Providence Children's Museum Reviews

While in Narragansett for a family vacation, we got ambushed by cold wet weather. Needing to get out of the house for a while, we went to this museum.

The cost was $9 per person, but due to a partnership with a local kids museum we are members of, we got 3 passes for free. They generously verified over the phone for us.

There were exhibits with winds tubes, water and fog, food, building blocks, history and cultural items. My kids loved it, and we killed about 2 1/2 hours there. It was a good place to let your kids off the leash and still feel they are learning something. Perfect for a wet, cold day.

There were also several restaurants in the area, if you wanted to grab a bite while there.

Would definitely go again, especially if I lived in the area.

The Providence Children's Museum was a side-attraction for our journey through Rhode Island.

The museum did not have the best set up for children's exploration however the hand-on exhibits was worth the price of entrance.

My three year old granddaughter says to tell all parents and parents visiting Providence with young children that they should definitely visit this "museum". I agree! Lots of fun and engaging hands-on activities that are both fun and subtlely educate toddlers and pre-school tots about shapes, numeracy, clever things designed to encourage logical thinking, etc etc etc and just plain fun! We just opened a children's museum in my hometown in Colorado which is bright, shiny, and cost a ton to build. The Providence Museum could have taught us how to do it properly! If you go here, you will agree that for the young age group, it is great! It is not all flashy but whoever designed it surely knows how to engage this age group! Go!

This museum is best for children 5 and under. My older children 5 and 7 at time did enjoy it but a lot was meant for toddler/preschool. So we were out of there in an hour.

Took the family down from the Boston area on a weekday in October. I was tired of dealing with the overpriced admission, parking, and concession prices that poison the Boston Children's Museum, so we gave Providence a shot. What a pleasant surprise! First, the admission prices are roughly 25% less than Boston, and there's free parking. The attractions are geared toward the toddler set, but there's plenty to see and do (note: leave a good 45 minutes for your kids in the water table room!). As a whole, the museum is clean, with plenty of rest rooms, and a friendly, helpful staff. There's a nice section outside to sit and have lunch as well. All in all, an inexpensive spot to keep the kids entertained for hours.

Went on the Monday of school vacation. I know this is my fault, but didn't realize it would be so busy the first day of vacation

All the attractions were packed. They advertised a free concert, but ran out of tickets.

Parking was difficult. No spots in the free museum lot, no spots at the meters on the street within a couple blocks Luckily, I was doing a final pass and someone happened to be leaving the museum's free lot (Definitely get there early if you decide to go)

There was a coat room, but it looked more like a heap of coats when we went.

5 year old was ready to leave after 20 minutes. She said our local children's museum was more fun.

"Waterways Exhibit" was OK. They had only one smock left when we got there. Some of the levers were hard to work and some older kids were spraying people.
"Play Power" exhibit was pretty neat; this is where my daughter spent the majority of our time.
"Coming to Rhode Island" too crowded to appreciate this.
Some of the other attractions were OK too.

On the plus side, the bathrooms were clean for the amount of people.

Lots if interesting and interactive activities geared to the younger children. Always something to learn and explore.

I agree with others! It is a great museum. Enough to do for the younger ones in the right amount of time. Every activity is perfect for my 2 year old! He loves the water room the most! Although the truck room is a close second! There is a play area for the little ones too that is the perfect size. I love that staff makes sure no big kids are in there to impact the little ones. I do wish they sold some food, but the lunch rooms are just fine and you can bring in your own food.

My two year and her four year old cousin had a blast here, on a rainy summer afternoon. We pack lunches and spent the whole day. The biggest challenge was getting them to leave.

We visited early on a Sunday morning. The museum is great for kids and adults alike. Our daughter had a blast in each room and with each activity. It started to get busy around 11, so plan accordingly. The water tables were the biggest hit and my husband and I had fun there too.
The prices are a bit high, but you can easily spend half a day there and pack a lunch to eat outside on nice days, so it's not a bad value. If we lived closer we'd definitely get a membership (prices were very reasonable and on average for a family of 3, the membership would pay for itself in 4 visits), but because we're not we'll probably go a few times a year and try to catch the discount days, although I'm sure those are even more packed.

We visited the museum for a friend's daughters birthday. Had a great time and the kids really loved the water activities room.

You could come and stay forever. The water room alone can occupy many children for hours. In the good weather there is a great creative outdoor play area.

Good place for kids as there is plenty of things to do and it's two floors. There's an outside area, water area, building area and some other exhibits. It's $9 a person and children but babies under 12 months are free. I felt the admission for kids is sort of expensive as it's the same as adults but I guess that's how they make their money. However, we were there with a couple of kids who definitely were enjoying their time there! We were there on a Sunday around 11am and felt it was quite busy and probably would come earlier in the future to help avoid the crowds. There is a parking lot and street parking.

Took grand children for a Sunday morning day out.
Had a great day. Discovered lots of fun activities both inside and outside with water play a big hit.
Reasonable admission prices but no discounts for Seniors.

This is a nice museum for kids. There are a lot of wonderful activities for them, and even on a day when there are lots of kids around, it still was a pleasant experience. It is easy to get to, parking is free (although the lot was filling up by 11am), and for the price it’s a great 3-4 with kids. The water room is great, especially for younger kids, and my 7 and 9 year old enjoyed the upstairs rooms with the interactive ship and store. If you had to choose between driving into Boston or driving into Providence for a children’s museum, I’d say this is the better and less stressful choice.

We live south of Boston and made a special trip to go with our 3 year old son on a recent winter sunday. Easy ride, easy, free parking. We are members of the Boston Children's Museum and were pleasantly surprised to get 1/2 off admission. Fun and engaging from the moment we entered. Great variety of activities and stations - from things to do to imaginative play. Added plus THERE IS NO GIFT SHOP!!! There is also no cafeteria but excellent eateries are in close walking distance. We stayed almost 3 hours and plan to go back.

We went on a super cold Saturday afternoon, arriving around 1PM and stayed for about 2 hours. Our 15-month-old twins were overwhelmed, as the place seemed totally overrun with out-of-control children. There was a lot to do, but too many children to truly enjoy anything. The changing facilities were shockingly small too. So it ended up not being a lot of fun, even though I do appreciate that there is a children's museum at all.

I took my 2 year old son here and thought that this place was fantastic! We stayed for over three hours and weren't bored- neither he nor I! There was a terrific water table room- although I can't describe it well to do it justice- and there is a great outdoor courtyard with play areas. I would say that this is more geared for younger children than older children. The staff were also great- always paying attention and monitoring the children's activities and the cleanliness and safety of the play areas. I was really impressed.

Great spot on a hot day for the kids! Limited outdoor tables in the enclosed outside play area with an amazing beanstalk to climb! Kids really enjoyed the Water and air activities however, the store, ship, construction, farm displays allowed them to perform tasks to enhance their understanding. I found the special Vietnam displAy very educational particularly about their music.

We love coming here almost as much as the kids. The water activity room is awesome, but be careful you will ultimately get a little wet....if your child is younger or messy suggest bringing a change of clothing just in case. Bathrooms on each floor with stools for the kids ( also great if your little one is potty training). Themed rooms and pretend play. The staff does a good job to keep the areas organized. Some of the rooms like the Boat are very cramped so when your child runs in to play it can be hard to keep your eye on them at all times. The museum also had a great area for snacks and lunch which is kept clean. They do not serve food. Storage area for coats and diaper bags ( free).

When my children were little, I had a yearly membership to the museum. The activities are hands on, fun and educational. They also have a lot of special performances by local artists, storytellers, puppeteers, etc. It is well worth the price of a membership.

Have been a few times. Being from out of town it is a little tricky to get to and has limited parking but worth it. Museum is large inside and has a wide variety of exhibits. My kids especially enjoy the water room where they play with pumps, pipes, locks, boats etc. This room is really focal point of visit for them. In good weather there is also very nice outdoor play area.

This place is wonderful. I took my friend's 2 year old here and there is so much to see and do. I think this is good for children up to 8, age 9 may be pushing it. They also have family crafts and other fun activities so be on the lookout for that.

There are a lot of things that cause children to use their imagination and think differently. There are a few different areas set up....the area when you walk in is building things/vacuum tubes to watch how they suck up balls or bandannas. There is a splash water area, a great outdoor play area, a construction themed area, a lil tikes area that has safe things for the wee ones, and a fun history of RI interactive kind of exhibit.

I totally recommend this place and you can get discount passes from Providence/RI libraries which I recommend doing to save some money. I know once in a while they have a free night so check out their website!

The Museum had a lot of different activities inside for rainy days and we were lucky enough to see the rain stop and venture to the outside portion. All hands on for kids and exploration of imagination. Helpful, friendly staff. Free parking at the Museum and close to downtown Providence.

