We absolutely loved our visit to the Virginia Discovery Museum! It looks a bit small and dinky from the outside, but my children and their cousins, ages 4 - 9, played non-stop for three hours. While most children's museums are multi levels, this is more like a giant long maze, making exploring each room feel like a treasure hunt. Favorite spots included the authentic log cabin complete with life size baby crib and a little play town with cafe, post office, and nature playground. There were lot of places for parents to sit and the whole museum felt relatively low key. The front desk was super nice and reminded us many times that we could come and go as we pleased throughout the day. Since we are American Children's Museum members we got free admission which was a huge added perk. Love being able to learn, explore, and play with my littles all around the US. read more

Virginia Discovery Museum - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Great hands on play for your kids! We were in the area and since it was hot we wanted an indoor activity for our kids. The museum recommends 8 and under. Our kids are 8, 7 and 5. The website does a great job of explaining where to park. We followed our gps and it took us the emergency exit entrance. The entrance is right on the main brick road. The museum will also validate your pass so parking is free. Entering was easy and we let the kids loose. We spent about 2 hours but they could have easily stayed longer. They do not allow food in the museum but you can come and go as you please. Great experience to let your kids explore. read more

Visited Charlottesville and this was the perfect little pitstop on the walk through the "mall". So many great shapes and then this for the kiddos was perfect and fun. The front has a lot of hands on stem stuff while you head down an alphabet corridor and get to play imaginationville with tractors, a bank, restaurant, Dr office as well as a music room and arts and crafts room. Had a great time. Seemed clean. Nice bathrooms. Price was right. Staff wasn't overly friendly but not rude either. The free carousel out front was a nice touch too! Would return. read more

This is a jewel right in-town, and a rare play place for kids. perfectly run and appointed museum that's super fun for the kiddos! my son says (I'm transcribing) "it's amazing and fun!" everybody here is incredibly nice and helpful. highly recommended! read more

Cute children's museum located at the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville. It's essentially two large rooms, the front being packed with tons of interactive things to do and the back room with various play stations. I'd say this museum is ideal for children up to 6 years of age, maybe 7. Admission is reasonable and even free through the ASTC passport program. While there, we had minimal interaction with the staff, but they were cleaning up things fairly often. There's a small room to place your jackets and stroller after you check-in/pay at the front desk. Favorites in the front room included the automoblox (build your own car and then race it down one of several ramps that had different slopes and textures), magnet wall (arrange various magnetic pieces on the wall to see if you could successfully move the ball from point a to b), and of course the large train table. Once we finally realized there was a back room (walk down the hallway adjacent to the bathrooms), we spent most of our time here particularly at the bakery/cafe and climbing the large tractor. Overall the Virginia Discovery Museum was a fun place to check out while downtown, especially if you have younger kids. I'd say you'll probably spend about two hours here. read more

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Loved this place- my 2 year old had so much fun with the different activities. Nice large space to park strollers too. read more

My son and I took a trip up here bcz he had an appt at UVA pediatrics developmental clinic so I thought he'd enjoy some fun before that. Out front you'll find a manual push carouse for the little ones. Inside is all one level all areas labeled. My son loved the aviation area with the parachute people and air tunnel. The scarf and fuzz ball blower tubes was a hit too. He enjoyed the construction area and helped another kid to build a house with the foam bricks and cinder blocks. There is an area for the smaller ones under 2 years. Walk down the hall and tap the buttons to listen to the numbers and letters. Some buttons didn't talk back and def need batteries. The very back was the bank, kitchen, music, doctor office and other play areas. My boy played in every area just about. We'd def come back on our next trip up. read more

Virginia Discovery Museum - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

always wonderful and great staff-the day pass makes it worth it - my kids enjoy this every time

Really a lot of fun and so many interesting activities from the bank to the medical center to the Log Cabin to the kitchen to the train set to the huge foam building blocks and everything in between. It can keep kids from toddler to about age 6/7 engaged and busy. A nice location for parties, too. If you live nearby and can go regularly, the membership is a very good value. read more

