The Exploratorium is an experimental, hands-on museum designed to spark curiosity -- regardless of age or familiarity with science. It attracts the old, the young, the artist, the scientist, the family, and everyone in-between. It's like a mad scientist's penny arcade, a scientific funhouse, an art studio, and an experimental laboratory all rolled into one. You can touch, play, and tinker with hundreds of exhibits.  Listen with a deer's ears, view glowing roundworms that have phosphorescence genes, harvest your own cheek cells, and take a sensory journey in total darkness in the Tactile Dome.  For more information, visit its website or call 415.561.0360.

Print up the passport/scavenger hunt for the Exploratorium!

After you have a fun day at the Exploratorium, what can you do next? As a follow-up, here are some ideas to explore together.

• Take things apart. If you have an old or broken toy or game around the house, take it apart to see how it works. You and child might even be able to fix it or come up with a design idea to improve upon it.

• Buy a building kit for your child and better yet, work on it with them. K’NEX and LEGOs help develop spatial skills and lay a foundation for math concepts.

• Visit the hands-on activities section of The Exploratorium's website to do an activity with your child at home.


• Turn off the TV and spend a day playing board games and puzzles. Look for games that promote problem-solving and spatial skills such as jigsaw puzzles, checkers, chess, tanagrams, and Jenga offer a chance to connect with your child. Print or create a puzzle for your child at Puzzlemaker.