My first visit to the Children's Museum was for my granddaughter's birthday party. The party was widely received by her guests and I felt it was a perfect fit for an eighth birthday party. Given that she is autistic, the museum offers a wide range of activities also. The water activity is her favorite exhibit so she does spent plenty of time there. When things get a bit too loud for her, she simply moves to another room. Her six-year old brother also loves to visit as he enjoys climbing in and out of the boat markup, making new friends, and acting like a little boy.

Great time for all!

We went with a 2 year old who was fascinated with the "water room"! The multitude of things for all ages in there is impressive. Activities to do with your child or to let the child explore on there own. Sweet day.

Many of the exhibits were multi lingual and very hands on. The kids, ages 5 and 8, had plenty to do. They ran all around from exhibit to exhibit. It was a bit small, but there is a lot packed in there. More Purell please !!

We drove 11/2 hours to spend the day with our 3 grandchildren here and it was OUTSTANDING. It is creative, well organized and fun. It even has a small outdoor area.
They have a water room with all kinds of activities that left the kids soaked but happy.
Two negatives- teeny parking area and no food for purchase. We went on a Saturday and parked in an unoccupied office lot.

Wonderful, fantastic, amazing, engaging, child appropriate exhibits, plenty of hands-on experiences with one area filled with hands-on water tables, and just lots and lots and lots of fun! The small children will love it. The older children will love it (not sure, but probably up to age 12, depending on the child). We loved it! We highly recommend it!

The museum doesn't seem to limit how many people can enter or how many school groups it schedules.
I have a two year old and have found it to be very unsafe for her. They have large school groups running around with very little supervision.
If it is a holiday or spring break the place is so packed you are actually touching the people on both sides of you.
I just don't think it is worth the money.

Great place to take small children. My toddler loves almost all of the exhibits here. The water room is on the first floor and is his favorite, but we always save it for last because he usually gets wet. Even with the smock on, water can run down his arms onto his shirt, and also he can get his shoes wet. Bring a full change of clothing so your little one can leave dry. Bring some rain boots to wear to keep feet dry. There is a parking lot that gets full on busy days but you can always find a parking spot at a meter within 1-2 blocks of the building. There’s a lunch room to eat and drink (bring your own) and numerous rest rooms with changing tables on the two floors. Your child will have a good time here!

Take it from someone that frequents every kid activity in the Northeast including having memberships to every children's museum in the area. This place is worth a visit from anywhere. It may not look like much on the outside, housed in one of the old factory buildings in the south end jewelry district of Providence. Parking is challenging since the lot only holds 6 rows of cars and then you will have to park in a paid garage down the street. Inside it is two floors of packed activities including and outside portion. The admission is reasonable and if you have other memberships to local museums, the reciprocal programs gets you in for free until April, then its 50% off.

The exhibits are all the hands on types found in other museums but this place looks redone and more modernized. Plus there are things not found in other museums such as a historical walk through of Rhode Island and an outside area with burrow tunnels and caves. they also have a huge water play room and a construction area. Plus their new exhibit Think/Play is pretty cool with lots of puzzles and hands on activities. They also have a smaller kids area to climb and play called Little Woods. There is even a room to eat lunches and a discovery room for other hands on group activities. They also have live shows depending on the day. Pretty neat place and sprinkled throughout are staff members to monitor and help with all the exhibits. Gift shop at the end doesn't have much but is adequate. This beats out Boston since that museum can be a nightmare when it is crowded and is just too big. Make it a point to stop in to this place, it is a great way to burn 3-4 hours of the day!

Great on a rainy or winter day if you have kids under 10 yrs to entertain. We have been here 2X and recommend it

Great place to play and explore with your children. Water games, crafts and role play to name a few.

Off the beaten path visit on a road trip, and had a bogo- so why not. Small museum, but spent a couple hours in each hands on exhibit. My then 4 year old son loved all the activities. Probably an awesome place for a rainy or hot day.

We visited on a Sunday when it was Seuss day, and lots of birthday parties. The place was crowded, but not crazy. Our grandkids loved the water station and the boat they could climb on. We were worn out after 2 hours, but had a ton of fun. We will visit again.

Everything looked quite pedestrian to me and I was a little taken aback by the $9 price tag per person including adults but the children (6-9) had a great time.

To be honest, the Boston location is not only larger, but has better exhibits. The Providence location was definitely lacking, and even as a young child I preferred the Boston location much better.

Hi I believe this musem is a great place to come with the family and enjoy the day. This museum is very fun and educational at the same time. In the warm weather it has the out the play area. On some days you can get in for free I think is Fridays.

It was very busy when we were there on a rainy day and it definitely felt tight. We were bumping into each other constantly. It's really good for an hour/ hour and a half and then you've seen everything. Pretty standard children's museum on the smaller side. There's like one room plus the water room on the first floor and then a much larger single room on the second floor.

Parking was full when we got there, again probably because of the rainy day.

My soon-to-be 2 year old loved the water room but there wasn't much else to see after that IMO. We finished up quickly hitting the top-floor big room after he had played in the water room. It was his first real water room experience where he was old enough to enjoy it and he probably would have stayed longer.

If I was a tourist in Providence or its environs and had been to other children's museums, I wouldn't make any special trip to go here. There's nothing really unique and it is very small. If it's a rainy day and you don't know what else to do with the kids, it can kill an hour or two.

Awesome museum, tons of activities, very self-directed (which lets a parent kind of sit back and allow them to handle most of it themselves). Nice outdoor area for when that is an option. Good location for a birthday party, too (and if you tell your guests they get a free pass for the birthday, they can kind of plan a whole day of it). ery fun, very easy, not terribly expensive.

This is one of the better places in Rhode Island to take children who enjoy playing with all kinds of things and have a curiosity about everything. They can actually touch everything in this place. There are so many different things for them to do. It's somewhere you can go and spend the entire day with the children. My 3 year old grandson absolutely loves this place. His parents take him almost weekly.

We have been to many children’s museums, and this is one of our favorites because our 9, 6, and 2 year old can be occupied engagingly for 3 hours with its many hands on activities. Size is manageable, and not crowded weekdays. Very friendly staff. Very easy to get to. Parking on site. Will be back.

Children can do everything on this muséum, play with Walter, wind ...
They CAN discover a lot of think about Rhode Island

I went with a group of school children for a day and what a pleasant day it was.
Children love to be there,we all have loves of fun with all the activities they have all around,very intertaning and good knowledge
For children to learn about the beginning and the future of life .

It is an excellent place to visit with kids and enjoy several hours over there.
They offers activities that will challenge all ages kids imagination and thinking.

My toddler loved this place - a great stop for pretending and learning for young kids - can be crowded and there is a fee, but there is a nice outdoor spot for a picnic lunch and lots to do for the little ones.

Providence Children's Museum is a fun and very hands on museum. Our grandchildren loved it. Many many fun and educational activities and exhibits that utilize all the senses. Good educational family fun. And never overly crowded. Parking is convenient.

Running us over $30 for our three person family was what kept it from being a great value. Place was awesome with more activities than I expected. Would be great for toddlers and probably up through ten. Has it's own parking. Wonderful stop!

We have been to several children's museums but Providence Children's Museum is the best by far! I have three children a 6 year old girl and twin 18 month boys. There was something to entertain all of them in every area of the museum. Although smaller than other places (two levels) the space was used VERY well and had an amazing assortment of activities including a construction site, LARGE water play area and everything is hands on discovery. We spent a total of 3.5 hours there including eating our picnic lunch in their small but well equipped lunch room (Two high chairs and a hand washing sink available) and probably could have spent another hour if it hadn't been nap time for the two youngest. The staff was friendly and engaging. The place was clean and spacious enough for a double umbrella stroller when I needed to use it. (There is a large coat room with cubbies and an area of strollers when not in use. In short this family gives it TWO THUMBS UP!

Having a 5 year old I have been to 4 other Children's Museums; Dover NH, Portland ME, Boston MA, and Washington DC. The Providence Children's Museum packs a lot into a relatively small space. We loved the upper level with the variety of themed areas that you could actually go into. The ship was really cool with an upper deck and a below deck that kids could actually walk around in. The water room was super cool with a variety of interactive things to play with including two whirpool, pipes to divert water, damn building and water with dry ice or something in it so it 'steamed' as it came out. They provide smocks to keep your kids dry. The outside two story climber is very entertaining to. And limber adults can try it too! The blower tubes was another favorite where you follow the path of a ball through clear, hollow tubes as they are pushed by air and pop out the top. Impressed by the number of interactive things at this museum.

Great little spot for families with young children - the water station is phenomenal - museum host exhibits relevant to the region - museum has a multitude of volunteers ready to help with the experience - great value for entertaining the kids - saw a quaint puppet show that I would recommend for the kids

We spent two lovely hours here last evening -- free due to corporate sponsorship. I love evening hours at museums, perfect ways to pack a little extra into a vacation day or take the kids after work. The museum seems geared for kids 2 or 3 through 8, with one zone for those 4 and under. We enjoyed the water zone, the sand table, and the kiddie slide. In a downtown area without much space to play, this was a nice relaxing break.

