When my eight year old was little one of our favorite things to do was visit local museums and explore new places.  I think we spent more time out and about during the day than we did at home.  Things have been a little different with my two year old due to the pandemic, but we are slowly trying to get out more and explore new places.  We have been wanting to visit Thinkery for a long time, and we finally made it!  I will start by saying it did not disappoint.  We spent 2 hours there and my two year old did not get bored one time and that alone is a huge feat.

Thinkery is located in Austin and is very close to downtown.  It was a bit of a drive for us (took us about 30 minutes with traffic), but definitely worth it and we will be going back.  Checking into the museum was easy.  We purchased our tickets the evening before and we reserved the 9:00 a.m. time slot which is right when they opened.  Purchasing tickets in advance is not required, however it is highly recommended because they only allow a limited number of visitors during each arrival time so if the slot is filled when you arrive you will have to wait until the next available time.  Another item very important to note is that masks are required for any visitors over 2 years old.  They mention this multiple times on their website and also when purchasing tickets.  If you have any questions about their Covid protocols please visit https://thinkeryaustin.org/visit-us/keep-austin-well-updated/ .

After checking in we went right upstairs.  I was letting my son guide the way so we went wherever he wanted and since it was our first time he was excited about everything.  We started at the Currents exhibit which is the water play area.  They have water wheels, boats to play with, and drums to tap on.  It is a mixture of water play as well as music because they have chimes and other items the kids can play on to hear different sounds.  Also, something that is really neat is water dripping from pipes up high play sounds on the drums. A couple things to mention about this area is that it is very likely your children will get wet.  They do offer smocks and water shoes to wear, but even with all that it seems like they can still figure out a way to drench their clothes.  With this in mind I would recommend visiting this attraction last right before you are done for the day or bringing a spare change of clothes.

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Next we were off to the outdoor area called Our Backyard.  This area has different activities for all ages.  They have a tall climbing structure with ropes and tunnels as well as smaller climbing structures lower to the ground like little tree stumps.  They also have a fun water play area with toys to use while exploring.  In my opinion Thinkery is ideal for children 1 to 6 years old, however this outdoor area is great for older kids as well.  After being outside we decided to go back inside where it was warm and then we found my two year olds favorite spaces which were the Bloom and Fresh! Farmers Market exhibits.  The Bloom space is only for children 0 to 3 years old and you must take your shoes off when entering this area.  It is a great space for crawlers and toddlers with lots of things to explore that are low to the ground.  My two year olds favorite were these little circular windows on the floor that had different vegetables or animals to see and you can press a button to light them up.  They were very simple, but fun to explore because there were many things to look at inside each one.  He also loved the tunnel and going up and down the ramp.

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The Fresh! Farmers Market exhibit was right next to Bloom and it was definitely a kid favorite.  They have an entire wall full of crates with wooden fruits and vegetables as well as a kitchen where the kids can pretend to cook.  We spent at least 30 minutes picking up different vegetables and pretending like we were making soup.  My two year old loves to hold eggs at home (which always makes me nervous because we all know how easily they break!), but luckily the museum had two full crates of wooden eggs which he loved.  They also had a pretend chicken coop the children could climb in and learn about which hen lays the different eggs.  This space was my favorite because I enjoyed watching all of the kids running around and cooking their pretend meals.  We spent the majority of our time at Thinkery in these two sections because he would just go back and forth from the Bloom Exhibit to the Farmers Market. 

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Upstairs they also have Move! Studio and a Story Nook.  We did not visit Story Nook, but it was a nice quiet area where kids can read and look out the large window.  Move! Studio is designed for children 6 and under and there are little tunnels and gears on the ground for climbing or building.  This area was not a big hit for my son because there was not a lot to build with and the items were a little big for him, but he did enjoy going through the tunnels.

After seeing everything upstairs we decided to go and visit the Light Lab on our way out.  The light lab is a great space that is darker than the rest of the museum and full of light peg walls, light tables, and plenty of different colors to enjoy.  At this point my little one was getting pretty tired, but he did enjoy sitting next to the light peg wall and putting in some pegs.  This is one of his favorite activities at another place we visit so I was excited they have it on an even larger scale at the Thinkery.  We did not make it to the other exhibits at the museum which include Innovators’ Workshop, Train Town, Spark Shop and the Earth, Wind, Inspire section.  Many of these exhibits seemed to be geared for older children so while we did not visit them during this trip we may take my eight year old back sometime to see what he thinks.  I always like leaving somewhere with more to explore because it gives me an excuse to come back!

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Thinkery is definitely an excellent place for my two year old.  I love watching him enjoy all of the activities and I feel like he learns so much during these visits as well.  Not to mention he gets to interact with other children while exploring.  A few important items to mention:

1. Food is not allowed at the museum.  You can bring water or formula, but that is it.  There are a few restaurants and places to have a picnic outside of Thinkery, but no food is allowed indoors.
2. They have plenty of restrooms available on both the first and second floor.
3. There is no designated parking for Thinkery, but there is a parking garage called McBee Street District Garage which is a short walk from the museum (I would say it took us less than 5 minutes to walk) and Thinkery will validate 3 hours of parking with a ticket to the museum.  There is also metered parking on the street.
4. If you want to guarantee you can get in during a certain day and time you must purchase your tickets online at: https://my.thinkeryaustin.org/account/login?returnurl=%2fevents .  They do allow walk ups, however if the time slot is full you will have to wait until the next available time (if this does happen to you there is a nice pond with ducks right across the street and a playground which is a nice way to pass some time)
5. In my opinion the ideal age range for Thinkery is 1 to 6, however they definitely have activities for older children.  This is also highly dependent on your child and their interests though so you can check out all of their exhibits here: https://thinkeryaustin.org/exhibit/ to see what your kids will enjoy.
6. As I mentioned previously in the review, masks are required for any visitors over the age of 2.  

I hope you get a chance to check out Thinkery!  I love taking my kids to new places and especially ones that combine learning with play.  We are already considering getting a membership so we can go back more often.  This is also a great indoor space to visit now that the weather appears to be getting a little chillier!  Happy Exploring!