Portland Children's Museum
add photosThe Portland Children's Museum is a place to share wonderful and exciting new moments of discovery with your children. Since moving their site, Portland Children's museum has seen more than 1.6 million visitors from all over the world and from other countries.
Closed Sept. 7-13 For Spruce Up Week!
Provides free use of umbrella strollers as an alternative to the larger styles. Exceptions will be considered by Museum personnel.
Coin-return locker system: A free locker system is now in place for easy access to your belongings throughout your visit.
Nursing Room: The Museum has a private space for nursing on the first floor. Please inquire at the front desk.
22 Reviews for Portland Children's Museum
6
20 families found this helpful
"What fun!"
This place is amazing! I wish we had a Children's Museum half as great as this one! There is so much to see and do you could spend the entire day here! There's stuff for the little ones and the big kids too! You can work with clay, build things and they have these amazing MagnaBlocks that I couldn't get my kids to let go of. I ended up buying the blocks from Amazon.com! We'll be back on our next visit in the fall!
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1 family found this helpful
"I LOVE THIS PLACE!!"
This was such a great visit for us. We happened to be in Portland and decided to try it out. There was a "BOB THE BUILDER" exhibit which my 3 year old boy and 1 year old girl really enjoyed. They were "building" for HOURS! They also loved the little grocery store where they could push around little carts, go shopping, and check out. CUTE! You can also buy coffee and food from the little cafe they have inside. It wasn't too badly priced either! The museum is in the same lot as the zoo which is so convenient! Next time, we'll try the zoo too! Great place to let the kids play!
0 families found this helpful
"The kids love it!"
The kids absolutely love going there. And I will say that it is diffinitely one of the nicest and funnest children's museums that I have been to. There is tons for them to do. They have their permanent exhibits and have others that change with themes. It is more fun for the younger crowd, my son is 6 and seems to be outgrowing a lot of it. I don't particularly like to go there a lot because of my sanity. It is hard to keep track of more than one kid because there are lots of different rooms and no real security at the front door. That kind of scares me. I do go there occasionally though just for the kids.
0 families found this helpful
"Fun at the museum!"
This is truly a gem of a museum. Portland is very proud of it and with good reason. It is entertaining for a pretty wide age group....probably 0-7 years of age or so. Not too pricey and the interactive nature of the exhibits make this great! Really close to other fun things to do with the kids, like shopping & restaurants.
0 families found this helpful
"Best Children's Museum!"
I have a 3 and 1 year old, and they love the Portland Children's Museum! They have such an array of exhibits. They have a section just for babies. Then They have a tree-house, a huge water area with multiple water tables, a stage with live performers, a area to make things out of clay and so much more! My son's favorite is the grocery store, where the kids can take turn shopping with mini grocery carts and being the the clerks that check them out on actual beeping check-out stands. So awesome!
0 families found this helpful
"An amazing place for kids"
The Portland Children's Museum is such a fun and exciting place for kids ages 1-6. There are activities for older kids but they are limited. My daughter loves the water room and the grocery area. The staff is always friendly, there is food on site, and the lockers are so useful!
0 families found this helpful
"A treat my kids wait for!"
This is a unique place in Portland. There are many things to do for kids different ages. There's an area specially for toddlers. They're quiet area for reading by the tree. There're some busy spots like the theatre. My kids enjoy every inch of the museum.
Insider's tip: The 1st Friday of every month is free from 4 to 8pm, sponsered by Target. There is usually a show in the theatre around 6PM.
0 families found this helpful
"Great Children's Museum"
There's a reason almost every local family has a membership here! This is a great little children's museum. It isn't huge, but there are plenty of different things for kids to do. My daughter loves the grocery store and pet hospital. They do special things every day (music time and story time) and they do different crafts every day, too. They have a "baby garden" for kids under 2. That is probably the only thing that's not great about this museum. The baby area could use a little love. The exhibits change often enough that kids don't get sick of it. A fantastic place for younger children!
1 family found this helpful
"Have to go!"
This place was amazing! I wish we had one closer, our daughter went on a field trip and came back talking about it so much that we had to go the next week with our niece and nephew. Everything is so entertaining and educational, this is the perfect place to get your kids to learn, get their hands dirty but not your house! I would recommend bringing instant sanitizer though and doing it a lot as there were a lot of children.
0 families found this helpful
"Portland Children's Museum - A sure winner!"