We had a pass for 1/2 off from our local library, so it was a really good deal. While the museum is quite small, there are a couple of really fun activities. My 5-year old loved loved it.

If you've got younger kids, you can't beat this place. Reasonably priced, lots to do for younger kids and perfect for a few hours. Boston's Children's Museum is great, but can be a bit much for younger kids. This is perfect with both indoor and outdoor space for exploring, but not so big that the kids will melt down before you're halfway through. Our 4 year old and 19 month old both had a great time - we will be back.

Waste of time and money. $16 admission per adult. The vacuum tubes and water room on the first floor were fun for our toddler and infant but the entire second floor is run down and looks about 40 years old. Nothing was remotely interesting for kids. Needs a major renovation.

Great family day out for those with little ones. Clean, contained, and interactive. Kids love to visit and play in the multiple rooms. We have been coming hera for years, and are always satisfied. Sometimes there are larger groups there, but typically speaking, we do during the middle of the day and the crowds are small. Have a birthday party, and picnic while the kids play. This is a nice place to visit.

This museum is rather small, but the present activities are stimulating free play and imagination. Our children (6 and 8 years old) were already a bit too old, so we were done in two hours. They had a good time though. Activities included a waterroom, climbing in the garden, Kapla, Domino, tinkering, a "time machine", pirate ship, playground for toddlers, puzzles and a giant cube.

The (free) parking was full when we arrived on saturday at 1.00 PM. Entrance was 9 dollar per person (adult and child). You can take your own drinks and food. There are chairs and tables in the garden in the shade. The museum was not crowded on this hot day.

As children's museums' go, this one is very nice. Always filled with interesting things to do, reasonable prices.

Really great small children's museum. I think it is great for the 1-4 age range. We had our daughter's 2nd birthday here and it was really nicely done and managed.

Great "hands on" place to go with your children. I'd say, probably best for ages 3-9. Very thing is interactive. Fills a good part of the afternoon!

This museum is great for young children! We can spend a whole morning there playing inside and outside the museum. The first floor has a water exhibit where kids can place balls in the water and build waterfall machines. My daughters love the upstairs where there are different rooms from different times in AMerica's history (a store, a early home with fireplace, a boat, etc). Great place for imaginary play!

This museum is nice but it's rather small, kids did have fun but after about 2 hours was not much left to see or do. Facilities are nice and staff very helpful, just wish it would have been bigger with more exhibits.

The Providence Children's Museum is an average sized 2 story museum for children, geared more towards younger kids. Admission is $7.50 although they accept entertainment coupons. I took my five year old here during a brief trip to Rhode Island. Compared to other children's museums we have visited, I thought it was about average. The important thing is that she had a fun time. There is no food service in the building and if there were restaurants in the vicinity, I did not notice them. They have their own fenced parking lot across the street from a hospital. Average length of stay is about 2 hours.

According to their website, there are 9 separate activity areas. Some were better than others. "Strings Attached" consisted simply of a glass case with two marionettes. "Play Power" was closed the day we were there. "Littlewoods" is only for children 4 and under. The "children's garden" was not really a garden but more of an outdoor play area. In "Iway" you learn about bridges. "Shape Space" shows you how you can construct different shapes. "Waterways" demonstrates the capability of water to move objects. "Bone Zone" teaches about the human skeleton and "Coming to Rhode Island" is composed of 4 separate areas showing how people lived during different stages of Rhode Island's history.

I wouldn't plan to come to Rhode Island just to see the museum, but I would say it is worth bringing the kids if you will be in the Providence area for a few days.

Well maintained little family hideaway in the middle of Providence. Admission prices are affordable and there are often money-saving events. My nieces loved all of the exhibits and playing outside.

One a whim I took my two and four year old to the museam on a Saturday afternoon. The museam was easy to get to right off Route 95 (close to the Mall). Free parking. Admission was reasonable based on the time we spent and the fun we had. We will be back for sure.

took my grandson here age 19 months. Lots of things for the little guy to see and do. some things he does not understand yet but the next time I am sure he will as he is a smart little guy. It was great seeing him smile at the things he did understand and he ran aroung looking at each new thing. It is a safe place. a very nice staff but suggest going early if possible to avoid the crowd. Not expensive and well worth it. Will be going back soon.I could relax as well and that was a real plus.good parking.clean.a go to place

Very small museum and very little things for kids over three. There were no crafts as advertised, no interactive games. The Staff seemed to busy or didn't want to be bothered. Too expensive for so little

What a great place! Friends recommended to us and was a great way to spend a few hours getting out of the house! My son loved the water play area especially. Highly recommend getting library or discounted passes where available though as it cut tge cost of admission in half

Wonderful museum! They have packed so much into a good size place for young kids. Parking is tight, the cost is worth it and we had a great visit. There are plenty of things for very little ones to do; light tables, balls, slides, blocks, shadows, and water play all sized just right for smaller kids. No need to bring a stroller here, you can borrow one of theres but it's likely you won't even use it. No food on the premesis for purchase but you can BYO and eat in one of the places designated for eating. Special event craft was geared towards kids 2 and older. We will visit again.

If you are looking for a super gift for families that have young children, a season pass to the Providence Children's Museum is a great one to consider. The Museum has many, mamy hands-on exhibits for children of all ages (less so for adolescents). They can have fun, be loud, and it is all part of the learning.

My family and I have been to many children's museums in the area and this is by far our favorite. It is clean & spacious. The parking lot is small but there is other street parking as well. The first floor has a great water area with balls and ramps for the littlest visitors and pipe systems and boats for bigger kids. The outdoor play structure is neat but my kids are too young to climb it. You can't bring food or drinks in the museum but you can eat outside on a nice day. There is a giant lite bright, building blocks, trucks w/ pretend rocks, a pretend ship & grocery store. Those are just a few. This place is a must if you are visiting Providence with kids!

I like that Providence has a children's museum, but I did not find it very interesting for my 2 year old. They have a special room for small kids, but my daughter got bored after 1/2 hour, and the rest of the museum was "too advanced" for her. I appreciate "free days" but they are also super crowded, so I am not sure whether it is really worth going when the museum is free for everyone.

A great place to take the kiddos, there is so many hands on activities my daughter and I love to go here! If you go before 11 on a weekday, you almost have the place to yourself!

We love this museum. It is superior to Boston’s much more ballyhooed museum. There is a wide variety of functions and interests. We’ve been four time with s child aged 18 mo- 2 1/2 and she finds new discoveries each time The staff is great. The layout is very family friendly. There’s lots of benches which is a huge detail when you’re an out of shape parent watching your kid play. This museum is a gem.

great place to take little ones, ages 8 and under...more geared for ages 2-5. Admission won't break the bank and the activities are fun. The staff is pleasant and you can bring your own food. The water room is my son's favorite.

We really enjoy this museum! We often come on weekends 'cause our local Children's museum doesn't open until 12.00 noon. I agree the price is high. I wish they offered AAA discount or some such thing. But, sometimes you get what you pay for and I do think that is the case with this museum. They are well staffed, clean, and things that are broken one visit are fixed by the next visit. We will be back!

Went to visit the museum after reading great reviews with our 4 year old. He absolutely loved it. The parking lot was full at about 1pm on a party cloudy Sunday, but we waited for about 5 minutes and were able to get a spot. Free parking. The area surrounding the museum seems to be industrial as many building looked like warehouses. There is metered parking all over that seemed to be in effect everyday from 8am - 4pm ( I think), but the meters were for 2 hours. This place was great, lots of things to do. So much to learn with lots of staff around to help and educate. Everyone was super nice, which is always helpful in a business aimed toward children. It was not overcrowded at all, so my son had more than enough time at each station while not feeling pressured to leave. The prices were about $9 per person. There was also a mini performance going on in one of the room upstairs, which was about recycling and involved some of the kids from the audience. There is a water themed room (whirlpools) where they have little raincoats for the kids, which was just adorable. There is an outdoor area that is great with a cave-like exhibit and some outdoor activities. There is a small room at the entrance where you can hold a private party. Stroller parking/locker area was a smart addition. An overall great great for both children and adult. They make a great use of the space. It will warm your heart to see your kid's face light up and you will learn a thing or two yourself.

Kids (7 & 11) loved the water room, but went through the rest of the rooms rather quickly. Outdoor space (It was unfortunately raining/sleeting when we went.) looked neat and the toddler area as well. We (the adults) appreciated the history of Rhode Island exhibit, which more specifically focused on different immigrant groups through the year. Very informative and well done.

A nice clean middle-sized children's museum, where the little ones can easily spent a couple of hours playing. Free on-side parking available.

It's a great place for children and adults. Clean and lots of hands on things for little ones. We have taken our grandchildren there a few times. They love it.

One of the best places to take kids on a rainy day. And there's an outdoor play area on sunny days. Lots of interactive exhibits. And, seriously, kids can play for hours in the water room building things. It can get crowded, especially during school vacation weeks and holidays or even weekends.

