I visited this store today (3/13/26) and was genuinely excited because I had heard nothing but…read moregreat things about it and how knowledgeable the staff was. My daughter recently received a betta fish for her birthday, and I wanted to upgrade her tank with driftwood and plants. Since I'm new to this, I was looking forward to asking the "experts" a few questions. Unfortunately, that excitement disappeared the moment I walked in. As soon as I entered, the older gentleman behind the counter looked directly at me and then immediately turned away without saying a word. He wasn't helping anyone at the time. I walked around the store for a while and noticed a young woman cleaning items nearby. Not once did she greet me or ask if I needed help. When I was looking at the driftwood display, she walked by, so I asked a question. She gave me what felt like a dirty look, gave a very quick answer, and walked away. I initially thought maybe she was busy helping other customers, but that didn't seem to be the case. What made the experience worse was what happened next. While I was still browsing near the entrance, several other customers walked in. Every single one of them was greeted by the gentleman behind the counter. I hate to even bring this up, but it left me wondering why my experience was so different. I'm a Hispanic male with tattoos, and every other customer who was greeted appeared to be white with no visible tattoos. I truly hope that wasn't the reason, but I honestly can't think of another explanation for the difference in treatment. Either way, it was disappointing. I had specifically chosen to visit a local specialty shop because I wanted the advice and expertise that comes with it. Instead, I left feeling unwelcome and will likely just go to a big box store instead--something I was hoping to avoid. I hope this isn't the normal experience for customers, but it was certainly mine today.

Cool spot to bring the kids (on a budget). Also, nice activity to do on a rainy or cold day. The…read morefish were colorful and unique and fun for the kids to look at. There are also some turtles outside (back of parking lot). Located in an interesting dome structure (saltwater fish is on the second floor). Parents: I'd avoid a stroller, if possible. It's a bit cramped in here plus it can get crowded. Also, there are stairs to get to the top floor. Small parking lot in the back but also additional parking in the strip mall. Check out Uncommon Objects (interesting antique store) next door.

Great FREE option in Austin for kids!…read more One of the best parts is you can see an axolotl (two, actually) in their visitor center building. Then you can head over to the birds of prey, the reptile/fish building, and the animal enclosures. There's also a little lake and a large sand pit (dino dig). There's a cool room in the visitor center that has all sorts of nature items (bones, dead bugs, shells, rocks, etc.). You can bring in your own stuff to trade! Is it a huge amount of things to do/see? No but for a free attraction, it's pretty great. Parking is across the street -- lot is shared with Zilker Park and all the nearby attractions so it can get busy.

The Austin nature and science center is one of our favorite places to take our 4 kids in Austin and…read moreeven better, it's totally free! But when you do go, please make sure to scan the QR code to track and log your visit. It helps with their funding and takes less than 2 minutes. My kids spent close to 30 mins in the Dino dig area alone. There are so many different sand pits for them to dig and use brushes in. The birds of prey area is awesome! And while the indoor reptile area is small, my kids always have fun finding where everything is hiding nonetheless. The indoor welcome center has so much for them to learn and touch, and they love bringing things to turn in to the front desk to collect points and coins to use in the "shop". I highly recommend! Great for a homeschool field trip too :)

My son loved this place, its huge and so much fun, will come back if possible, nice to have it in…read moreAustin!

Came out to Funbox with the kids today and we all had a blast! I can't believe it's still 100…read moredegrees this late in September but the snow-cones and ice cold drinks helped cool us down. Despite the heat, I had a hard time getting the kids out of the bounce house. The park has several different areas with multiple slides, climbing towers, and a competition obstacle course. Would def recommend!

The best place to take your kids! My kids could spend hours…read moreon end here! There is so much to do and see. It's so nice to have an indoor hands on interactive learning place for the young ones! It's fun and pretty clean. We were so generously gifted a family membership for Christmas by our family friends and it was perfect! The STEAM hands on learning and activities really engages children of all ages. My 7 year old and 4 year old enjoy it here. My 6 month old will get into it soon enough. No food or drinks inside the museum. The water zone is nice that it has smocks and crocs for kids to wear and change into to avoid getting wet and slipping. There is also an outdoor playscape and water tables to get into. I am so grateful they have a comfort nursing room for moms to have a private blocked off area to feed babies! It's much appreciated

I just became an ASTC member, and the Thinkery is reciprocal. It's cheaper to buy your membership…read morethrough the Texas Science and Natural History Museum. They charge $120/year for 5 passes each visit. The Thinkery charges $160/year for 3 passes each visit. My toddler loves the bloom section. The bloom section is always clean and sanitized. None of the vending machines were working in the dining area. I could have sworn they used to have people selling food a decade ago. The Thinkery is great for Austin, but pales in comparison to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis which is five stories and 7.5 acres.

