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Children's Museums of Tennessee

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All museums have membership rates according to age and student status, free admission for members, special rates for clubs, schools and tour groups, and discounts for seniors.

CHATTANOOGA

Creative Discovery Museum
321 Chestnut Street
Chattanooga
423-756-2738
www.cdmfun.org

The museum promotes learning through sight, sound and hands-on exploration. Exhibits include an artist’s studio, a musician’s workshop, a field scientist’s lab, and an inventor’s workshop. The building also has a 72-foot optical observation tower, gigantic kinetic water sculpture, and several changing exhibit galleries.

The gift shop is filled with educational books and toys. The Creative Café sells sandwiches, beverages and snacks during mid-day, and groups can order bagged lunches with prior arrangements. A calendar of special events includes camps, art lessons and parties.

The Creative Discovery Museum is open 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily Memorial Day – Labor Day; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon. – Sat. and noon – 5 p.m. Sun. Sept. – Feb. 2; closed on Wed.; closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Hours are Eastern Time.

Admission is charged, special rates for groups and seniors. Kids Club memberships are available.

 

CLARKSVILLE

Customs House Museum & Cultural Center
200 S. Second Street
Clarksville
931-648-5780
www.customshousemuseum.org

This cultural and history museum details the development of Clarksville, and houses a large collection of model trains and space toys from the mid-1900s to today. The children’s exhibits showcase mechanical and electric miniature trains and accessories. Numerous display cases house rare science fiction toys representing popular 1930s to present day space heroes, villains, robots and monsters. Related memorabilia includes comic books, board games and Hollywood movies.

Hands-on exhibits include miniature railroad towns and train yards with working signals, locomotives, tug boats, bridges and round house houses. Interactive exhibits test visitors with questions about the toys and science fiction genera. A child-size Morse code telegraph office, architectural matching games and a reading area with children’s books complete the playscape.

A pioneer cabin, antique fire engine and horse-drawn buggies show children how Clarksvillians lived daily life during the 1800s. The museum gift shop contains children’s toys, books and a large collection of animal puppets.

The Customs House Museum & Cultural Center is open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; 1 – 5 p.m. Sun; and is closed on Mondays and major holidays.

Admission is charged and children under six are free. Every Sunday is free admission day for everyone!  Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult at all times and in all areas of the museum.

JOHNSON CITY

Hands-On! Regional Museum
315 E. Main Street
Johnson City
423-434HAND
www.handsonmuseum.org

Unique hands-on displays include Noah’s Ark and a TVA/Water Play Dam. The Outer Realm space exhibit has NASA equipment and The Closet, filled with costumes and hats, is a favorite with kindergarteners. Play-pretend exhibits invite children to slide down a coal mine, fly a real airplane, be a pioneer, an inventor in the fields of science and technology, and an explorer of tidal pools and the mysterious depths of the oceans. Kids can also shop at Kindermart, make a deposit at the KidsBank, and make a craft in the Discovery Room, anchor or forecast the weather on WKID-TV, and learn how different parts of the body work through the Amazing Me exhibit.

Daily programs, interactive exhibits, outreach programs, and on-site festivals stress the arts, sciences and humanities.

The Hands On! Regional Museum is open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon. in June, July, & August; closed on Mondays during other months and open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tues.-Fri. September – May. The museum is also open year-round 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sat. and 1 – 5:00 p.m. Sun. Hours are Eastern Time.

Admission is charged and covers one full day at the museum. A hand stamp allows visitors to leave and come back on the same day.

KNOXVILLE

East Tennessee Discovery Center
Chilhowee Park
516 N. Beaman Street
Knoxville
865-594-1494
www.etdiscovery.org

The science center, Akima Planetarium and the associated KAMA Health Discovery Center reveal the worlds of earth sciences, the universe and human health issues. Through hands-on exhibits and health and science summer camps at the park, children learn about the world through microscopes, telescopes and cameras. They also discover what’s so important about fossils, minerals, the human body, space exploration and simple machines. Question and answer light boxes, games and simple experiments keep kids busy for hours of educational play. The planetarium has afternoon shows at 2 and 3 p.m. for 30 minutes, and visitors should call ahead since groups often attend.

The Discovery Center is open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon. – Fri.; 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sat. year round; and closed on major holidays and for certain events held at Chilhowee Park.

The KAMA Health Discovery Center is located in the Candy Factory on the Fifth Floor at 1060 World’s Fair Park. It is open 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Mon. – Fri. and is available for tour groups and class field trips by reservation by calling 865-594-1294. Hours are Eastern Time.

Admission is charged for both sites according to age. Children two-years-old and under are admitted free.