I try to take advantage of the free fridays to providence childrens museum offers because I dont not that it is worth paying $8 bucks a person for. Its local and convinence which is the only reason I go.

In today's age children are glued to their ipad. If you can tare them away this is fun for little ones. Love the giant doll along with activities. I liked it better when it was in Pawtucket. Times change so I would say it depends on you child as to wether they would like it.

Though the Providence Children's Museum is smaller than its counterpart in Boston, there are a lot of the same features -- such as the water tables and the areas for infants to play. We enjoyed this very much with our 6 year old -- lots to do and see, and she was thoroughly entertained for almost 3 hours -- coloring, building, playing on child size historical replicas, deconstructing, designing, ...etc...

All the hands on 'exhibits' had small plaques prompting learning activities, but really the children just did what they wanted and it was fun to watch. The price was also very reasonable and staff were friendly and on top of making sure that items that 'belonged ' in each section eventually made their way back 'home.

Will definitely go there again.

Our 4 year old and 15 month old
sons loved the museum! There was plenty for both boys to do. The baby loved the Lite Bright-type wall. Older son loved the construction roller and the wooden blocks. The water room was so fun!! Brilliant idea having the rubber smocks for the kiddos!! THANK YOU!!!! It was a rainy day, so the museum was very busy, making parking tough, but not impossible. This place is definitely worth the stop.

My 14-mos-old twins loved this museum when we went at the beginning of the summer. There is a large water room that is great for many agse (I even saw parents having fun). There ar tables of flowing water full of balls, pipes, and other items that the kids can play with, move around, see cause and effect, etc. My twins loved a separate water tower that was easy for them to reach. They could put their hands in the water, move little balls, etc. There are smocks for the children to wear (but they will get wet!). The one downside is that the floor is wet and shoes will get wet (but I did see someone repeatedly mop the floor and pick up loose balls).
There is a play veterinarian room and pirate ship as well. Another room is just for toddlers (great for us) and made up like pioneer times.
The downside- and this major - there is nearly no parking. We parked on the street at first, where there is a 1-hr limit. I was afraid of getting a ticket. Then a spot opened in the lot, so I was lucky. But they really do need to aquire more parking or add a garage. We went for free through our library, so that was a huge plus.

We have been fortunate enough to visit this museum several times with our young daughter, and she has loved every visit and gotten something different out of it each time. The curators have almost endless hands-on exhibits, which is exactly what any good children's museum is all about, and they put a lot of fun into teaching children about history, STEM concepts, and critical thinking skills. There is a well-designed indoor gated play area for infants and young toddlers, in the bubble/water playroom is the highlight of the day for most young visitors. The permanent role-playing displays on Rhode Island history and construction design are unlike anything I've seen at other children's museums around New England. We usually only go on lousy weather days, but there is an outdoor space that looks like it might be pretty fun too during warmer weather. Beware only that parking is very limited in the neighborhood is heavily industrial, so you'll have to bring food or plan to drive back into downtown to eat. This is a great option for little kids to spend at least two hours without getting bored when in Providence.

My husband was attending a school at the military base in Newport for a few weeks, and I took the train up to meet him with our three boys who were 5, 2, and two months (I know, I'm insane). He had to work one morning, and we spent it at the Providence Children's Museum. It was the best time I'd ever had with all three kids. I can't recommend this place enough!

The museum is really well suited to very young kids, but there's plenty of educational material to keep older kids engaged too. Staff encourage kids to touch everything, make a mess, work out problems, and be themselves. There was a whole room for water play which was definitely the kids' favorite, and rooms devoted to transportation, construction, art, building, and solving puzzles. Every inch has a different game to be played or object to touch. A forest play area where I could nurse also had costumes, caves, climbing areas, and animals to explore.

Areas were enclosed so that I could keep an eye on all three kids at once, but the kids still felt like they could leave my side and have a lot of room to look around. The price is very reasonable, and I got to see my kids play in very different ways than usual. Would go back in an instant!

There aren’t very many rooms but what they do have is very nice. My four year old had fun particularly in their outdoor play area where there are a series of tunnels they can play in and the water room. For such a small place it packs at least an hour to two hours of fun for the under six crowd. Don’t know how fun it would be for kids older than that.

My husband and I took our 4 and 7 year old here while in town. It was a great place for the kids to enjoy playing for an afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that parking was free:). I think my kids favorite part was the water area. There was plenty of room for them to play around as it wasn't too crowded. We have been to a good amount of children's museums and this one still had a lot of activities that my kids haven't seen. We spent about 2-3 hrs there in the afternoon on a Tuesday and the crowd was a great size. There were other kids to play with, but they didn't really have to wait to play in any area. Really fun place!

We used to take my kids when they were younger. I never paid to take the kids there. It is good for kids up to age 7, after that the kids are getting bored stating it is for little kids. Warning it is not in nice section of Providence. Parking can be difficult, the museums parking lot is tight. There is metered parking on the streets. It also can get very crowded during school vacations.

The Children's Museum was a highlight for our trip with our 2 year old son. We visited twice because it was so much fun. The water room offers a chance to redirect water, float boats, and float balls. They have smocks so the kids don't get wet. It's really a big hit, and you might decide to do that last before you leave the museum (so you don't get too wet before you explore the other exhibits). The first floor also has fish tanks, fun mirrors, and a large kaleidoscope you walk into.

On the second floor, a time traveling tube takes you through Providence immigration and what the eras were like for people. A model boat that kids can climb on and under is a big hit. Another area has a little house with play food, and a water wheel that kids can turn. There is a construction zone area where kids can learn about building bridges and get on a steam roller or maneuver a really slow crane.

There is a play area for kids under 4, including a little area babies not yet crawling can play with balls. The outdoor garden is fun for play if the weather is nice, and a nice option for eating a packed lunch.

If you arrive when the museum opens, you can spend a few hours there, then have lunch at one of the local restaurants. The museum can offer recommendations on where to eat with children. Parking is free at the museum, or you can walk there from other hotels.

There was a lot there for our son to play with but we thought it would be bigger and have more information . A lot of the things there were not labeled /didn't explain what the kids were supposed to learn by doing the activity . My son enjoyed playing but we were hoping for him to get more out of it.

I haven't honestly been here in a very long time but I remember coming when I was a very little girl. Parents probably don't like it as much as kids do but you know what, it's a place designed for children to have fun and that's exactly what they're doing there.

We visited on Marathon Monday in 2018 which was rainy and very cold so there were MANY families there. This meant it was hard for the children to thoroughly engage with the activities. The paper airplane construction area was the most popular with the children in our party who were 3, 7 and 8.

What a marvelous, magical place. There are so many fun things for kids to do that the ONLY problem is getting the kids to leave. Furthermore, not only do they care about kids at the PCM, but they also care about the kids' parents.

July 2024, I took my kids to the museum and developed a migraine headache. I sat in a corner holding my head, and I'd only been there 10 minutes when a staff member, Arthur, saw me. He found a dark, quiet room for me to wait out the headache, and even came back periodically to give me reports on my children's status (happy & making tie-dye bandanas). What a kindness! What a fabulous place! Once I was better, which took about an hour, I took my kids to the water room, which is a child's paradise. It has so many ways to play and experiment in one room! The museum is simply magical for kids, and this adult can't fully express how grateful she is for this WONDERLAND with its thoughtful & considerate staff.

My 18 month old daughter had a great time here. She particularly enjoyed the water room. She loved the fountains, the whirl pools and the fog. The museum is small but there's a lot to do for young kids. My only gripe is that they don't have a changing station in each bathroom. There are 6 bathrooms but only 2 have changing stations. There was a line every time we needed to use them. Overall, we certainly enjoyed ourselves. We'll be back for sure.

I was in the area and decided to visit. Since I am a museum member of a different museum I received a discount. Only had to pay for two from a family of six. My older two ages 14 & 10 just walked around. Didn't do too much because there wasn't much for their age group. My younger two ages 5 & 1 enjoyed themselves. They liked going through the entire place. It wasn't really crowded either. Parking was free. It wasn't that bad but will not come back with my older two. We weren't there too long either. There are different things to do.. the water tables were fun. The toddler area was nice, a bit small though.

We took our children here repeatedly when they were small. They loved it. The layout has not really changed over the years. In a way it is good because little ones know exactly where everything is and what their favorite thing was. There is a ship to crawl through, a water room to play in; and a construction site to push fake rocks around. Kids are learning without even know it!

Great to have your kids run around not having to worry what happens next. A cool place to hang around, enjoy your parenthood and know you actively contribute to the well-being of your beloved. I miss the place

This is a true gem hidden in the jewelry district. I am not sure how another reviewer can think 8.50 is too high of a price for this museum. From the moment you walk in you are meet with a world of touchable and explorable wonders. My son loved exploring the room with all of the water play. From places to splash to tubs to play with balls and dams. The outdoor area give opportunities to dig for bones and to travel "underground" in crawl through tubes. There is also a "tree" of climbing platforms for older children. Upstairs is an area made just for children under 4. It has a treehouse with a slide and a little cave area for children to dress up. I would suggest going early in the morning since it was very empty.