Took my niece here while she was visiting on spring break this year and she loved it. It's a great…read morepark with plenty of activities for the kids. I was able to just chill out and read my book too while she played with my brother. I definitely recommend this park to bring the littles to.

Alliance Children's Garden is a playground within the larger Butler Park in Austin. We chose to…read morecome here since its want right across the street from Terry Black's BBQ, where we planned to have lunch. The park has lots of playscapes and climbing structures, and you'll also get nice views of the tall buildings of downtown Austin. They do have an hourly pay-parking lot at the entrance, but it does fill up quickly. It's almost better to leave your car here and walk to Terry Black's. We only hung out at the hills and tunnels section of the park, which our 4yo son loved. They have several hills covered with artificial turf of varying heights that are fun to crawl, climb, or roll down. The tunnels through each hill will make you feel like a Hobbit in those LOTR movies.

Awesome spot but beware that we were there yesterday and there are orange worms that bite - maybe…read moreleeches? The kids said they'll never go back haha

Great park for little up to early middle school. Street parking. No dogs allowed. Turf and mulch…read more Bathroom and water station. Several areas for kiddos to play. Bbq pit if you want to grill. Plenty of shade and seating for everyone. Well done park. Father of two and both enjoyed it.

The waiver process is a little maddening but once you're in, there's plenty for kids to do, whether…read moreyou have a coach-guided class or you just want to fool around. There are three coaches working with groups of kids at the moment and everyone seems to be having a good time. Even the coaches. You can walk in or make an appointment. You can throw a party here. Space is generous and equipment availability gets an A+. Healthy snacks and drinks are available. Temperature control is NICE. Lots of room for parents to work while waiting. No electrical plugs at the tables. Parking is not a problem at all. The place is immaculate.

This was the perfect party set up!! It was easy to book and they handled the food. I was genuinely…read moresurprised at how tasty the pizza was! We're still eating the left over. Maia was assigned as our party guide and she was a treasure! She always so sweet tour our baby boy who just wanted to chase her around the whole time. She also helped pass out the pizza and cupcakes which helped make everything run smoothly. Everything was so easy- as soon as we arrived and got everything to our room I got to relax and enjoy the party which is such a special treat on my baby's birthday

We love Snapology been going here for birthday parties, spring and summer break camps for years! My…read morelittle boy begs to go here! They always have interesting themed lego and robotics camps, keeps my son engaged and learning new things!

We can't say enough good things about Snapology! Our son had such a great time at their summer camp…read morelast year that he wanted to have his birthday party at Snapology this year and he and his friends had the absolute best time. From start to finish, the entire process was so seamless--Kristi and her team did such a great job engaging the children in the LEGO builds and encouraging their creativity and learning. As parents, it was such a delight to relax and have fun at the party knowing that Snapology was taking care of all the details. We can't recommend them enough and look forward to going back soon!

My son celebrated his birthday party yesterday and it was such a great experience. Most of our…read moreguest were toddlers and they loved it. This place is safe, clean and staff very helpful, thanks to Tanner, Quinton and Kate, you guys did a wonderful job! I am so glad we found this place and I highly recommended it..

We just had my kiddo's birthday party here and it was fantastic! We invited his entire class to…read morethis open invite party (so awesome that they offer this!) and to our surprise we had a great turnout. The staff were all super attentive and fun and helped facilitate everything so that the party ran super smoothly. I can't wait to go back this summer. So glad we have a place that 'gets' my child. Ya'll ROCK!

I have been frequenting this play street location since they first opened. And we have LOVED having…read morea spot to drop into play. They had a 20 kid limit so we always knew it wouldn't be crowded. The entire concept is great, we buy the five play pass at least once a month if not more. This might be coming to an end because of what happened this morning. My nanny kid has a fractured tibia, play street is a safe option for us because I don't have to worry about dozens of kids tripping over her. We arrived at 9 am after booking a spot online and seeing they had plenty of spots open. The employee who was super nice let me know that they had a large field trip arriving during our play time. The reason we chose and have chosen play street over places like the thinkery because we don't have to battle for space or field trip groups. They should block these time slots out and not have spaces open because this will put them way over their own capacity. I'm not against field trips having places to go to- this is on the franchise owners for trying to accommodate too many people at one time. There needs to be a better system, if there's going to be field trips- find a way to mark it on your schedule so we don't waste our time driving here.

PSM is such a wonderful hidden gem. At first glance, I…read morethought it was a real kids museum and figured my 10mo was too little. Fast forward to last week and we had literally nothing to do so we reserved a play time spot for $15. My jaw DROPPED when I saw all the toys and different stations for the kids. It was PERFECT for my bored little guy. Every station gets cleaned between sessions and I loved it. Everything was organized and the place is just so beautiful. I do wish they offered memberships but at $15 for 2 hours, we aren't complaining. The staff are all incredibly wonderful, happy, smiling folks who are so kind to the kids. We're going today and even I'm excited to get the kiddo out to PSM on this rainy day.