WonderLab Museum of Science, Health & Technology
Bubbles, water, forces, live animals, sound, and construction turn a compact downtown museum into a laboratory for testing ideas with hands and bodies.
Artwork inspired by Rudy Pozzatti
WonderLab is strongest when adults resist demonstrating the “right” answer. Its hands-on exhibits let children alter one variable, watch a system respond, and try again: build a path for water, change the shape of a bubble film, lift a body with pulleys, or discover how sound behaves. Live-animal programs add careful observation to the energetic experimentation.
Two hours suits most families, but admission permits same-day reentry, useful when attention needs a downtown break. Choose a few exhibits for repeated trials rather than touching everything once. The youngest visitors have a dedicated area, while older children get more from questions that predict outcomes. Weekday mornings can include groups; late afternoon often changes the pace.
- Best rhythm
- Repeat, compare, revise
- Typical visit
- About two hours
- Same-day entry
- Reentry permitted
Quick guide
- Predict first
- Ask what will happen before changing a ramp, valve, weight, or shape.
- Change one thing
- Repeat an activity while altering a single variable so cause and effect stay visible.
How to turn play into an experiment
- Predict first
- Ask what will happen before changing a ramp, valve, weight, or shape.
- Change one thing
- Repeat an activity while altering a single variable so cause and effect stay visible.
- Let failure work
- Pause before fixing a design; the interesting evidence often appears when it fails.
- Check live programs
- Animal Hour and staffed labs add observation that freestanding exhibits cannot.
Good to know
WonderLab is usually closed Monday, opens Tuesday–Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoon, and charges admission for visitors age 1 and older. Metered spaces and public garages serve the downtown location; one accessible metered space is directly in front. The building is barrier-free with an elevator, accessible restrooms, quiet space, sensory tools, and loaner wheelchairs.
Notice these
- Giant Bubble
- How Things Work gallery
- Live-animal programs