Visitor Information

Explore! E–mail

Hours
Directions
Admission
Location and Parking
Planning Your Visit: Deciding When to Come
Phone
Lunch and Snacks
Accomodations
Group Rates
Corporate Discount Program
Support the Museum
Annual Report
Museum Mission
History

Hours
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Monday: CLOSED
Summer Mondays(Memorial Day through Labor Day only): 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed Easter, July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
(hours subject to change.)

Directions

From the West:  →Take 94 East  →Take the 5th Street Exit  →Turn LEFT on 7th Street

From the East:  →Take 94 West  →Take the 6th Street Exit  →Turn RIGHT on Wabasha Street

From the North:  →Take 35E South  →Take the 10th Street Exit  →Turn LEFT on Cedar Street  →Turn RIGHT on 7th Street

From the South:  →Take 35E North  →Take the 11th Street Exit  →Turn RIGHT on St. Peter Street  →Turn LEFT on 7th Street

For public transportation information, call Metro Transit at 612–373–3333 or visit www.metrotransit.org.

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Admission
Ages 1 - 101: $7.95
Members and children younger than one year: FREE
To purchase gift certificates or general admission passes for gifts, giveaways or incentives:
or call 651–225–6001.

Adult (18 years or older) supervision is required for all children.
Please note: the Museum no longer accepts personal checks. We apologize for any inconvenience.


Location and Parking
10 West Seventh Street, St. Paul, MN 55102
Find us on the corner of Seventh and Wabasha streets in downtown St. Paul. Discounted parking is available at the parking ramp, kitty-corner from the Museum on Wabasha and 7th Streets. Pick up a parking coupon at the Museum Box Office. Download a printable map with directions.

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Planning Your Visit: Deciding When To Come
Minnesota Children's Museum is a popular destination for families and groups of all ages. If you would like to plan your Museum visit around how many other visitors you might find when you arrive, following are some pointers that can help. Keep in mind that these are only guidelines; we cannot always predict attendance.

Some typically low–traffic times:

• Habitot Tuesdays
1st, 3rd & 5th Tuesday of each month
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
No school groups scheduled
Presented by St. Paul Travelers

• Early Bird Gallery
Weekdays (unless a gallery is closed for exhibit change or maintenance)
9 – 10 a.m.
One gallery is open only to families—no field trip groups

• Friday evenings and Sunday mornings (except for Free 3rd Sundays)

• Daily after 3 p.m.

Some days are predictably busier than others:

• Rainy or snowy days

• Days when schools are closed

• April, May and early June are busy months for school groups (most field trip groups visit in the morning, so afternoons during these months are quiet)

• Target Free 3rd Sundays
3rd Sunday of each month
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Free admission for all visitors

A note about school group visitors:
School group visits are an important part of the Museum’s mission, “sparking children’s learning through play.” The Museum reaches out to many children who might not otherwise have the opportunity or funds to visit. Many of the groups visit at a reduced rate offered to schools and organizations that serve economically disadvantaged children and families. In addition, the revenue from groups who do pay the full group admission rate is one way that we are able to keep the costs of our admission and memberships affordable. Children love their school visits to Minnesota Children’s Museum. If your children are preschool age, they will soon be among the groups of children playing, learning and creating lifelong memories on their school field trip at the Museum.

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Phone
Call 651–225–6000 for 24-hour information. To reach a staff person, call 651–225–6001 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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Lunch and Snacks
Kid Spark™, Minnesota Children’s Museum Store, has healthy food and beverage options for children and adults. There is also a small vending area with tables and chairs. Visitors are welcome to bring a bag lunch; however, food and drinks are not allowed in the galleries and seating is limited. The Great Big Room is open from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Habitot Tuesdays for families to use for lunch, snack or a break. Children and adults can enjoy a variety of sit–down and fast food restaurants connected to the Museum by skyway or within a short walk.

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Accommodations
There are a variety of hotels within walking or driving distance of the Museum. Visit www.stpaulcvb.org for more information.

