Learn & Play at More Than 10 Virginia Children’s Museums

Here are some of the best children’s museums in Virginia you don’t want to miss with your adventurous kids. Whether your little ones want a hands-on art experience or the chance to get up close and personal with insects, Virginia has tons of museums that are perfect for kids. Nurture your child’s curiosity at these top destinations with hands-on exhibits and new experiences. Visiting these children’s museums can also help your child develop social skills through play.

Best of all, they are just a short drive from Charlottesville, making them perfect for a day trip. So, load up the car to touch, taste, hear, smell, and see as you explore these children’s museums perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children!

1. Virginia Discovery Museum

Location: Charlottesville, VA

Drive from Charlottesville: 30 minutes or less

The Virginia Discovery Museum (VDM), located on Charlottesville’s Historic Downtown Mall, is primarily geared toward young children. In the front gallery, children can explore hands-on activities such as the wind tunnels, automablox ramp, magnetic wall, giant train table, and Construction Zone. Celebrate Virginia heritage at the Showalter Cabin, an authentic child-sized log cabin, where your child can cook with cast iron cookware, play porch games, and visit a chicken coop.

In the Sound & Music Studio, children are exposed to more hands-on learning, where they can play with instruments, compose their own music, and see and manipulate sound waves. In the spacious back gallery, kids can let their imaginations run wild with pretend play at the post office, hospital, bank, cafe, or indoor treehouse. There’s also a dedicated room where toddlers and infants can explore toys and climbing structures that are just their size.

Admission is per person and good for the entire day. Learn more: 434-977-1025 or vadm.org

2. Blue Ridge Children’s Museum

Location: Waynesboro, VA

Drive from Charlottesville: 45 minutes

The Blue Ridge Children’s Museum, located in Waynesboro, opened to the public in 2023. It offers indoor exhibits and activities as well as outdoor play spaces for children of all ages. The outdoor playground is open to the public every day until dusk.

Be sure to check their scheduled programs for special activities, such as Toddler Time offered in collaboration with the Frontier Culture Museum, lantern walks, and art activities. Learn more: blueridegchildrensmuseum.org

3. Children’s Museum of Richmond

Location: Richmond, VA

Drive from Charlottesville: 1.5 hours

The beloved Children’s Museum of Richmond (CMoR) has 18 interactive exhibits. 

Special exhibits geared towards toddlers, such as the farm area with an enclosed crawler patch, ensure that children can connect with and learn from their environment. Young children can enjoy pretend play at special stations including the Dairy Barn, Silver Diner, Wegman’s grocery store, or CarMax service station. Have a future doctor on your hands? Check out the museum’s ambulance or act out caring for patients in the doctor’s office.

For the older kids, be sure to visit the News Studio, where they can report the day’s news in front of the camera and learn about the media. And don’t forget the art studio, where children of all ages can explore, create, draw, and paint. 

Admission to the museum is good for the entire day, so your family can explore Richmond over lunch, or perhaps visit the neighboring Science Museum of Richmond. CMoR is open from Thursday to Sunday, and guests are encouraged to register for tickets in advance of their visit.

Learn more: 804-474-7062 or c-mor.org

4. Amazement Square

Location: Lynchburg, VA

Drive from Charlottesville: 1.5 hours

Just over an hour southwest of Charlottesville, Lynchburg is an easy drive for families wanting to adventure at Amazement Square. This four-story, hands-on museum is sure to spark imagination, creativity, and curiosity.

Preschoolers and elementary-aged kids will enjoy scrambling up and down the indoor Amazement Tower, one of the tallest climbing structures in the nation, filled with slides, ladders, tunnels, and even a zipline. Or, they can step into a unique glass-wall paint box and fulfill their wish of painting on the walls.

Toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy pretend play at the Big Red Barn by helping milk a life-sized cow, collecting different crops, and greeting an array of animals. Kids 36 months and under will enjoy the Shipwreck Cove exhibit where they can explore a pirate ship play structure and meet new friends. And interactive exhibits allow kids of all ages to learn about health, nutrition, local rivers, and construction.

The museum also offers multiple weekly programs, including Art Expeditions and Pop-up Programs when instructors lead demonstrations and hands-on exploration with fun science experiments. These programs are all free with admission.

Learn more: 434-845-1888 or amazementsquare.org

Many children’s museums in Virginia participate in the Museums for All program, which provides free or discounted admission to families who receive SNAP benefits. Your membership at one children’s museum may also get you free or discounted access to others—be sure to ask at the front desk!

5. The Explore More Discovery Museum

Location: Harrisonburg, VA

Drive from Charlottesville: 1.5 hours

This intimate Shenandoah Valley museum understands that children learn by exploring their surroundings., providing play-based learning experiences for toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary-aged kids.

The adventure begins with construction and building toys in the hands-on museum. Next, guests are invited to check out the TV studio, garage service center, farm, and farmers markets exhibits. Older children will enjoy the art center, science center, and theater—complete with curtains, costumes, and lighting.

