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.

Pros: there's a few parts of the exhibit that I really enjoyed but it's very minimal compared to…read morethe majority of the rest of the museum that I wasn't satisfied with Cons: the ticket price being over $50 seems a bit high for the quality of exhibits that is offered. I would say it's worth closer to $35 pp with taxes and fees included. Some parts of the building are outdated and felt somewhat unclean or isolate. There needs to be more going on than just the pieces whether it's music or photo booths. You pretty much need to create the fun everywhere you go and the employee don't look the happiest to be there

The Balloon Museum in Austin was a decent experience, but it didn't leave a huge impression on me…read more Some of the art installations were creative and visually striking, and it's definitely a great spot for families. There were a lot of interactive exhibits that kids seemed to love. The museum spans a couple of stories, starting on the upper level, with plenty of colorful and immersive spaces that make for great Instagram photos. It's very hands-on, though, so if germs are a concern, this might not be the best pick. Parking was somewhat limited. There's a small one-level garage and some outdoor parking behind the building. The staff were friendly and welcoming, which I appreciated. Admission felt a bit pricey for what you get. It might have been worth it to me if I had children in my group.

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.

Amazing venue for my 4 year old. He loves the choices with different play areas. He also likes to…read morego outside and loves the water and fishing. Only issue is parents have to pay the same amount as the kids which is ridiculous it should be half the cost since the parents are just there to watch the kids. Also I put back all the items my son plays with. Also one of the few businesses that does not provide any discounts for military personnel. Love the place but disgusted with the piece for parents to attend.

Paid $10 a person. Kids and adults are the same price which makes no sense. We came about 10am and…read moreit was nice for 5 minutes until the field trips arrived. The places was packed with loud, screaming children, running everywhere. It was extremely overwhelming. My 4yr and 2yr old were pushed and ran into multiple times. After 12:00 sometime the schools finally left and it was quiet again. We finally got to really explore the museum. I can't give it more stars because unfortunately our experience was overwhelming and stressful.

Calling all nostalgia buffs! Love toys and games from the…read more60s? How about the 70s? 80s? 90s? Come on down! The museum has an incredibly large display of toys from those eras. Not to mention arcade games like pinball and video games. Here's a fun tidbit, you can play the games! Playing them is free. Well, you do pay admission to enter the museum so it's part of that. I've only been once and it was sensory overload! So much to take in. Definitely gonna need to go back at least one more time. Of course there's a gift shop that sells vintage toys and all kinds of other great stuff. They even sell beer & cider refreshments (not vintage lol). To me this is a place to see at least once whether a visitor to Austin or a resident.

Super cool store! Going to have to come back to check out museum when I have more time!read more

Very unique! If you are going to Austin, make arrangements for a tour. This house has been…read morefeatured in a lot of different books and magazines.