I waited until my son was a little bit older to visit this museum. As a WARNING, your child could get sick here. Adults, too. It is a cesspool just like the mall playground, chuckie cheese and daycare, so, I made sure he had a full armor of immunization and probiotics under his belt. So, I crossed my powderless nitrile gloved fingers, drove him downtown and parked at the Water St. Garage. Okay, that was a mistake! DON'T PARK at the Water St. Garage!!! The museum will NOT validate your ticket!!! PARK at the MARKET ST. GARAGE!!! I can't emphasize this enough if you don't want to save some $$$!!! I had to pay $6 for parking, however, I got a free pass to the museum. The wonderful folks at Infant and Toddler Connection gave me passes for FREE. Just letting you know in case you are part of the program. Once my son graduates from the program, I wouldn't mind paying or getting a season pass. Did my 20 month old love it? Heck yeah! My son would live here if he could! He enjoyed every interactive exhibit. He is into pretend cooking right now, so he spent most of the time at the back portion of the museum where the mini firehouse and slide with play kitchen sets are. There are countless exhibits for kids to enjoy. Time just flew by. The hardest part was to break it to a toddler that it was getting late and we had to go back home. Overall, I recommend this museum. Wait... you are probably wondering if my son and I got sick. Thankfully, we did not. It's unpredictable. read more

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This place is so cute and inclusive for kiddos of so many ages, including infants! As an adult, I even had a blast! Convenient bathroom location, lots of fun for the kids with building exercises, creative projects, reading, making music, and interacting with other children. Friendly and helpful staff clean up from time to time to help with cleanliness. The woman at the front desk was amazing and made sure to let me know of all their promotions going on: children on Medicaid have a reduced/free entry price, Bank of America card holders have a discount, including AAA members as well (and probably more). Babies under one year old are free! There's a place to hang your coat and other belongings. This is an educational facility as well, where kids can learn about innovation, science, child psychology (check out how the ages 0-2 room is set up) and how to care for the environment! I'll be back! :) read more

As a parent, all you need to know is this: The Virginia Discovery Museum is a great place to let the kids run around and play play play! We took a family trip to Charlottesville, VA and decided to walk around the old town area. The monkeys were a bit cranky after being in the car for almost 2 hours. As we walked around, the wife spotted this museum and we happily stepped inside to give the boys a fun break. Unlike other kid's museums, parents must also pay. Initially, we thought this was a bit unfair as we're just sitting there looking after the kids...but after seeing how new and well kept the museum was, the extra money we paid seemed well worth the expense. The inside of the museum is quite large with many activities and rooms to keep kids occupied and busy. From the entertaining vacuum tubes to the large "Panera" play area in the rear of the museum, everything was well kept, clean and super entertaining for our boys. I myself was fascinated by the beehive exhibit which had a live beehive inside the museum with a tube leading outside. Real bees busily flew to and from the hive with visitors having a unique view (via clear plexiglass) of the inner workings of the beehive. We easily spent 2 hours at this museum and the boys were finally happy to "do something fun" after their long car ride. If we're ever in the Charlottesville area, we will happily return here. Oh yeah! If you park at one of the old town garages, bring your parking ticket. They validate parking for up to TWO HOURS! Wahoo for free parking!! :-) read more

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Love this place, went with my kids for a field trip, would definitely go back. They put a lot of effort into being as authentic as they can.

My 5 and 2-year old boys love this place. It's not a large space, but big enough with a variety of activities that keep them occupied for hours. You can enter and exit if you want to grab lunch somewhere and return. And the annual membership seems reasonably priced if you live in the area. We look forward to returning here whenever we are in C'ville! read more

Virginia Discovery Museum - Playing with the airway maze - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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Great place to spend the day with toddlers and elementary-aged kiddies. Tons of activities and opportunities for interactive play!

My son loves coming here so much he threw the worst tantrum of his life when it was time to leave. We will be returning soon with his big sister to share the fun! read more

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Dingy, depressing and dirty are the only words for this place. It is so far from a museum is laughable. There is a room with a dirty pile of teddy bears. There is a fake Panera. There is a box of blocks. There is room with a ship. There is nothing inspiring or science based. There are no windows in the front part. There is nothing to excite young minds. And it's hard to share joy and learning as a parent in such a depressing place. Tear it down. Start over. Look at the THINKERY in Austin, TX for inspiration. read more

They recently updated this place and they have tons of new toys. It's great for little kids and the people that work here are super friendly. We bought the season pass, and I feel like j got my money's worth. Not great for older kids, depending on what you're looking for. It's not a Chucky cheese, but for little ones under 5 it is a blast! Downtown is annoying but it's close to the parking garage and they will validate for up to two hours. read more

A nice but small children's museum. They have all the standards for a children's museum: toddler play area, barn/farm area, physics area (this one has cars down a ramp), music area (with different lengths of PVC pipes), and a mock city area for kids to pretend they are grown-ups. It is located at one end of an outdoor pedestrian mall, and is a great stop after shopping in stores with a lot of "no touch" items. Also, if you live in the area and have a child between 1-4 you should seriously consider becoming a member. Its a kid safe zone with lots of toys, and great for a change of scenery. read more

