at the Explore More Discovery Museum

Explore More Discovery Museum is children’s museum located in downtown Harrisonburg, Virginia. Your traveling toddlers will have a blast whether they live here in the Shennandoah Valley or you are passing through.

“Time spent playing with children is never time.” – Don Lantero¹

There is so many ways to play with your kids at Explore More Discovery Museum. From a farmers market and child sized kitchen to fixing a car or boarding an airplane. There is no shortage of fun!

There is So Much to Explore while visitng this children’s museum.

Near the entrance there is a 2 and under toddler area with a ball run, foam climing structures and a slide. Right off of the toddler area there is a changing room which also doubles as a private nursing area.

Past the toddler area, you can play with Thomas the Train and fill the lawnmower with gas before pretending to mow the lawn. Next, you can become a mechanic and change some tires in the car garage.

Climbers will love the tree house they can climb up to before sliding down the twisty slide.

My son’s favorite activity is milking the cow and collecting the chicken’s eggs. Then he heads into the kitchen and finds the broom to sweep before collecting food and preparing a plate to “eat” at the table. After, he can go change his laundry before heading back to work on the car some more.

Once your kids exhaust all the options on the first floor, head upstairs.

It’s time to back your suitcase and climb abourb the airplane for a trip. You and your kiddos can fly the plane, or head into the control tower and direct that plane safetly in for landing at the children’s museum.

There is a second two and under space on this floor. We like this toddler area the most. If you have older kids you can see all the activity on the second floor from the toddler space. There is another Mother’s Room off the toddler area.

My two year old loves to build the houses set up on this floor. He will follow around whoever has the power drill until they leave it behind and he can begin attaching shutters and doors to the houses.

The Children’s museum contains all of these activities and so many more.

For the Toddlers²

• Young Explorers is for toddlers 18 months to 3 years old. This event is every Friday at 10:15 am and is based in sensory learning and exploration.
• Preschool STEM is for littles ages 3-5 years old. STEM fun is found Fridays at 11 am and kids can try out various STEM activies.

For the Older Siblings³

• Tinker Town is for children ages 4-7, held on Tuesdays from 4-6pm with no reservation required. Tinker Town is for children who are not old enough for Makers Space but are still interested in building, sewing, and tinkering.
• Makers Space is for ages 8+. You need a reservation ahead of time. There are many makers space activities at the children’s museum for all different kiddos from woodworking to electronics to fiber arts and everything in between. Check out the Explore More Discovery Museum website for all the options.

Location:⁴

150 South Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA

The Explore More Discovery Children’s Museum is located in downton Harrisonburg. There is no parking. I suggest parking at the Water Street Parking Garage. It’s free for four hours and covered. I usually don’t have any issue finding a spot. Then we load up the stroller and head the block to the Children’s Museum. You can bring the stroller anywhere with you in the Museum and its all handicap accessible as well.

Hours:

Hours change seasonally – I’m writing this in the fall so they are open for their fall hours.

• Tuesdays from 10am-6pm
• Wednesdays-Saturdays 10 am-5pm
• First Friday of each month FREE from 5-7pm

Pricing:

• $8.50 per person- children under one year are FREE
• Membership options also availible

All the information you need and more is located on the website for the Explore More Discovery Musuem. You can also buy tickets ahead of time and reserve spots in the Makers Space

Find more Shennandoah Valley adventures

Many more adventures here on my blog.

Read more: Children’s Museum and Learning Through Play Go Hand in Hand.

And check out my Instagram for our Explore More Discovery Museum adventure and many others in Central Virginia and the Shennandoah Valley.

1. https://hes-extraordinary.com/quotes-about-play ↩︎
2. Explore More Discovery Museum Websitehttps://www.iexploremore.com/programs-fall2023 ↩︎
3. https://www.iexploremore.com/programs-fall2023 ↩︎
4. https://www.iexploremore.com/ ↩︎