MEMPHIS

The Children’s Museum of Memphis
2525 Central Avenue
Memphis
901-458-4033
www.cmom.com

The museum provides interactive, hands-on exhibits including the two-story WaterWORKS and Cityscape with child-size town square, clock tower, and shops. New exhibits are featured every three or four months and may include building a house, working in a fire hall or a business office. Children learn to become a dentist for the day, with appropriate child-sized clothing and play instruments; shop at a grocery store for nutritious foods; and make bank deposits and withdrawals. There are also opportunities take courses in art and attend special event parties.

The Children’s Museum of Memphis is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. and noon-5 p.m. Sun. The museum is closed Mondays & some holidays, including Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve & Day, New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, Easter Sunday and Memorial Day.

Admission is charged and groups must make reservations Mon. – Fri. by calling 901-458-2678.

Coon Creek Science Center
Memphis Pink Palace Family of Museums
3050 Central Ave.
Memphis
901-320-6320
www.memphismuseums.org

The Memphis Museum System keeps Coon Creek, a 70 million year old fossil site in McNairy County, secret and available only for group tours. Coon Creek is one of the most important fossil sites in North America and contains a treasure trove of Upper Cretaceous marine shells and vertebrate remains. Groups may call for prices and more information and to book a tour of Coon Creek through the Pink Palace Museum.
School and club groups are brought to the site with guides to explore how giant mosasaurs, clams, snails and sharks once lived in Tennessee when it was part of the Gulf of Mexico in prehistoric times.

MURFREESBORO

Discovery Center at Murfree Spring
502 S. E. Broad Street
Murfreesboro
615-890-2300
www.discoverycenteronline,org

Hands-on museum and environmental center has daily programs and is located in a 20-acre wetlands nature preserve in downtown Murfreesboro. There are 15 permanent, indoor exhibits, including a water works and family play space. An outdoor playscape and hands-on areas focus on nature and world cultures. Children can crawl and explore special traveling exhibits (in 2005) of an air cannon, a giant pendulum and a huge human coronary artery.

Field trips, summer camps and Secret Garden parties are some of the activities for groups. An art play room and waterfall garden are daily popular sites for kids and parents.
The Discovery Center is open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon. – Sat. and 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Sun. It is closed on major holidays.

Admission is charged. Children under two are free, and family memberships are available.

NASHVILLE

Adventure Science Center
800 Fort Negley Blvd.
Nashville
615-862-5160
www.adventuresci.com

The museum is perched on a hill in downtown Nashville just below an 1862 Civil War fortification also open to the public with walking trails and interpretive signs. Science center exhibits include interactive displays on how machines work, the forces of nature, and the important functions of the human body. Changing exhibits include live animals, life-like mechanical dinosaurs, seasonal science camps and field trips.

The Adventure Science Center is open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon. – Thurs.; 10 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Fri. – Sat.; and 12:30 – 5:30 p.m. Sun. The museum is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

Admission is charged, and there is a separate admission to Sudekum Planetarium shows and some special feature exhibits.

OAK RIDGE

Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge
461 W. Outer Drive
Oak Ridge
865-482-1074
www.childrensmuseumofoakridge.org

Twelve interactive exhibits reveal the worlds of science, nature and culture. Children can explore an Amazon rainforest from ground to treetop; learn about nanotechnology through microscopes and LegosTM; enjoy model trains from the Knoxville Area Model Railroaders; and visit Knoxville in the 1910s to learn about old-fashioned skills and conveniences.

An International Hall invites kids to walk in Dutch wooden shoes, handle Japanese Kokeshi dolls and make music on an African balafon. The Bird Room teaches visitors to recognize the common songs of East Tennessee birds and how to identify different species by their eggs and nesting habits. The Doll House is a new permanent exhibit and is a two-story playhouse for children under five feet in height.
East Tennessee Appalachian and Native American cultures, Arctic science, and the history of Oak Ridge during World War II are also part of the permanent displays. Art and science classes, day camps, half-day camps and special events are included in the museum’s summer schedule of activities.

The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge is open year-round 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Mon. – Fri. and 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. Sat. – Sun. Sept. – May. Hours for Sat. in June – Aug. are 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Hours are Eastern Time.
Admission is charged and there are discounts for groups. Children under three are admitted free. Guided tours of 10 or more people are by reservation.

TULLAHOMA

Hands-On Science Center
101 Mitchell Blvd.
Tullahoma
931-455-8387

The science center is an indoor playground that puts children in touch with exhibits that mimic such unusual activities as racing a cheetah and building a dinosaur. Current exhibits feature a 3D picture, the dynamics of air hockey, Thomas Edison’s AC/DC current, an alphabet puzzle, and a cylindrical mirror. Children will also learn how balloons stay aloft and how arch bridges are built. The forces of gravity sound and electrically charged particles are explored.

The facility also has an auditorium, a birthday party room, science class room and changing exhibit area for special events.

The Hands-On Science Center is open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Wed. – Fri.; 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sat.; 1 – 5 p.m. Sun.; and is closed on Mon. & Tues. Group tours are by request for other times.

Admission is charged and family memberships are offered. Children two and under are admitted free.