Great place to go to with preschoolers/kindergarten age. A lot of learning, and hands on activities. This is where you can learn that children learned to read using "Our Father" prayer in those days.

We had a lovely day here with our 6yo, but I'd guess much older would lose interest. It's smaller, but plenty of things kept his interest for a few hours. The historical exhibits were cool and he really liked the water area. We were able to do this for free with a membership we have to another museum - so check at the entrance for their reciprocity program. Parking in their lot is minimal, so be prepared to park on the street and walk a few blocks on a weekend.

Great strip of stores and restaurants. Check out Andreas if you like Greek food and the Avon cinema is old and charming

We took our 16 month old here this weekend and she had a blast! The must sees are the water room and the "light-bright" corner. Very friendly staff and not too crowded. We got there right at 9am and had the whole parking lot to ourselves. When we left at 11, it was packed. Not sure if there is additional off street parking.

We were loitering around the brown university and then finally said lets go the kids museum. Best decision made. Got time to get the kids hungry and enjoy their journey

This is a fantastic interactive museum for young children. Our two year old grandson enjoyed the hands on play and learning. Many of the exhibits were themed for the time of year, others were more standard, all were educational. Staff were friendly and non-obtrusive.

Our family tends to hit kids museums everywhere we travel. This one is nice and has a good variety of stuff, but I feel like it is definitely geared for the younger kids. A couple of hours was sufficient for my 7 and 9 year olds. It's not a huge museum, but it's got a great exhibit on coming to Rhode Island which is awesome and interactive.

Providence Children's Museum is a wonderful place for children of all ages. From the Waterways exhibit where kids can splash to the "Coming to Rhode Island" experience, there's something for everyone. I especially like that children of differing age groups can each find something to enjoy with each exhibit. Be sure to check out their events calendar for fun activities, plus lots of ongoing classes. Also, there is a small break room if you need to stop and refuel. It also looks to be a great location for a birthday party.

My 3 year old loved this museum. I loved it too. Much of the museum is broken up into little theme rooms. We were able to discuss different times in american history with the kids.

I thought there were be more to it! My grand daughter who is 6 was bored and only wanted to go outside and my grandson who is one and half really has no interest. And like most family places....it could be more reasonable.

We took our 18 month old grand daughter twice in one week. The place has been improved 10 times over since they moved from Pawtucket. Plenty of parking and something for every age group.

This place is great to let you kids have an educational day and explore! The water table was a big hit for the kids and the extra large light-brite was a big hit for me...oh the memories! Theres so much for the kids to see and interact with. Great summer time activity to get out of the heat.

When we went a few months ago my daughter was about 15 months & only children under 1 are free which is rediculous bc at that age there isnt much for them to do. I kind of felt like there wasn't much for any age and its very small. I guess if your just looking for something to do on a rainy day or a keep busey activity then this would be ok for kids ages 3-7. I can say the best exhibit that my daughter did love was the water table area even though she could only reach one table (they had a few other taller ones) it was cute. The little indoor playground was cute even though the girl in charge of supervising it was miserable (about 17 years old) and didnt even smile at my daughter or other children when they tried playing with her, i figure it as.. if you dont like/love kids dont work at a place that is geared for them hence "the CHILDRENS musem". The outdoor tunnels were cute and the sandbox ..maybe it was just her age at the time, but it all was just very OK

We have taken several of our grand kids here. They love it! Always a worthwhile trip. Plenty of places to play and learn. I like that the gift shop was turned into a room for snacks.

Love this place. It seems small but that is deceptive. We spent the whole day and there is a great room to eat/bring your own food into.

This is really fun place. They have lots of things to do for kids 2-8 years of age. It is compact, so if crowded would be harder to enjoy. On second floor, they have crafts room. There is even a pirate ship. They have own free Parking lot. The only downside is they do NOT currently participate in reciprocals blaming on COVID, which is unfortunate because we would visit it more. It also makes their plus membership useless as other museums would refuse to accept their cards. Otherwise , it is fun place.

Spent the afternoon with my daughter and wife here and we had a blast. My daughter absolutely loved the water tables and had fun in every little nook and cranny of this place. The place was clean and well maintained with a lot of interesting and educational areas. As parents, we had just as much fun as our daughter.

Had the pleasure of coming for the first time for a birthday party. This place is great! Our 4 and almost 3 year olds had a blast. The skill stations, play areas, and silly stuff had the kids worn out after an hour and a half. They loved all of it. The outdoor area is really nice and the history rooms in the tunnel upstairs were a hit too. Highly recommend stopping in with your kids. We will be back!

My husband and I came here with our 2 year old daughter. We were spending the weekend in the city and wanted an indoor activity to keep us all occupied and the Children’s museum didn’t disappoint. I have been to several other children’s museums and this one was/is hands down the best. My daughter loved the water room and delighted in throwing balls into the water cyclone, squeegeeing water off a mirror, playing with snow and manipulating water flow. After about a half hour, we managed to coax her to check out the rest of the museum. She also loved the life sized lite-bright and the “play power” exhibit where she delighted in sending scarves and puffs shooting out the tubes.
We eventually made our way upstairs where she played dress up and pretend in the time travel exhibit, played in the little woods and made a Christmas ornament in “discovery studio.” She also enjoyed the construction area and the latch door section. A few of the other exhibits were a bit more advanced for her but after 2+ hours; we were all beat and ready to leave anyway. The price was reasonable, the staff was very friendly and there was so much for her to do, we will definitely be coming back next time we are in town.

My kids are still talking about the museum. They had a blast. So many hands on experiences. I managed to learn something too. The outdoor play area is very cool. Easy to walk to from downtown hotels.

Visited on sunday. We reserve the spot for the afternoon session. But when we get there it was way too crowded. All areas were busy and there were no staffs to control the time spent. Adults were occupying most of the seats. The marker studio dont had any markers, papers or chairs left. Since we are paying $15 per head, the museum should ensure we get the value for the money. This place dont worth more than $5.poorly managed with no crowd control.

Good fun!

Small two level museum in providence.  Can be overwhelming  if they have special events so watch their calendar.  Parking is free. Great activities, including a pirate ship which our kids practically lived on. Special exhibits, Not so much.  We went to see an exhibit if toys made by underprivileged children around the world from whatever materials they had on hand.   The toys were just put in display with explanation of where they're from, what they're made from and how the children played with them. Lost some value without these key bits. Just seemed like just stuff at that point. Had to ask the staff where it was because we couldn't find it even though it turns out it was in plain view. So much for a "box office draw."

There is no onsite restaurant so be sure to pack your own lunch. They  have a small break room you can use. 

I'd give special exhibits two stars whereas the museum itself gets four. We got in with a membership from another museum so didn't pay.

This place is the best for the kids. You must visit this place if you are traveling with kids. There are many activities for kids and in a very cheap price. My son loved the place and wanted to visit again. The staff are very nice and helpful. There is no food inside but you can carry your own and have it in assembly area. Overall its best place any kid can enjoy in Providence.

The children museum is quaity time to spend with youre children.since i learn about it i bring my kids and they have fun

Wonderful place to bring the kids- I'm speaking from the perspective of a baby-sitter, but it is clean and small enough that the kids can see everything. Great place for the morning/afternoon with the kids. Wonderful areas for them to explore, and hits a variety of ages.

This is a great place for the little ones. The water play area is so much fun. It's $9.00 admission for everyone, which is very reasonable. Definately for the 10 and under crowd. It's clean, renovated and a fun place to spend a couple of hours with the little ones.

The water play room was great, and not just a copy of the water room at the Boston Children's Museum.

Visited on a snowy day so my kids could run around. Its not very large, but there are a lot of hands on activities for the kids that are done very nice. The building is clean, well lit, and colorful. One of the stations broke while we were there and the staff were very quick to fix it. The price isn't bad, however parking is limited so we had to park at a meter half in a snow bank.

I have visited this museum several times over the years most recently with my son and his friend. They had a blast. Both kids LOVE to touch things so the fact that you can touch until your hearts content is a plus for sure! There is a water room to explore, funny mirrors and a lot of activities. There is a construction area and there are 'sets' depicting life in early America to more modern times. The one drawback to my kiddos is that there is a fairly large indoor play are with tunnels to climb through, etc. but it is only for ages 4 and younger. It certainly looks as though it would accommodate older children but it doesn't. Outside is a climbing structure that my son just loved...we probably easily spent an hour just playing on this piece of equipment! It is reasonably priced with a free parking lot that fills up quickly. You can usually find on street parking easily but it is metered. Definitely a worthwhile visit for the kids!

We took our 21 month old granson here and he loved it. He kept moving and walking and was so excited. If you go, I would suggest you start on the upper floor and work your way down. The highlight for our granson was the water exhibits. Staff was wonderful throughout.in the water section, they put on a water suit. He was so happy and excited , it was truly heart warming. There is also a spot to bring your lunch and an outside playground. There is a free parking lot, but we had to park on the meter spot because lot was full.