This museum is good for a couple hours of fun but is very small. My 3 year old most enjoyed the imaginative play area (set up like a little city) in the very back. The rest of it he just blew through in no time. I was hoping it would be worth getting a membership, as its the only museum anywhere near us, but we just didn't feel it was worth coming that often. read more

A great place for younger Children. Lots of fun learning type activities that will keep kids 1-7ish entertained in for an hour or two. Good to escape the heat or the cold and is reasonably priced. read more

Great spot for younger kids, 2 - 8. It isn't huge but there is a couple of hours of entertainment for the little ones. Clean, fun and friendly staff. read more

Virginia Discovery Museum - The girls love the Panera Bread play area. - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

Recently renovated, it has a lot of the same play areas as before with a few new additions and a more open layout. They've added a kid sized lite brite, blue foam blocks, and a music room (perfect for your budding percussionist). Haven't been in a while. read more

my 15-month old son love this museum. It's a safe and fun place for toddlers so I can take a rest and watch him play for a while. Everyone I met is friendly here. read more

We drove 60 miles to Charlottesville to try out the museum, walk the pedestrian mall and get donuts at Carpe Donuts (must stop at!) because we were tired of driving I-95 to DC and Richmond. We were very happy with our decision. Our children are 16 mos and 3 1/2 years and our family of four spent close to 3 hours at the museum. We only left because our toddler was finally exhausted and getting cranky. There's so much to do. Our kids really loved the vacuum tubes and the cars - our 3 yr. old built cars and then them both races them down a ramp. The log cabin and garden is wonderful and dress up/ play pretend space in the back kept them busy. The train tables were a hit as well. As I said, lots to do! Its only $6/ person and we got a Groupon that made our total $12 for all 4 of us! But, its totally worth $24 for a family of 4. I'd say its good for the 10 and under crowd but perfect for 1-6 yr. olds. We will be back!!! read more

We visited here about 6 years ago when we only had one child who was 18 months old at the time of our visit. We now have 4 children, 7,5,3 and 1 years old and all loved their experience here. Exhibits have been refreshed since last time and they play areas were clean and well-maintained. We found the staff to be friendly and noticed helpers actively tidying up through the morning. We are from out of town but will definitely bookmark this place for future visits. read more

Being a retired teacher while visiting new cities, I am always on the lookout for great learning opportunities for my grandchildren. One of my most pleasant experiences came from visiting the Virginia discovery museum in Charlottesville Virginia. It has undergone extensive renovations and it is spotlessly clean.The staff was very friendly and answered all of our questions . Each and everyone of them were very helpful. We spent about two hours there and it entertained my two grandchildren the entire time. There is so much to do with storytime, the fort and all the hands-on activities.Everything was linked to what young children should be learning in every day life. Will definitely be returning to this amazing children's museum. read more

We LOVE this place! We just had our son's second birthday party their and it was fantastic. We did it on a Sunday and we had the entire place to ourselves. Katylen is the one who you speak to when setting up the party and she was super helpful! Lindsey was actually there the day of the party to help with everything and she is AMAZING!!! So sweet, nice and helpful! She had everything set up when we arrived and I had brought some additional decorations and she was so helpful in setting them up. They also had such nice goodies bags made for all the kids which included a return pass to the museum! After the party was over Lindsey took care of cleaning up so we just gathered our stud and left! Overall, we were incredibly impressed with the museum and would recommend it for just a visit or a birthday party!!!! read more

What a great spot for families out and about in Charlottesville. Plenty of space to explore and play, at a fair price and with parking validation! read more

Getting a membership heres was one of the first things we did when moving to Charlottesville with two little ones. Our kids love it, and it's often hard to get them to leave. So many quality interactive experiences packed into a relatively small place... which is the only negative: It's just too small. I hope they can figure out a way to expand, because what they have is fantastic. read more

We have visited here several times and enjoyed every visit! Worth the money, safe and educational play for the children although definitely geared for for the younger set - toddlers and up to age 5 or 6. Older children will not be entertained for long. Friendly staff and clean facility. read more

ALL YOUNG KIDS MUST COME HERE. kids are entertained for so many hours here, there is so much fun (non-electronic!) things to do! you can get kids off electronics and still have fun. great educational, but still so much fun museum. read more