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Group Rates

Minimum: 20 children
Maximum: 120 children
Visit Length: 2 hours
Adults: Ratio of 1 adult (admitted free) for every 4 children. Additional adults are $4.50 or $2.25 through Group Access Program
Available: Wednesday through Friday year round
Cost: $4.50 per child; $2.25 per child through Group Access Program

Call 651–225–6002 for reservations.

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Corporate Discount Program
Your employees can enjoy reduced admission to the Museum through our Corporate Discount Card Program. The program couldn't be easier! Offer your employees a FREE Corporate Discount Card, which entitles employees and their immediate family to $2 off each Museum admission (regularly $7.95). Your employees and their families will thank you for giving them the opportunity to spend fun, quality time together at a significant discount!

Contact groupsales@mcm.org or call 651-225-6036 for more information about this fantastic employee benefit.

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Support the Museum
As a non–profit organization we rely on donations from our friends to maintain high–quality educational experiences beyond the revenue we receive from admissions. We ask that you consider becoming a donor to the Museum’s Annual Fund with a tax–deductible donation today. Please contact the Development Department at 651–225–6055 or donate online now.

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Museum Annual Report
Download the Museum’s report to friends, July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007.
Download the Museum’s report to friends, July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006.
Download the Museum’s report to friends, July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2005.

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Mission
Sparking children’s learning through play.

Foundational Beliefs
Early learning is the foundation for lifelong learning.
Families are our children’s first teachers.
All children deserve a time and place to be children.
Diverse perspectives enrich children’s lives.
Play is learning.

Ready? Set. Grow!
Minnesota Children’s Museum’s History
On December 12, 1981, the first children entered the original Children’s Museum, known as “Minnesota’s AwareHouse,” in downtown Minneapolis. They experienced the wonders of hands–on children’s museums. Each child who visited the Museum over the years has found creative, colorful, educational, safe environments to explore and discover exciting galleries and programs based on sound principles of learning. The Museum founders, Marialice Harwood, Kate Donaldson and Suzanne Payne, built a museum based on the philosophy that there would be no “Do not touch” signs in this Museum. “When we were opening the Museum in Minneapolis years ago, we had very limited financial resources and were behind schedule,” says Harwood. “The night before the grand opening I remember painting the exhibits with Board members late into the night, trying desperately to finish before the doors opened the next day.” During the first year, 65,000 visitors embraced “thinking small” in a big way.

Attendance grew to 80,000, and the Museum quickly outgrew the original space in downtown Minneapolis. In 1985, the Children’s Museum moved to an old blacksmith’s shop in Bandana Square, transforming dirt walls into 18,000 square–feet of galleries. At the new location, even more young visitors discovered the fun of playing to learn. Attendance the first year in Bandana Square jumped to 200,000. By the early 1990s, the Museum’s visitors and exhibits again outgrew the space in Bandana Square. Plans to build an even bigger museum began. The doors to Minnesota Children’s Museum in downtown St. Paul opened with 65,000 square–feet of gallery and program space in September 1995. Three of the most popular exhibits moved from Bandana Square to Minnesota Children’s Museum in downtown St. Paul: Habitot®, where babies and toddlers can safely explore, climb and crawl; the Crane, which moved to the World Works gallery; and the Maze, which moved to Earth World and became the giant anthill. The crane and giant anthill are part of larger exhibits where children can enter the beaver den and pretend to be a busy beaver, crawl under the 500–gallon aquarium, challenge your balancing skills at the bouldering wall, come face–to–face with turtles, make waves at the wild water table or turn a gooey mess into paper art. During the first full year, more than 375,000 visitors came to touch, climb, splash, crawl, push, pull and press it all.

Today, more than 6 million children and their families have discovered the spark of learning through play.

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Minnesota Children's Museum is Accessible
Minnesota Children's Museum welcomes all visitors, and people with disabilities easily experience most areas of the Museum. Some activities may not look accessible at first glance, but can be enjoyed by all. Pick up a visitor guide at the Museum Box Office. All Museum rest rooms are accessible, and are located on the 1st, 2nd and 4th floors. To reach the skyway, use the first-floor elevator located between the double-doors leading to Wabasha Street. If you have questions or require assistance during your visit, please ask a Museum staff member wearing a purple vest.

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