Some programs require separate registration. Tickets can be purchased in advance online. Learn more: 540-442-8900 or iexploremore.com

6. Kids Square in Roanoke

Location: Roanoke, VA

Drive from Charlottesville: 2 hours

Kids Square Museum, a highlight of Roanoke’s innovative Center in the Square, is a fun and engaging environment for children to explore and grow. Professional educators and designers have thoughtfully developed a space where children can learn through play.

With nine creative learning stations for hands-on fun, there are lots of opportunities for children to explore at the museum. After checking in, children can easily explore the various exhibits on their own or with an accompanying adult. Children can immerse themselves in a variety of play environments, such as working at a bank, a veterinarian’s office, or a hospital. Other areas include the construction zone, train table, and baby/toddler play area.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the door. Learn more: 540-342-5777 or kidssquare.org

7. Children’s Science Center Lab

Location: Fairfax, VA

Drive from Charlottesville: 2 hours

Northern Virginia’s first interactive Children’s Museum, the Children’s Science Center Lab in Fairfax lets kids explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through hands-on learning. The museum’s four galleries filled with hands-on activities and experiments, encouraging kids to improve their problem-solving and critical thinking skills while introducing them to scientific concepts in fun, accessible ways.

All visitors are urged to buy their tickets in advance. The Lab is intended for children ages 2 to 12 and their families. Children must have at least one engaged adult accompany them to the Lab. Learn more: 703-648-3130 or childsci.org

 

 

 

8. Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum

Location: Winchester, VA

Drive from Charlottesville: 2.5 hours

The Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum in Winchester features a unique variety of interactive exhibits that encourage learning through hands-on play. With 14 exhibitions, a rotating menu of weekly programs, four levels of exhibits, and 19,000 square feet, your little explorer won’t run out of entertainment.

The museum’s programs encompass a wide range of topics, including science, music, healthy living, and storytimes. Admission is free on the first Friday of each month between 5–7 p.m., and children under age two are always free.

Learn more: 540-722-2020 or discoverymuseum.net

9. National Children’s Museum

Location: Washington, DC

Drive from Charlottesville: 2.5 hours

The National Children’s Museum, which opened in Washington, D.C. in 2020, welcomes guests with its Dream Machine, a three-level jungle gym complete with climbing places, massive slides, and large-scale, cloud-like balls illuminated with bright LEDs. Other programs and exhibits will pique young people’s interest in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, while the Art and Tech wing offers hands-on activity stations featuring engaging characters from popular shows.

There is a special “Little Dreamers” for babies and toddlers as well as a truly unique dance party pod where kids of all ages can wiggle and giggle! Powered by Spotify, this new pod experience allows kids to discover how different music inspires different movements. Museum tickets are not required to enter the dance party pod.

Tickets can be purchased in advance, and children under one are free. Learn more: 202-844-2486 or nationalchildrensmuseum.org

Find more family-friendly daytrip ideas on our Family Fun page, and keep up-to-date on upcoming events on our Local Events Calendar.

10. Wonder Universe

Location: Christiansburg, VA

Drive from Charlottesville: 3 hours

Wonder Universe is 15,000-square-foot, 18-exhibit museum. It is a nonprofit organization that, with the support of community partners, provides a creative and playful learning environment that inspires children, caregivers, and educators to discover and learn side-by-side.

Designed with the youngest guests in mind, The Meadow exhibit provides an engaging and safe play space for children ages 0-3, including age-appropriate climbing structures. Children who enjoy pretend play can explore the Farm to Table exhibit, dentist office, fire station, vet clinic, Global Express Train. And kids of all ages can have fun at the Motor Mile Raceway, Build It Toolbox, and Imagination Playground.

If your child needs a quiet area, Woodland Wonder is a therapeutic sensory environment that’s designed to be a safe space for exploration and de-escalation. You can even relax and read a book by the fire in a log cabin.

No reservations are needed for admission. Learn more: 540-200-8231 or wonderuniverse.org

11. Children’s Museum of Virginia

Location: Portsmouth, VA

Drive from Charlottesville: 3 hours

The Children’s Museum of Virginia is one of Virginia’s largest children’s museums and aimed at children ages 1-11. It features a planetarium and two floors of displays, including an antique toy and model train collection that is among the greatest on the East Coast.

The museum’s highlights include a life-size tug boat and house, a real Hampton Roads Transit bus, the cab of a real fire engine from the Portsmouth Fire Department, and a real motorcycle from the Portsmouth Police Department. The first floor features the large, interactive My City space, where children can explore multiple themed exhibits such as a port, market, bank, library, and museum. The first floor also houses the iconic Bubbles exhibit. The second level features three huge thematic displays themed around art, science, and nature.

Tickets are available in one hour entry windows. There is no time limit once you’re in the museum, but there is no re-entry if you leave. Learn more: 757-393-5258 or childrensmuseumvirginia.com

 

Katharine Paljug is a freelance writer and novelist. She lives in Charlottesville with two busy kids and more books than she has time to read. Find her on Instagram as @katharinewrites.