Took my grandson for the second time, the first was a visit that included his mother, this time we relaxed and traveled at his pace. I enjoyed that much more.
This definitely seems to be a place that entertains young ones the best. There is a room with a variety of water tables. The great thing about this room is that there are 3 stations, two are quite large and a small table that is perfect for children who want to practice the basics of water movement.
There is a room with a small cave and hollowed out tree, this room provides dress up opportunities including a skunk and a blue bird. So much fun! There are lots of building tiles and magnetized areas to experiment with. Child sized heavy equipment and boats as well as intro to history 101 embodied in a bodega and housing examples.
Local libraries have passes that allow for half price admission for up to 4 people. This discount brings admission price down form $9. to $4.50 each, a real bargain.

We took our 2 1/2 year old granddaughter to the Providence Children's Museum a couple of days ago and she enjoyed it so much. There was enough there to entertain a two year old for several hours. The one thing I would suggest is that they separate the "water room" into two sides: one side for children under 3 and the other side for 4 year olds and up. There were several older boys in there that thought that covering the hole to the pipes that the water came out of and splashing everyone in the room, including parents, was funny, but most of us did not. Other than that, it was clean and a good time for all.

We had an absolutely blast spending a morning here with an 8 and 10 year old. There are so many interesting materials to interact with. They stayed busy and engaged all morning. After a couple hours one commented to me that they were glad they got to spend the morning having fun instead of learning! Little did they know how educational all their learning was. The staff were amazing about cleaning throughout the day. Everyone was friendly and welcoming and inclusive. Signs are in both English and Spanish. We highly recommend

We decided to bring our 3 year old son here on a rainy vacation day in RI. We were pleasantly surprised by the museum. The staff is extremely friendly and able to give information regarding the surrounding area (places to eat, shop, etc.). The museum itself is two stories and has exhibits for kids to climb over and under and interact with (vacuum tubes, water tables, sound exhibits, building blocks and more). The admission price was $7.50 per person and there is a fenced in parking area directly on the side of the building. It was not too terribly crowded during our visit, but I can see how it could get crowded at times. Overall our son had a great time and that was more than worth it for us.

Hands on activities for all ages. We spent 3 hours and still didn't get to play and interact with everything! For small children it can be a bit overwhelming, I recommend leading them through one area at a time and pacing yourselves. We went on a Sunday which seemed perfect as it was not overly busy. If too crowded, children might not be able to get turns with everything.

What a fun place to take children or grandchildren to. Lots if activities for all ages. The water room was great. My husband and I enjoyed the build it feature where one was the talker and the other the listener. Very funny to do.

We brought our 11-month old son here as we were traveling around the area. They had a full area on the second floor where he could crawl around, and play, a great slide, a tons of playthings appropriate for his age. He was fascinated by the period-setting pieces, where he could play with everything, throw stuff around and such. Older children have plenty to do as well, and there are some neat displays of a giant lite-brite display that you can interact with, a movable wind tunnel, water games, and so forth.

We stayed in Providence for 2 nights. My daughter was just a couple days shy of her 2nd birthday and the hotel recepton told us about this place and she loved it. So much to do and even we had fun with her and we just loved the wee park upstairs even thought I was nervous about my girl going up them steps cause it was so high lol. Would recommend this place to anyone in the area and would go again if we were back in the area.

On the plus side, my 15 month old seemed to really enjoy her afternoon at this museum. There was a designated room for children under four years of age, and my daughter showed a lot of interest in all of the items she could get her hands on. The area had a "woodland" theme and there were books to read, balls to bounce, and even little costumes to wear. She also became all smiles at another exhibit that allowed her to toy with gears on the wall. I found the miniature grocery store and ship to be cute features as well.

I think that the admission price of $8.50 for adults is fair. The museum is rather small so less than ten bucks seems reasonable. However, any children over the age of 12 months also cost $8.50. It seemed a little silly to pay that price for my not-yet-walking child. I have encountered far more offensive prices elsewhere, but I would like to point out this price scale seemed a little off balance.

I would also note that most offerings felt as though they were best suited for a particular age group, perhaps 3 - 6. I didn't feel that anything was extremely informative or educational so the learning that one might expect from a museum was mostly for the smallest tykes. Some "exhibits" felt a bit thrown together and more like glorified daycare pens than places of exploration.

We did have a great time and I think that we would return. The pricing and the need for more imaginative/exciting exhibits are just things to be improved upon rather than complete deterrents.

Let me begin by saying this is a great children's museum. So good, that we have purchased a family membership every year. Kids love this place, lots of hands on, fun things to do. We bring a lunch ( they don't sell food but there's a little cafeteria for you to eat in ) and make a day of it.
Having said that, there are a couple of drawbacks. One is the parking. Very limited. On busy days when it's school vacation, rainy days in the summer, etc, good luck, you have to find a parking spot with a meter on one of the side roads because the parking lot for the museum is foolishly small. We came on a day that was downpouring and had to walk a couple of blocks ( not fun with backpacks, strollers and little ones in tow).
The other thing is the family plus membership. It's $150, which includes admission to a list of other reciprocal museums...keeping in mind this is designed for those who travel. In order to get into these museums free with your membership, the Providence Children's Museum must be 90 miles from it. We went to the Boston Children's Museum, as well as the Science Center in Boston, and used our membership with no problem ( both are about 90 miles from Providence and accepted our membership ). However, the Harvard museum of Natural Science, which is also in Boston, very close by the other two museums that accepted our membership, AND on the list of participating museums, would not accept our membership because it was closer than 90 miles "as the crow flies" ( not by driving distance ). Same city, but some museums are stricter on the 90 miles than others. So, my point is, just because there are reciprocal participating museums listed, even if they're an hour and a half away, it doesn't mean you're able to use your card, so you better call ahead and ask. And apparently the Providence Children's museum doesn't have control over it, it's up to each individual museum as to how lenient or strict they want to get over the 90 miles. So, if you're planning on getting a family membership to utilize the reciprocal museums, I'd advise you to make calls first to those which are close by the 90 miles range to first see which ones will accept or not accept your membership, see if it's worth it if you're going to be going there a lot.

My 4 year old had a lot of fun here, and didn't want to leave! The price was reasonable. The place isn't huge, but they section it off nicely. The play areas seemed clean enough, considering the amount of people the day we went. The bathroom was adequate. I saw staff actively cleaning the play areas and keeping things under control, which was nice to see. We'd come back again if we're in the area.

We were driving through and when because that are a part of the blue star program (free for military) for a month or so. Glad we did the kid loved it and didn't want to leave.

Come prepared for your kid to get wet the water learning center is great. They have aprons but it's hopeless your kid will get wet.

This place is perfect for kids of all ages many critical thinking activity for them to do. Could spend a an entire day there. The kid wanted to do the same thing over and over we had to move him along to see most of it.

The staff was super friendly and seem to really enjoy their jobs.

The museum is in a large space but relative to its size has limited exhibits. That has the advantage of spreading out the crowds but also limits the opportunities for fun and play. There are a few novel exhibits like the pneumatic ball and scarf tubes and polyhedron (and other shape) building table. The kids spent lots of time at both of those exhibits plus the outdoor play area. My daughter also really enjoyed the packet sailing ship. You could do worse for children's museums. This is worth a visit if you're in Providence with small children.

We went with a 17 month old and an 18 month old. I couldn't envision anything better for them. From the water tables to the ship to the "little woods" area, our kids were kept busy and loved it! They have done a great job here, especially for kids under age 5. I am so grateful to have this museum within an hour's drive from us. Go right across the street for super family friendly dining at Rue Bis! I can't wait to go back!

Clean and engaging for all ages. The new outdoor climber and play area along with the water room are highlights. Some new exhibits have been rotated in but the mainstays are just as exciting with each visit. Always hard to leave. Parking is limited but you can park on the street (metered) or in another location-just ask staff. They reciprocate museum memberships. Also, check with some local libraries for discount passes. You can spend as little as an hour or up to 5 hours (maybe more!) depending on your child(ren).

What a lovely children's museum. So much to see, touch and do! If the kids gets antsy, there's even a small playground to give your child something else to do! Great for busy hands and feet! Great place to spend a couple of hours.

I always take my grandchildren to the Providence Children's Museum when they visit. We get tickets from the public library, so the entrance fee is only $2 for up to four people. The kids just love it.

There are tons of interactive exhibits for kids to play with. It's definitely geared towards younger children. Great spot to create fun childhood memories!

We were in town just for a few days to visit family. Because of rain, our original plans fell through and we went here instead. The place was packed! According to their website they provide umbrella strollers and ask you to leave your big bulky stroller at home. However there were plenty of bulky strollers on the floor. I found that many adults were sitting in/on the displays meant for kids, limiting kids play.
I would say that it's a good place for. toddlers and Pre schoolers. My 6 1/2 year old was too big/old for some of the exhibits.
We did enjoy the water room though. The smocks to help keep kids dry was a huge plus!
Overall we had a good time, but it's no place I plan on returning to.

