call this a museum is a real stretch. More like a bunch of toys like a day care would have. Small, not well organized and the staff could care less. Nothing is set up and things are scattered everywhere. The cost is ridiculous. 18$ for two adults and one child. What a rip off. Pick anything else if you can. read more

Nice little area for kids to get away from the sun. Staff are nice and attentive. Water fountain near the restroom. Bring snacks and drinks. For kids 5 and younger. read more

We had a lot of fun exploring with our nine-month old--children under one are free--and if you were planning to come often they offer memberships that would be worthwhile for a family. My only complaint was that the astro-turf covered mound of activity stations was unnecessarily steep and slippery--there were a lot of fun tactile things for crawling/pulling up/early walking babies to explore, but the slope made it hard to get a good foothold, and I don't think the slope added anything for the older kids. I didn't get a picture of the coolest thing--a system of air pipes that shot fuzzy balls and scarves out, and that the kids could operate by levers and valves. Very fun and easy to use. While we were there an employee led a short class on writing numbers that the kids seemed to enjoy. Overall a really nice way to spend a hot afternoon. read more

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GREAT for younger kids. The staff are all wonderful with the kids, they do daily stories and activities. My kids love going there, and they burn a lot of energy running around and engaging their minds and imaginations with play. read more

So... It's Summer. In Tucson. It's 110 outside. What do you do if you've got kids? Well if you've got babies or toddlers this place is great to go for some indoor fun! It's a nice sized room with A/C and it's INDOORS!! They do also have a small outside area with some fun stuff for the kiddos. It's not as much of a museum as it's more just a big play room, but for the younger kids it's a great place to go during the summer. I'd say it's perfect for babies and toddlers-- not so much for older kids. The staff do activities as well at certain times. And they have nice clean bathrooms which is always a plus. Parking is super convenient :-D The only con-- it's a bit on the small side. Other than that this place is great! read more

This was our 2nd time to the Children's Museum Oro Valley, and we liked it so much that we went ahead and bought a membership, which will pay for itself in just a few weeks. This museum is great for younger ones as it is one giant room with different areas to play in. Think of a classroom with centers. Plenty of room to roam and explore and discover as little minds like to do. The entire area is kept clean and relatively cluttered free which is amazing with the amount of stuff that can get strewn about. The staff is friendly and willing to get down and crawl around with the little ones. Love this place! read more

This place is small but I would recommend it to any family that has young ones. Admission is $6 per person but you are able to come back throughout the day. read more

This is a small children's museum. If you are visiting from out of town and want something to do with kids I don't think the price point makes it worthwhile. However if you live in Oro Valley and want something to do, a dual membership with the Tucson Children's Museum is worthwhile at $130. The Oro Valley is a good place to bring kids if you want to get out of the house, but how it is currently setup it is not a noteworthy museum. read more

I took my 4 cousins there today. They are 6 and younger. We walked in and turned right around. It was literally one room. It looked more like a day care than a children's museum. We ended up going to the children's museum in Tucson. We loved that one. It was several times larger and much more to do. The kids we're occupied for hours. The Oro Valley location is a bust..don't bother.. read more

Small and intimate locations for Little guys! A lot of regulars are here so the place always has a playmate. Because it is just one large room I can keep an eye on all 3 of my kids without having to move around. The place gets messy quickly but the staff does periodically clean it all up! I've been probably 10 times and have now bought a membership! read more

This was a big waste of time. IT is one tiny room filled with boring activities and wasted space for said boring activities. It is sad as the sister museum downtown is quite good. Do not waste your time or 7 dollar entry for a room of boring. Go downtown. read more

I really wanted to like this place more. My son is not quite 4 years old, and we can cover the museum in about 30 minutes. It wouldn't be so bad, except that there is an admission for the adults as well. I think we'd go here more often if they just charged for children, and not adults. Essentially, the museum is just one big room. We really enjoy the Children's Museum in the downtown area, and I feel like we can justify the cost, when we go there. read more

The fee is insanely expensive comparing to what it offers. It is basicly like a kids club in 4 5 star hotels. They charge $6 per person. You, your spouse and your child, it costs $18 already! They should have charged only the children not parents. read more

Quite a great place- very clean and fair price! The front desk ladies were very pleasant and helpful.

It's small, only one big room but fun. I have a dual membership bc it's so tiny but it's close to home so it works.

This was sooo not worth the money. It would MAYBE be worth it if your children were two years old or under and you had NOTHING else to do. It is basically one room with some toys and crayons, and two staff members who sit up front. I can't even believe they charge admission! I would not go back. read more

What a great place! My kids were so excited to go and such a great price. Good location too.

This is a great museum for young kids (baby-toddler). I've been taking my son since he was one. He's now two and still loves it. We typically spend 1-1.5 hours there. It's also great because it's all in one room so if I'm sitting somewhere with my baby, I can still keep an eye on my toddler running around different areas of the museum. Tip: the first Tuesday of every month is $2 admission. Try to go then. Regular admission is pretty pricey for what the museum has to offer. read more

Needs to be at least three times bigger. Good for kids under four and on a Tuesday morning.

Nice place to get out of the heat. Small compared to the downtown one. But good enough to keep by 18 month daughter happy.