Children's Museum of South Dakota
4.8(924)google
4.8(21)yelp
EducationalFamilyIndoor
Overview
Situated in Brookings, the Children's Museum of South Dakota is a world-class, highly interactive educational playground designed to ignite creative imagination through play. The expansive indoor and outdoor campus features hands-on exhibits where children can engineer simple machines, explore realistic prairie life, and create fine art masterpieces. The star attraction is 'Mama,' a life-sized, fully animatronic T-Rex dinosaur standing outdoors, offering children an unforgettable, thrilling journey back to prehistoric times.
Practical Info
MonClosed
Tue10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Wed10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Thu10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Fri10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sat10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Sun12:00 – 5:00 PM
Suggested Duration2-4 hours
Best TimeOpen year-round (except Mondays), this award-winning interactive paradise stands as a premier destination for families in the Upper Midwest. Arriving exactly at opening at 10:00 AM on a weekday morning is highly recommended to explore the indoor hands-on engineering playscapes in relaxation. On a clear summer afternoon around 2:00 PM, head to the outdoor prairie park to stand beside 'Mama T-Rex,' a full-scale animatronic dinosaur.
Getting TherePerfectly nestled right in downtown Brookings, SD, at 521 4th Street. Driving directions: from interstate I-29, take Exit 132 (US-14 West), merge onto 6th Street heading west through the historic village retail core, and turn south onto 5th Avenue for one block to find the canopy; the museum complex boasts its own massive, complimentary paved private customer parking field. No central rail links exist.
Travel Tips
- To enforce a secure environment, single adults (18+) visiting without an accompanying child are strictly denied admission and barred from entering the exhibition floor for photography or viewing.
- The outdoor area contains a full-size animatronic T-Rex that discharges automated water blasts. Unprotected mirrorless cameras, expensive lenses, or non-waterproof smartphones must remain outside the moisture splash vector.
- Saturdays between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM see massive crowd saturation from regional school excursions and tour operators. Opting for a mid-week afternoon visit is optimal to avoid debilitating queue lines.
Reviews
Positive
- An indoor-outdoor paradise for kids! The crown jewel is the outdoor prairie yard featuring two full-sized, animatronic, roaring T-Rex models that instantly mesmerize children.
- The interior is packed with high-quality, hands-on scientific, artistic, and real-world roll-play setups like a mock dairy farm, wind tunnels, and a huge water table that easily burn energy.
- The accessibility features are state-of-the-art; pathways between exhibits are wide, and restrooms feature multi-height sinks alongside excellent maternal care and family changing options.
- The on-site Café serves wonderfully balanced meals using healthy, locally sourced organic ingredients at highly transparent prices, completely dodging the typical cheap fast-food markup.
Heads up
- During weekends and local school field trips, visitor density hits its absolute limit; the high-volume noise and lines for popular water or climbing stations can be exhausting.
- While single admission is fair, it can add up rapidly for traveling extended families since everyone (except infants under 1) pays full price, making a full day out quite costly.
- Several highly praised outdoor interactive sections close down entirely during SD's harsh winter and early spring freeze, cutting the available experiences nearly in half.
- The layout leans heavily toward infants up to age 10; older pre-teens and teenagers may find it a bit too childish due to a lack of advanced, high-tech engineering exhibits.