The Children's Museum - West Hartford, Connecticut

Stephanie M.

Great little place that our almost 4yo enjoyed. We got there in time to see and touch one of the snakes they have on display. We went midweek so it was low-key and not busy. Clean, open space, but geared towards the younger kids. I think anyone over 6/7 years old would get bored pretty quickly here.

Cameron T.

Currently there just isn't enough interactive exhibits to keep your child entertained for more than 1 hour. Even then, most of them weren't very engaging.

This children's museum is as if they collected old or outdated exhibits from other children's museum that were meant to be thrown away.

There is an outdoor area with a caged bobcat and coyote, and what looks like a butterfly garden (which most likely won't be open during covid).

The staff are super friendly, nice, and very helpful. My children did enjoy their time here, but stated they had no desire to come back.

Chris R.

This is a cute little museum that keeps unfolding to reveal a little bit more and a little bit more around each corner. Between the animals and the interactive maze and the dinosaur room and the butterfly garden and, of course, Connie the Whale, we spent nearly two and a half hours there! The timed entry ticketing system was straightforward, the staff was friendly, the museum had lots of information to share throughout, and overall it was a good value.

Ja K.

We've been coming here for 2 decades with our kids. Our youngest is finally aging up relative to this museum's audience which I'dsay is <11yrs. They have a lot of great interactive exhibits here, they are very good and self explanatory in most cases.The facility itself is old but is relatively well maintained. If your kids are older I think they might find it a little bit boring, but the planetarium has some great shows as well, Many of which actually are suitable for kids a little bit older than 12. It's nice to have such a well rounded kids museum in the area, hopefully it will stay in the area in the years ahead...

Wai01

I want to make something clear. My three (3) Stars rating was only because I have two kids who are 9 & 8 years old and I think this place is meant (IMO) for younger kids. It also has a limited amount of interactive features. But, the fact that it has live animals and butterfly sanctuaries is a good thing. The people who work there will guide you and answer any questions that you may have. Total time spent will be between one to one and half hour.

Michael D.

This place is bigger than it looks from the outside. I went in Winter which is why parking was easy, but I can see people having trouble parking when more folks are trying to use their modest-sized lot. My son always loves dinosaurs, so he was not disappointed. The live animals were a surprise, especially "Elvira," the alligator snapping turtle. I liked the real timer for the toy race cars the kids send down a ramp. The laser light show in the bottom floor costs $3.50 extra. I would've been ok with a shorter version of that. Kids under 2 years old free of charge.

Sue F.

Tons of activities for children of all ages. The memberships are amazingly affordable and I bring my 10 month old daughter there often to look at the animals and play. Even at 10 months old (not walking yet) we still spend at least 2 hours going through everything. Older kids could easily make a day of all the activities.

The planetarium shows are a little hit or miss. I saw one about a polar bear that was just still pictures and a story, which was probably the saddest misuse of a planetarium setup that I've ever encountered (seriously, management: I love you guys but that polar bear video needs to go....). That said, I've taken in other planetarium shows there, like the holiday special, that were really good. But this place is so awesome overall it's still a 5 star experience for what you're paying.

The staff is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to the animals and are happy to answer questions. You can tell the animals are well cared for and they let many of them run around after hours so they're not cooped up all day.

Overall, it's so worth the money. I'll continue to get a membership annually because it's the best "cooped up on a rainy day" activity for kids.

Bklyn M.

My 6 year old girl had a blast. They had an animal demo with snakes and a ground hog while we were there. She liked the blue foam building room and the camping area the most. Whisper disks were pretty cool too.