Science Museum of Minnesota

Website: Science Museum of Minnesota
Phone: (651) 221-9444
Hours: The Science Museum is open 10am-8pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 10m-5pm Tuesday through Thursday.

Families can learn about dinosaurs, the human body, space and more at the Science Museum of Minnesota (“SMM”). Located in St. Paul between the Mississippi River and Kellogg Boulevard, the museum welcomes all visitors to explore and interact with science of all kinds: biology, chemistry, archaeology, sociology, paleontology, environmentology, all -ology you can think of!  It’s all there for you to discover in this massive museum. And it is big! According to the Science Museum’s website they encompass 8.5 acres of exhibits!

Science Museum Of Minnesota exhibits

Here’s a sneak peek of what you can get hands-on with when you bring your kids to the museum:

• Dinosaur and fossils gallery: Dinosaur skeletons – triceratops, allosaurus, camptosaurus, diplodocus, as well as many other fossils.
• Experiment gallery: Play with light, wind, water pressure, waves, and watch how a tornado forms. Endless possibilities for hands-on fun here!
• Math Moves: Play with weights and graphs and ratios and proportion
• Minnesota River Gallery: take in the pride of Minnesota–the Mississippi River with an actual tugboat mounted on the top of the museum, interactive displays, and a live news show put on by you!
• Human Body Gallery: Including an Egyptian mummy!
• Sportsology: Visitors can run and play, kick and throw, and jump and move at the various labs.
• Science Live Theatre: watch short presentations combining “theater” with science.
• Our Backyard: Brought back in 2023, the backyard is full of water fun, lawn games and an experimental garden to explore when the weather allows for outdoor play.
• Collector’s Corner: Kids can trade their artifacts and knowledge for points to earn other natural items.

Preschool fun at the Science Museum of Minnesota

If you’re toting along kids ages 3-6 and younger, you may have a better time at the Minnesota Children’s Museum, as the entire museum is geared toward them. However, if you have kids of mixed ages or are just super jazzed about science, there is plenty to entertain 3-6 year old kids. Most exhibits and experiences have some sort of hands-on element that little kids can enjoy even if they aren’t ready for the deeper science. Plus, you’ll find age-appropriate picture books and short videos throughout the museum. Because it is such a hands-on museum, you can feel confident letting smaller kids take the lead, deciding what and how long to visit. These tend to be some of the favorite exhibits of our preschool kids:

1. Dinosaur exhibit Besides the sheer joy of seeing a full-scale dinosaur skeletons, kids can play with dinosaur dioramas. Parents can relax in the comfy leather chairs for as long as kids want to play or snuggle up and read a dinosaur picture book or put together a dinosaur puzzle.
2. Giant astronaut. Take a walk and marvel at the giant “floating” astronaut.
3. Musical stairs. Spend some time making music on the musical stairs that run from the lobby to the sixth floor.
4. The Backyard. The revamped backyard is an outdoor space where kids can create, build, splash, play lawn games and more, and wander the experimental gardens. Open seasonally with special hours.

If you have a membership, you can consider shorter and more frequent visits with smaller kids. You wouldn’t even have to leave the first floor for most of these visits.

Omnitheatre at the Science Museum of Minnesota

Your combination ticket to the Science Museum includes one Omnitheater film. During museum hours, a film is typically shown every hour on the hour. When our family visited, the kids were in awe. Parental tip: it’s helpful to sit farther in the back. That makes it easier to see the whole screen. You can see the current lineup of films on the Science Museum’s website here.

BONUS FUN! Science Museum of Minnesota members receive FREE admission to Omnitheater films during the annual Omnifest (typically held during the cold dark days of winter – watch our calendar or theirs for updates).