One of the coolest museums for kids in Salt Lake City is the Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum. This museum is built with hands-on, interactive exhibits to encourage play and learning for children. Our boys literally run from place to place and smile the entire time. There is so much to do that your family can spend a few hours and still have activities left to try. If you are looking for a fun adventure, visit the Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum.
The Beehive
This is not the official name for this area, but it is what our family calls it. The first area of the museum is like a large beehive where you can climb and explore. Our boys favorite part is sending balls through tubes that suck them to different areas of the “beehive.” Even Dad enjoys watching where the tubes deliver the balls.
Kid’s Eve View
The next area on the first floor is a little town that is set up for kids to work and play in. This is our boys’ favorite place. They love moving blocks in the construction zone, sending money to the bank, getting gas at the gas station, and best of all shopping in the grocery store. There is a brand new Ruby Snap cookie exhibit where kids can pretend to bake cookies. This area also has a little house where you can read books or make dinner. And one of the most popular areas is the water table where kids can play in the water and move objects by building different pipes. Kid’s Eye View also has dress up clothes in each of the areas which makes it extra fun and realistic. This area in Discovery Gateway is perfect for kids ages 10 and under.
Story Factory
Once you head upstairs, the activities are geared for older children (6-12), but my young boys still enjoyed all of these areas. One section lets you put on your own play or create your own movie. They also have a newsroom where you can pretend to give the weather forecast. Our boys love sending messages across the room in this part of the museum.
STEAM Studio
The activities in the STEAM area change sometimes, but this area is perfect for the builders. There have a large Lego car racing track. Kids can design and build their own car using legos and race it down the track. We spend a long time trying to find the best lego attributes for our cars. There is also a wall where you can build with pipes like a large marble run. You can send a ball down to see if it can make it through to the end.
Also in the STEAM area are musical instruments and a few other hands-on building activities like magnet tiles.
Outside
Don’t miss the fun exhibit outside. This exhibit is provided by Intermountain Health, so there is a life flight helicopter, a hospital area, and a room where you can communicate with the helicopter. Kids can pretend to do surgeries in the hospital and to fly the helicopter.
Move It
Another area upstairs is the Move It exhibit where there are different gym like activities for kids to use their bodies. There is a small rock climbing wall, mats, jump ropes, tires to run and jump through, and much more. This exhibit encourages kids to be active, and our boys love running and jumping around.
I Dig Dinos Exhibit
This was the newest exhibit when we visited last. Kids can dig for dinosaur bones, try to put bones into a fossil exhibit, and learn a lot about Utah dinosaurs and being a paleontologist. We love dinosaurs, so we are excited for this part of the museum. There are microscopes for kids to use to look closer at fossils and other objects.
Classes
Most days, Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum offers classes throughout the day. These classes are included in your museum admission, so you might want to check the calendar and see when they are holding classes before you visit. Sometimes they do story time, or arts and crafts, or a STEM activity. The classes are not very long, usually about 15-30 minutes. We attended a science class. They read a book and talked about seeds, showed some plants that were sprouting, and then each child painted a picture using carrot stamps. It was only about 15 minutes, but it was fun to have a little structured play along with the other free play throughout the museum.
Tips for Families
We know your family will love Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum. It has so much to offer, and is great for families to play together. Check their website for current hours and pricing. Here are a few tips:
- Park in the Gateway Mall Winter parking lot. We take 400 W in SLC toward the Gateway Mall. Turn west on 100 S, and turn into the parking garage right after you turn onto this road. The corner where the museum is located is brightly painted on all levels of the parking garage. You can’t miss it after finding a parking spot. Parking is just a few dollars for 2 hours.
- No food or drink allowed in the museum, so make sure the kids are well fed before visiting. There are drinking fountains in the museum.
- We encourage our kids to help clean up, and so does the museum. Make sure to help your child return items after playing with them so others can enjoy them.