We vacation in Rhode Island every summer and have twin boys (now 5). We've always come up with an action plan for the days we can't go to the beach, and we've visited the Children's Museum the last three years. I believe it is well-suited for younger children (3-9) instead of older kids/teens. There is a seperate toddler area so the little ones can be contained. There is a fabulous waterplay area, and almost all of the exhibits are hands-on (don't require reading, so kids who can't read can figure them out). The outdoor area is great, with tables to have a picnic, and a wonderful climbing structure for kids 4+. The bathrooms have always been clean, as has the museum as a whole. Parking can be a little bit tricky...the lot is pretty small, so you might have to park on the street. Not sure if those spots are metered or not. It is also easily accessible from the highway (I-95). Well worth the 45 minute drive for us.

Works for ages 6 mo to 8 years old. We went during summer weekday morning with our toddlers and museum was mostly occupied by day camps. Beats the larger children's museum in our home town for quality and range of activities.

Good for at least 2-3 hours of fun.

Note: museum has its own parking lot, which we were not expecting. Could get full on very crowded days.

This is great fun for a nine year old (though probably not much older) with lots of hands on stuff and interesting history nuggets. The climbing structure outside was fun. What made it really great though was how kind the front desk staff were. They gave me good ideas about where to eat, allowed me to use their phone to phone a cab and just were generally very helpful. We were fully entertained for about 2 and a half hours. Very do-able and not overwhelming.

This is an amazing museum!
We enjoyed staying there with my 5 years old son and his friends. Every corner and room have great themes and creative spaces.
Outside is great too!
I highly recommend this museum!

Very nice vibe and an enthusiastic staff, but our 9 year old was quickly bored. You can walk from downtown but not thru the toniest of areas. $7 to get in for adults and children.

Great place for little ones, but my older kids 9-11 were getting awkward glances by other adults as if they had no business being there. My kids loved the Boston children's museum as well as the Cape Cod Children's Museum so I thought we'd try this one. Over run by babies and toddlers and yuppie parents with not much to do for children 8 and up. Had discounted passes from the library and my children enjoyed the out door area. Not a wasted day, but I wish I knew it was geared towards little ones ahead of time.

I have kids in ages 1-11, and have found my 9 year old still is having fun visiting, while the 11 year old is starting to tire of the museum. My younger ones love everything, particularly the water play area inside. The outdoor section is fun in the Summer, but rather small. The buble play is great and the climbing town is much like Boston's. While the indoor remodel was nice, I can't say I'm wow'ed by anything. The parking lot can get crowded, but if you are patient something normally opens quickly. Olga's Bakery is a great option for a snack or coffee around the corner.

One complaint I have that costs a star in my rating is that every qualified museum allows and promotes tax deduction for memberships, but not this museum. They outright lie about it to promote a much higher priced membership. Let's start with the facts. Under $250 you do not need a receipt for a donation, so you can stop worrying they will not issue a letter to support your qualified donation. The short of it is this, you can deduct up to $75 free and clear for a basic membership, but above this you need to start adjusting for the value of any goods//services you get as a member. I cannot say I get anything physical or special services as a basic member, so I deduct 100% of the basic membership.

In a longer nutshell, please consult your own tax professional, but online you can verify the following current tax regulation..."the IRS allows the member and the organization to disregard certain membership benefits that the member receives in return for an annual payment of $75 or less to a qualified organization. These disregarded benefits include rights or privileges that the member can use frequently while they are a member such as free or discounted admission. For annual payments over $75, the member may deduct as a charitable contribution only the excess of the membership payment over the estimated fair market value of the goods or services received above the benefits included in the basic membership." It certainly helps if a museum shares with you the deductible portion over $75, but I cannot say as a basic member I have any goods/services provided to me where I'd need to deduct the value from the full basic membership and I claim the full membership as a donation. It is truly ashame they try to upsell memberships to promote tax deductions, which have added perks and therefore would require deductions for donation purposes.

Overall, an above average kids museum with a truly disceptive membership marketing strategy.

I have two kids, 8 and 5, and they both had fun! It has plenty of things to keep kids, young and old, interested. The outdoor play area was so nice!

The best Children's museum we have seen so far! It is very compact, yet has many various activities. All my kids ranging from 2 to 6 y.o. found something to do for 4 hour visit. Just beware: the museum does not serve food, and all cafeterias within walking distance close at 4, so bring your own lunch!

We brought our two and a half yr. old grandson here today. Will definately return! Could easily spend the entire day there. Lots of hands on learning and playing.
Easy to find, right off Rt. 95, with free parking ( though limited...we got there when they first opened ). Bring a lunch, as there is no food service ( though there are tables both inside and out where you can have lunch ), and you will want to spend a good part of the day there without having to leave to eat.
We brought a change of clothes because we thought he would get wet ( they have a "Water Ways" exhibit ) but it wasn't necessary, as they provide smocks.
Admission is $9 each for both adults and children ( babies under a year are free ).but worth it. Lots of fun! http://www.childrenmuseum.org/exhibits.asp

We live in the south shore of Massachusetts so Providence and Boston are almost equidistant from our house. I took my son here for something to do while the wife was away and couldn't have been more impressed. It's half the cost of the Boston Children's museum, has free parking and all the stuff a 3 year old kid would want. My son had a blast and my wallet staid a little fatter than if I had taken him to Boston.

We went there on a Sunday afternoon in May 2014. Our daughter (2,5 years) became excited already at the entrance when she saw the dragon's tail. Since then she has been referring to the museum simply as "the museum with the dragon". She enjoyed every second we spent in the museum. The "water" fun is great, the museum provides waterproof jackets, but the shoes become wet anyway. Therefore it is good to have another pair of shoes or waterproof shoes with you. Or simply let it be the last attraction you visit with your child. The museum or rather attraction is really worth a visit. Older kids can learn a lot, and smaller kids, also the very young simply have fun. On an overcrowded day there might be not enough restrooms and also at our visit there was a smell you do not expect usually at a place that is otherwise nice and clean. But otherwise it is great fun. My husband enjoyed it as much as our daughter did. Note that there is no catering in the building and although the museum provides you with information about places in the close neighborhood, all of them were closed on Sunday. However, if you take your own food with you, there is a possibility to consume it in the building. If you are fed up with spending time on playgrounds or figuring out activities you can spend the weekend with your child, this museum is definitely worth a visit, both if the weather is good or if it is not. Even if you are only visiting Providence.

We went on a Friday evening for the family free event. It was a lot of fun, they had a very large water area with lots of different things to use in the water. The other exbits were enjoyed by our 3 year old. Will be back to visit again when in the area.

I live very close to a really good Children's Museum, but the Providence Children's Museum was truly a great day. My (nearly) 4 year old had a great time, interacting, playing, and yes, learning. The climbing area outside was of course her favorite, but I loved watching her explore the Historical Rhode Island section. A great thing to do with children in Rhode Island.

Enjoyed the water room and the scarfs that blow up the tubes..... too much snow to enjoy outside, guess we'll wait for the spring.

I did look it up on the internet but did not see any warning that it would be closed so we were disappointed that we arrived at the Children's Museum on Monday to find it closed so we ended up at the Zoo and enjoyed it.

Took my son here on a Saturday and he loved it. He was fascinated with the vacuum tubes as well as the water room. There were a lot of kids there, but there were plenty of things to do and exhibits to check out.

Make sure you give yourself a lot of time to check out everything. It can be a bit overwhelming for a kid, but they will have a lot of fun.

There is a small parking lot out front, if that is full, you will have to find street parking nearby.

We had a wonderful visit to the Museum and would definitely recommend it for families with young kids. There are tons of interactive exhibits including water play, climbing structures, pretend play areas, and building activities—that kept my toddler engaged the entire time.

One of the highlights for us was the special area just for ages 0–4. It’s such a thoughtful addition because it gives younger children their own safe space to crawl, climb, and play without being overwhelmed by the bigger kids. My toddler loved it, and as a parent, I appreciated that it was clean, well-designed, and developmentally appropriate.

The superspace jumbo magnets were another hit amongst kids and adults alike. The parents got so invested into it and were building tunnels for the kiddos. Great fun for us too!

Overall the space is very thoughtfully designed, and you can tell the staff really care about creating an engaging environment. They have a new craft activity everyday as well.
Everything felt safe, clean, and inviting. It’s easy to spend a few hours here without the kids getting bored.

Another bonus is that the museum is in a great spot—there are a few restaurants within a block or two, which made it perfect to grab lunch right after all the fun.

We have been to many children's museums , but all our expectations were exceeded! We took our four grandchildren ages 18 months to nine years. My older grandson loves the electric circuit room and they all loved the water play. Even the youngest could participate . They also enjoyed the upstairs building activities. The activities were well designed and the staff was on top of the clean up . As a retired teacher I appreciated both the quality and imagination that went into the activities . We will be back!