We absolutely LOVE this museum - there is just so much to do there and it's totally been inspired from a "kid-level perspective." They have awesome exhibits but we also enjoy the familiar standbys: the children's grocery store, veterinary hospital, play theater, construction zone..... the list of favorites is endless. The water play area and modeling clay rooms are super cool - the only challenge is giving yourself enough time to take it all in! *If you are a local, you may want to look into reserving admission passes at your local library - the Beaverton Library loans these out for free to library members!
0 families found this helpful
"Members for three years!"
We have been members of the Portland Children's Museum for three years now, I can't imagine our lives without the option of going there whenever we want to. Our son loves it and always finds something to play with, the clay exhibit is always fun and the dig pit is by far his favorite.
If you are visiting Portland, definitely something to enjoy for the little ones!
0 families found this helpful
"interesting"
I feel that the activities they have everyday is awesome and worth multiple trips. You just can't get enough from one visit. Sometimes the changing activities can be boring. I have been to some that are awesome, but others not so much.
The Water area is my children's favorite area to play at!
1 family found this helpful
"Genius"
This is a fantastic excursion for the 6 and under-set. Tons of hands-on activities and special areas for infants/toddlers only. There are story-times and sing-alongs nearly every hour in the tree area. The food is decent and appropriately-priced (and you can also bring your own into the designated area at the front of the museum.) Passes are available from the library (waiting times may be several weeks); first Friday evenings are free thanks to corporate sponsorship. Definitely check it out.
0 families found this helpful
"So much fun!"
We had a wonderful time at this interactive museum. We were able to travel from our hotel downtown via the streetcar.
Our children still talk about the museum, three years later! And ask when we will return to "that children's museum". I would recommend it for kids of all ages and we will be returning soon!
1 family found this helpful
"Portland Children's Museum"
The Portland Children's Museum is located directly across the parking lot from the zoo, and is a great option for when the weather is less than stellar for a day outside. With several levels of hands' on exhibits, our kids loved this museum. Their favorite parts: the 'tree' with slides, the stage (complete with microphones and audio system) and the clay/pottery room. (For this, I believe you have to sign up for a specific time, but it's well worth scheduling around.)
Note: If you have a membership at almost any northwest children's museum, there's a discount in admission. Ask at the front desk!
2 families found this helpful
"One of the best children's museums I've visited"
We spent a morning at this museum with our 17 month old son, and it was amazing fun. I've never been to a children's museum that was as toddler-friendly as this one. Almost all of the exhibits were geared towards preschoolers and accessible to toddlers. There is a separate toddler/baby area, but we didn't have to confine ourselves to it like we so in other children's museums. My son had a blast running around from exhibit to exhibit. Highlights included a great water play area and an amazing dig pit full of recycled rubber "gravel" and dozens of bulldozers and diggers.
The museum also has a wonderful snack bar and area to eat lunch in. It is adjacent to the zoo and the forestry museum, and is on the light rail line. We wished we'd discovered it sooner!
2 families found this helpful
"Awesome for younger kids"
This was a place to go all the time, but now that our youngest is 5, we don't go there anymore because she gets board. But, when she was under 4 our youngest loved it. (The same applied with our other two kids)
Once kids get to 5, this place gets boring for them, it really is made for younger kids. If you have older kids and a younger child. I suggest you let them spend the night a friends house and take your young kids here or you will here a lot of "Can we leave now" from the older ones.
But, if you are under 4... THIS PLACE ROCKS!
2 families found this helpful
"This is a awesome place."
There is a lot of activities for your little ones. When we were there, there was a Bob the Builder special exhibit.
All of the area where great. BRING AN EXTRA SET OF CLOTHES for the water area, they provide good coverage with their smocks, but if your little one is more hands on they will get wet.
Also the cafe in the front is very helpful for you picky child. They are very accommodating.
If I were in Portland again this is the first place I would go.
2 families found this helpful
"Lots of fun!"
My daughter loves it here. There is a special area for toddlers/babies that has recently been remodeled. The new area is great. There is lots of room to run around and things to climb and jump on.
There is a great water play area. My 19 month old has a great time splashing in the water and filling up cups and pitchers. She is still pretty small for the area, but it doesn't stop her. She doesn't seem to notice that she can't reach everything and finds plenty of fun things that she can reach.
If you think you are going to go more than once I recommend buying a membership. Individual admission prices are a bit high, but the membership is very reasonable and pays for itself very quickly.
0 families found this helpful
"A Fun Place to Explore"
We visited this museum a few years ago and really loved it! It had great activities including opportunities for creative and dramatic play. The exhibits were simple but highly entertaining. My son especially enjoyed the interactive store. We will be heading back there when we are in the area.
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