Considered one of the top kid spaces in the state, the Hands On Children’s Museum is a must for families visiting Olympia. Let your children up to 10 years old enjoy more than 150 interactive exhibits, as well as the Outdoor Discovery Center, all influenced by the Pacific Northwest.
Get crafty in the Arts & Parts Studio, where children of all ages can create with new and recycled art supplies, glue guns, electric scissors and more. In the Build It! Gallery, don a hard hat and safety goggles and construct a tiny home with Keva builder boards. Become a firefighter, nurse, helicopter pilot or EMT in the Emergency! Gallery. While you’re here, let the kids yell at the top of their lungs in the fun Scream Room, where they can see how loud they are in decibels.
Visit the Animal Rescue Center and climb into the Tree House in the Fabulous Forest. Make your own flying machines in the Woodland Wind Tunnel. Stop at the Native American Longhouse for activities varying by season.
Always popular, the Move It! exhibit features a Water Tower with a view of downtown Olympia and a 25-foot (8-meter) Airways Maze. Grab a scarf or ball of yarn and send it flying through the maze.
The Outdoor Discovery Center features 0.5 acres (0.2 hectares) of space, with a children’s garden, lighthouse lookout, beach shack and hike and trike loop. Build a fort out of driftwood. Check out the Obstacle Course in the Puget Sound Beach area.
All that play will surely whet the appetite, so head back inside to the Play Day Café for locally sourced lunch and snack fare. You may also bring your own food to eat outside in the East Bay Public Plaza in front of the museum.
Find the Hands On Children’s Museum about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) north of the center of Olympia. Parking is available in the museum lot for a fee. Metered on-street parking is also available. The museum asks that guests do not bring strollers into the galleries.