Keep Austin Weird is one of those phrases that is synonymous with Austin (in addition to barbecue)…read more There is so much interesting art here in Austin that you should consider looking into when visiting Austin, with Casa Neverlandia being one of them. Casa Neverlandia is a three story, colorful home located behind Goodwill Baptist Church, that was created by James Talbot, or as he referred to himself as "Talbot" when we met him for a private tour of his home. Casa Neverlandia originally started out as a one story home built in the early 1900's. Mr. Talbot purchased this home and started to transform it into what you see now in my photos and what you find online. According to Mr. Talbot, he grew up in a military family, traveling all around the world and living in some unusual places that includes a treehouse in Honduras. He has a college degree in architecture and has always been fascinated with building things, as you can see with his home today. To him, he builds this home for himself to reflect upon his spiritual side but also include some unique things for his physical needs, as he lives rather a green lifestyle. My husband and I, along with our little girl dog (yes Mr. Talbot allowed for us to bring our little dog with us) met Mr. Talbot outside of his home on a Sunday afternoon. We were lucky to be the only couple, as another couple was supposed to come but was told the date just didn't work with their schedule. Please note that it cost $15 per person for this tour and you can contact Mr. Talbot via phone or email to schedule a tour. At the front entrance of his home are numerous of doorbells, xylophones and bells. I believe there is over 40 of these things but Mr. Talbot says he can never have enough. He describes the mosaic tiles outside of the home, the snake, the outdoor patio seating area with the clouds element and so forth. Then inside, we see his living room with a beautiful and inviting fireplace and pit to help radiate heat for the first floor, indoor seating area that is meant to be an air alter with cool colors of green and a unique bookcase. We see some current artwork that he has for sale (no obligation to buy) that includes gorgeous hand beaded work and other things and then make our way to the small music room. Next, the kitchen has a lot of function to it more so than just design. Then we make our way up stairs. On the 2nd floor is a room that has a Thai like theme with the bamboo wall panels and red lacquered beams. This room has high ceilings and utilizes natural lighting since there is no lights in this room. Mr. Talbot says this is the room for parties and entertainment for guests. Then up one more floor is Mr. Talbot's room, which was featured on numerous of TV shows, magazines and books. From his bedroom, that has a safari theme to it, you can see a glimpse of downtown Austin. We were then lead to his bathroom where he is currently working on a bath tub with some kind of ocean wave like theme. Being that he has a background in architecture, he is able to create the structure of things the way he wants it. From his bedroom, we walk across a narrow plank bridge to his tree house or a tower. Climb a very narrow ladder and we are on the top of that tower and see great views of Austin. We eventually take a few narrow ladders down to the bottom, now in his backyard. From here, he takes us into his studio (built in the early 90's) and shows us what he is currently working on, which looks like a large clam shell. He uses soda cans that he has collected around Austin to decorate the shell. He also shows us this ocean like mural that will go with this clam shell. Then we eventually make our way outside. He tells us that he saves the rain water in large barrels, as he considers himself camping in his own home. He dresses up or down according to the weather and has a very low electric bill each month and water bill. Mr. Talbots has told us on the tour that he doesn't consider himself to be done with Case Neverlandia, as he is always building and changing things. And said that Casa Neverlandia may be different the next time we come back to Austin for another tour. Our tour lasted about 75 minutes, but we did make small talk with Mr. Talbot throughout. It was well worth our time to come out here and check out Casa Neverlandia and hope you will consider it too, especially if you are looking for something off the beaten path. You can see some of Mr. Talbot's artworks around Austin and a few other things in other states. Casa Neverlandia truly was a highlight of our visit to Austin and am so glad we were able to get a tour. Again as mentioned, it cost $15 per person for a tour and you can call Mr. Talbot at (512) 442-7613 or email him at talbot@talbotworld.com to inquire for a tour.

What a great space to get kids energy out! Met up with some of my TLG mamas and their kiddos to…read morehave a little playdate here and I honestly didn't know what to expect, so we went with doing the day pass ($18 per person ages 1+) yes it's pricey, but I also can see how much these kids can do! You can probably guess that we upgraded to the family of 4 year pass ($180, but used our day pass cost to include into that membership). Thinking ahead here, when it will get stupid hot later in the summer time, great way to take the kids to burn their energy and not get stir house crazy being inside all day - great way to break up the day from all the screaming and jumping around. The exhibits: wow, SO much variety! It's basically 2 stories, downstairs is the main floor area, and options! When you first enter, there's giant toy puzzles shaped as gears, then another room that takes you to a full on pretend city arena where there's little tykes cars for these kids to drive around in this pretend city, a HEB store front, airplane simulation, trolley, car wash, vet office, etc. so fun for these kids! Then another room where there's instruments like a giant piano and other fun things for kids to explore. Outside, there are 2 areas, one is a bubble play area to explore ways to play with bubbles in SO many different ways. Another outside area, playground with a giant slide, water play area with boats and things that you can imagine with water. For over stimulated kiddos, there's a room downstairs that's called a "calming room" where it's much quieter than out in the open if you need time to decompress from the chaos. Upstairs, there's a pretend to play with tools and right next to it and where you can assemble flowers. Now food wise, there's a Café Bakery Lorraine downstairs which include their macaroons, sandwiches, snack platter, crossiants, etc. It's a little pricey, but at least it's good! You are allowed to bring snacks, water inside, but not outside food like actual meals. Parking: it's free and first come first served out in the front area. Overall, we'll be back since we're now members! Excited to keep taking the kids here as there is so much to do here!

