Find Indoor Fun for the Whole Family at Iowa’s Interactive Museums

The LaunchPAD Children’s Museum in downtown Sioux City features exhibits that will excite toddlers through ‘tweens. Play areas include mechanics and architecture, LaunchPAD Lab, a market and café, a climbing structure and a water table. There is also an infant/toddler area where the littlest minds can learn. Located in the historic Pearl Street District, the museum is also near the Hard Rock Hotel. 

Admission fee applies.
Open Wednesday-Monday. Closed Tuesdays.

In the area, we also recommend visiting: Palmer’s Old Tyme Candy Shoppe, Sioux City Public Museum, Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center

The Family Museum in Bettendorf offers so much to do under one roof. Kids can wander through the town of Fox Hollow where they can shop for shoes and groceries, deliver the mail, make pizzas, sell ice cream and more. Or see what life on the farm is like by picking fruits and vegetables and getting them to market. Or explore the Mississippi River with a water table inspired by the actual stretch of the river in the Quad Cities. Or use real tools, materials and their imaginations to create in the ThinkShop!

Admission fee applies.
Open Monday-Saturday. Closed Sundays.

In the area, we also recommend visiting: Putnam Museum & Science Center, Figge Art Museum, John Deere Pavilion, Lagomarcino’s

Discover why Clinton, Iowa, ruled the lumber industry from 1870-1900 with interactive exhibits like the logging camp, water table with log rafts and train tables. Try your hand at navigating the Mississippi River with the water rafting video game and learn from the animatronic lumber barons. The Sawmill Museum is an official Great River Road Interpretive Center.

Admission fee applies.
Open daily.

In the area, we also recommend visiting: Felix Adler Children’s Discovery Center, Eagle Point Park, and Rock Creek County Park (home to the Mississippi River Eco-Tourism Center).

Kids are inspired to imagine, create, discover and explore through the Power of Play at the Iowa Children’s Museum in Coralville. Fifteen play areas give kids the opportunity to create a masterpiece, take flight with state-of-the-art flight simulators, build with Lego blocks, play a variety of musical instruments or explore the notion of motion. Located inside the Coral Ridge Mall near the food court and ice skating rink. 

Admission fee applies.
Open Tuesday-Sunday. Closed Mondays.

In the area, we also recommend visiting: Ice skating at Coral Ridge Mall, University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, Old Capitol Museum, Devonian Fossil Gorge

Lots of hands-on, please-DO-touch exhibits mean parents can breathe easy as their kids explore the history of the Union Pacific Railroad in Council Bluffs. In the Building America exhibit, kids (and adults) can detonate dynamite, try their hand at driving a spike or explore interactive timelines. The Lincoln Collection includes furniture from President Abraham Lincoln’s rail car, photographs, medallions and more.

Free admission.
Open Thursday-Saturday. Closed Sunday-Wednesday.

In the area, we also recommend visiting: Historic Squirrel Cage Jail, Hitchcock Nature Center, Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium

The 110,000-square-foot Science Center of Iowa in downtown Des Moines provides plenty of space for kids to explore exhibits related to science. Kids can build and launch paper rockets, try and build a freestanding arch, attempt to securely package an “egg” to survive a drop, learn more about the stars in the 50-foot domed Planetarium or catch live science demonstrations along with ever-changing exhibits and programs.

Admission fee applies.
Open Thursday-Sunday. Closed Monday-Wednesday.

In the area, we also recommend visiting: Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, Des Moines Art Center, Pappajohn Sculpture Park, Blank Park Zoo, Iowa State Capitol, State Historical Building, Brenton Skating Plaza

This museum complex is comprised of five distinct properties. The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum honors all veterans from Iowa and provides dog tags to visitors that can be scanned at multiple kiosks to learn personal stories from the Civil War to present conflicts. Other kid-friendly museums include the Bluedorn Science Imaginarium and the Grout Museum of History and Science. 

Admission fee applies.
Open Tuesday-Saturday. Closed Sunday-Monday.

In the area, we also recommending visiting: John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum, Phelps Youth Pavilion, Cedar Falls Main Street

Kids can explore 12 different aquariums full of animals found in the Mississippi River at this nationally-recognized museum. Experience permanent exhibits (like the sting ray touch tank) and dynamic temporary exhibits. Learn how to pilot a barge, watch a film in the 4D theatre, and explore how water works in the water table play area. After you've learned about the river, step outside and see it up close by strolling the Dubuque river walk.

Admission fee applies.
Open daily.

In the area, we also recommend visiting: Grand Harbor Hotel & Waterpark, Sundown Mountain, Field of Dreams Movie Site, Creative Adventure Lab