My two year old loves coming to the children's museum. The water room is large with long tables to play at. The imagination/play area upstairs is also a lot of fun. It is small enough not to feel overwhelmed but large enough that there are a variety of activities for kids.

I brought my 9 year old and 2 year old here. They enjoyed it. The museum has a lot of volunteers who are helpful and engaging. Some of the exhibits are a little dated and geared towards Rhode Island history. The kids like the construction area and the ship is popular too. I have very hands on kids and they liked the water tables and vacuums tubes and the giant lite bright. I purchased a membership as I see bringing the kids back multiple times it also provides discounted or free admission to other museums.

Check a RI/MA city library or Naval Station Newport ITT for discount passes and tickets as there are no walk up discounts (military, AAA etc.) whatsoever. At 7.50/person, family of 4 = $30.00. The free parking is a plus given the metered stuff further in town.

I was otherwise very pleased with the PCM. I especially appreciate efforts to showcase the diversity of the RI area (I am not from there) and have the kids learn about the history of Rhode Island as well. Please note that although the museum has several learning and building type exhibits, is does not have an indoor "play area" for climbing and such but the staff said one is being built and should be done in June 2010. I also saw that the museum is very well staffed and monitored so things are orderly and well supervised.

Great place to take the kids or grandkids! The water room alone will keep them busy for hours! It can be very busy on a rainy day.

Great museum for toddlers and young kids. Clean, safe and very interactive! Well done! We spent about 2 hours here with our three year old and she loved it!

Have been to a lot of children's museums, and this one is one of the best. First off - opens at 9am so you actually have a chance to beat the crowds, and get in a good amount of time before lunch. Museum was well laid out with interesting exhibits that could serve multiple age ranges (we have a 6, 4, and 2 year old). Really like the outdoor area that was fenced in - which had options for shade, and benches for the adults. Was big enough to offer variety, but small enough to feel very manageable to let kids explore. Might be nice to have food/drink on site, but perhaps that takes away some of the intimate feel of this place.

My family comes here once in a while and they love the water room. My husband has a great time upstairs with our 7 year old and the woods play area is great for the baby which also have a seat where I can nurse my baby.

Great size for little ones...not too overwhelming. Plenty to keep them interested! Lots of hands on and nicely set up. Grandkids loved it!

Its a smaller museum but did its job. My kids were happy with it especially with the water part and the outdoor activities.

Plenty of different rooms and activities and water play and learning for the little ones in the family

great children’s museum! My children 7 and 2 love the water section and I had a great time with them. Cool vacuum hoses which reminded me of old bank teller drive through boxes. Definitely worth the stop!

Suits the younger kids. It is manageable to visit in the morning and then do lunch at one of the nearby restaurants

A great day to spend with the grandchildren. They were actively engaged. There was much for them to do. A great visit anytime.

The perfect place to take young kids when the weather isn't permitting outside. My kids loved the water play room- bring some extra clothes in case they get wet!

My young children absolutely love it here!! Lots of hands on creative fun including big water tables. Pack a lunch and eat upstairs-where there are a few small tables (we usually get a table if we eat around 11:45 am). Wonderful place for children ages 6 and under.

The exhibits are fine, not great, but the staff is rude every single time I have been (more than 10 times.) There are dozens of tiny rules that staff gleefully spend all their time correcting visitors about. I never made the same mistake twice but was admonished several times at every visit. Also: Parents tend to be underinvolved, or overly critical.

We went with two young children - both had a really great time! There are lots of activities for various ages. Best part - it was way less crowded than going into Boston.

Our favorite was the water room. They provide smocks - but you may want to bring extra shirts or save this room for last.

It was cold the day we went but the outdoor area was still open.

Overall - really great time. You can easily spend 2 hours there and not do every activity.

I have been to a few children's museum throughout the years and this is by far my favorite. It seemed to make the kid in all the adults want to play as well. It is well thought out and exceeds on the execution. I didn't see one unhappy face there. My children both loved it since there was a wide array of things for each age group. The water room was fantastic and unexpected. The cost was $9 for adults which was a great price for a family day out. We are from out of town and delayed our trip home just to come here and the kids won't stop talking about it. GO!

My kids love visiting the Providence Children's Museum, they have a great variety of activities but can be overcrowded on the weekends.

Spent a lovely afternoon at this museum with my little niece.
Lots of interesting things to do and see.
Fun and educational.
There is a small parking lot as well as metered street parking.

I took my two kids, ages 2 and 6, during April vacation. There was an animal experience that day. My son loved it, he smiled so much during the presentation and then being able to hold the animals, he had a great time. Frogs, alligator, hedgehog, and snakes. The regular exhibits were great too. He enjoyed the cash register in the 1961 area. Both kids loved the water room. I came in from behind the building and because of construction and not being there before I didn't know about the parking lot in front and ended up parking at a meter. It was ok, we stayed two hours. We will return.

We have three little ones and have been members for the last three years. We go often and they can always find something new to do. The one draw back is it can get crowded on the weekends and on rainy days.

I live in MA half way between Boston and Providence. Many mornings I wake up and decide to take the kids on an adventure. This has become one of my favorite and easy spots to go. I was very suprised to read the 3 year old post about area safety. There is a big free parking lot outside and I have never felt threatened. The exhibits are wonderful and clean. My favorite area is upstairs where there is a hallway through Providence/RI history. The first is a small colonial farm house, than a Mill, next a ship, and than a hispanic market. All are hand on and have costumes for the kids to play act with. My boys also love the construction area. For the littlest visitors, there is a toddler only area in the back with a great big tree, slide and cave. Bring a snack or lunch. There is no food service available but a room for snacking/eating. The price is great at 6.50 a person and the first Sunday of every month is free courtasy of Brooks Pharmacy.

On a rainy day or sunny, toddlers and young ones need to be kept occupied with different activities often. Here, they will be kept busy all the time. There are things to touch and play with which would keep your little ones busy for a couple of hours. Hopefully, by then, it’ll be nap time.

We go there with our grandsons, age 8 and 4, and they are thoroughly entertained for hours. Staff is very pleasant and exhibits are a lot of fun.

The best thing about the Providence Children's Museum, aside from the exhibits, is the size. This is a small, easily navigated museum, great for the youngest kids-whose patience may be tested by crowds and wait times in a bigger place, like Boston. Some of the exhibits are a bit tired, but it is well worth the trip. Parking is free and readily available near the building, just look for the colorful dragon peaking over the roof of the building!

This place must be toddler heaven and grandparent hell. 'Just kidding about the Hades reference. For some granddads, this is a fun place to let your little one cut loose and have a blast. Yes, and for others...yours truly is no exception...it's call for a good stiff drink. I'm glad to experience this with my 2 1/2 year-old granddaughter, but I picked the wrong day...a rainy holiday. The museum was packed with standing room only for us big kids.

The exhibits are all thoughtfully designed and planned with a flow to the experience and an emphasis on fun. The interactive exhibits are there for a range of kids' ages and spread out over a course that would take at least a couple hours to navigate. The docents/volunteers are very helpful and willing to get down to the kids' level...on the floor, engaged and motivational.

It's a great place to burn energy and guarantee a sound nap for the little ones on the trip home. Now, where's my martini? Make that a double!

Took my 3 years daughter and baby to museum. It is nice and not big place with a lot of fun stuff to do. My daughter loves it. It was raining day and it was a lot of people, but it was still enough space for everyone. Has free parking, some out outside activities but because of rain we couldn’t explore it.

My grandchildren love to go there repeatedly, and they have enough displays from the water activities (they provide waterproof aprons) to the many imaginative, well designed kid's areas to keep a kid busy for several hours and want to come back.

What a lovely children's museum. So much to see, touch and do! If the kids gets antsy, there's even a small playground to give your child something else to do! Great for busy hands and feet! Great place to spend a couple of hours. The earlier in the day you can go, the less busy. There is a water table, so come with a t shirt change!

There are lots of enjoyable small areas for kids 3-10 to play here. But be careful! The neighborhood is run-down, and I got robbed/mugged in the parking lot on the way out.

I took my daughter here since she was three. She is seven and still enjoys coming here , its not a big place but there is a lot of hands on things to do and areas where you can play pirate or corner store and old time dress up , Its good for a few hours ,,,,

We were in town for a conference. While my husband was speaking, I took my two boys and we had a blast. The water room was by far the biggest attraction - we started and ended there. The vacuum tubes, engineering/construction area, and outside climbing area were also popular. I thought the "time tunnel" was pretty interesting, but my boys weren't as impressed. A perk is that it was free thanks to membership reciprocity with our local children's museum.

There seemed to be a lot of teens wandering around that must have been doing community service or something, as I can't imagine the museum paying that many people to sit around and do nothing. One girl sat at one of the displays making a "picture" and didn't move even when kids were waiting to try. I found it odd, but not really a reflection on the museum - just her cluelessness.