This is a pretty cool place! My daughter loved it and I loved that Bakery Lorraine is on-site…read more I'd give it one more star, except things were missing- like no stuffed animals in the vet, things were broken, and the outside area we had to avoid because the mosquitoes were insane!!

If I could bottle the feeling of being a weird little kid who just wandered into something magical,…read moreMuseum of the Weird would be it. This place might honestly be my favorite spot I've ever visited. I love oddities, and they are surprisingly hard to find all together like this. Walking through here felt like running away to the circus in the best way. Every room has something that makes you stop and stare. Shrunken heads, two-headed specimens, medical oddities, freak show history, UFO lore, Movie props and replicas! and so much more. I appreciated that it felt more like a cabinet of curiosities than a haunted house vibe. The exhibits are thoughtfully laid out, and there's a genuine feeling of love for weird history here. It doesn't feel cheesy. You can take your time, read signs, and really soak it all in if you want, or just wander around wide eyed and delighted like me. If you're into oddities, curiosities, circus history, strange science, or just being a little weird inside, this place is an absolute must while you're downtown. I left smiling and already wanting to go back. Honestly, if this is your thing at all, you'll get it immediately. One small but important thing to note, especially for the rest of my disabled community: there is no bathroom on site. While they do let you leave and come back if needed, that still means stepping out and trying to find a restroom on a very busy downtown Austin street. It was honestly really stressful and upsetting for me. However...that didn't ruin the experience for me because I love it so much, but it's definitely something to be aware of and the only reason this lands at 4 stars instead of 5.

It is something to do when it's hot. The AC works except in the wax room. It smells awful!!!…read moreThey encourage you to take pics with King Kong which involves getting on knees and climbing up thru the hand. Well my dress had a dark brown wet stain on it as I stood up. Looked like poop -it wasn't but it sure looked like it. Bathroom out of order but they let me in and stain still there. So $25 for 2 to get in and I possibly ruined a brand new dress. Wasn't impressed at all by the place.

This is a great place to bring your kids, but for adults it's not as entertaining, it feels kinda…read moresmall and overpriced. I wish they had more stuff to look at/interact with, I thought the place would be bigger. On the bright side they can be somewhat flexible with scheduling tickets, they say they aren't refundable but if you're running late they can push the time for you if you call.

the museum of illusions was a fun experience, but it only took us about 30 minutes to go through…read moreeverything, so i'm not sure it fully felt worth the ticket price. there are a lot of photo ops, though many of them felt a bit underwhelming. i wish the space was more immersive with larger rooms and installations. it was also pretty crowded for how small the space is, which made it harder to enjoy some of the exhibits. that said, the staff was very friendly and helped us take lots of pictures. it's a fun one-time visit kinda thing but a cute spot to take your kids!

One of my favorite things about working on a college campus are the gems (art, music, dance,…read moretheatre) that are available to enjoy.who knows if the arts can withstand the tide that is currently decimating our history so I won't take it for granted and will experience as much of it as I can. The contemporary, modern and Latin collections in the Blanton, along with the art pieces at Rowling Hall are my favorites.

The Blanton museum was definitely a great place to visit! The entire museum has a very calming and…read moreopen feeling. The wide variety of art they had was impressive: contemporary, modern, latinx, European renaissance, etc. It took about 1-2 hours to get through, and parking was a breeze. It's also free on Tuesdays. Highly recommend!