Santa Fe Children's Museum

"This Place Rocks!!!"

The Children's Museum of Santa Fe is awesome. I spent several hours at the museum with my son and to be honest with you, if I could, I'd leave my son and return on my own for a visit without him. Why you ask? The bugs!

The insect collection is fascinating. During our visit, the man who had created the museum's elaborate and breathtaking bug collection, Oliver Greer, was carrying in a new shipment of bugs and much to my delight, offered to let us view the process of pinning the new bugs for the purpose of adding them to his collection. I was like, “Oooooh, yes please!” But my son was like, “I want to go outside mama.” Of course my son won that battle, but I’m telling you, this museum is so much more than your regular, run-of-the-mill kid’s museum.

Out back, painted tires border a giant sand pit creating an outdoor play area that’s prime real estate for a child’s imagination. While watching my son play, I found myself wondering what I'd be imagining if I were a kid again. Would I be digging up dinosaur bones? My son was pretending to make a garden with a cute little child-sized rake he discovered laying nearby. Perhaps his garden was inspired by the giant metal ant sculpture he spied near the museum’s entry?

Have you ever wanted to crawl inside a kaleidoscope? You can here! By luck, I happened to snap an awesome picture of my son crawling through a mirrored tunnel wearing a funny hat that he had discovered earlier in the museum’s collection of dress up clothes; complimented by the blue handlebar mustache I had previously painted on his face, at his request of course.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PLACE! Other fun exhibits include a Lego station, a train table, a magnet table, a running water exhibit, and many more. Recently the community of Santa Fe raised $200k to keep the museum open for 2013. I'm glad as the museum is a local treasure and a wonderful source of learning and joy for visiting children (and their parents)!

ADMISSION
New Mexico residents with ID: $6 per person
All other visitors: $9 per person
Sunday admission is $2 for New Mexico residents with ID, $5 for non-residents.

HOURS
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday, Wed, Thurs, & Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday: Noon to 5 p.m.