Children’s Museum of Eau Claire — Attraction in Eau Claire

When my kids were little, we loved the old museum and spent a lot of time there. Now that they're tweens, I brought my little niece and nephew to check out the new space. I was completely underwhelmed. The space was nice, yes. But it felt like there was less to do. Most of my kids' favorite exhibits didn't transfer over (the huge blue foam blocks are literally discarded in a pile outside the building, you can see them right through a ground level window). The construction area with the gray "bricks," the shadow room, the diner, the multiple craft spaces for sit-down activities like playdough are gone. The theater stage and prop area has been replaced by a crate and a few hooks and labeled "dress-up." The grocery store with bins of amazing play food and play groceries has been replaced with a farmers market area (mostly empty during our visit, there was a sign up about missing parts for repairs) containing bins of wooden blocks. Another sign has been hung explaining that the museum is promoting "loose parts" play, which I guess means taking away the really fun things that kids don't get to play with very often (like realistic play food, shopping baskets, cash register, and conveyor belt) and replacing them with dingy wood blocks. There is a "house" on the second floor with about a dozen antique items, tagged with a special sensor. You can scan the tag to view facts about the piece the tag is attached to. Maybe interesting if the kid can figure out the tag system and is able to read. But there is not much else in the entire building to interest kids over the age of about 8, which was hugely disappointing.

The dinosaur dig pit was pretty neat. And the body parts exhibit was nicely expanded to include a huge brain and an interactive skeleton screen. Also, I appreciated the rocket slide that was clearly an homage to the one that used to be in Carson Park.

I remember spending hours at the old museum and never running out of things to explore or play with. We could spend 3 hours in the tiny town alone, without ever visiting the other levels. Now, we felt like we had the full experience in less than 3 hours and it probably isn't worth a return trip. So utterly...

Although it says "museum", this place is more like an itty bitty city for kids and kids at heart. It was voted THE Best Of The Chippewa Valley Volume One Reader Poll 2019.They provide a safe, educational place for children and their parents to explore, imagine, play, learn, and grow. The place has 3 floors with different exhibit areas - some are permanent, some are not. The main floor is where kids can put on a stage performance or do role plays in the mini community. Kids 3 years old and younger can explore the Toddler Park, a decent size area where they can crawl and play safely. There's also a Reading Corner with plenty of reading materials and Body Smarts where little kids can climb in, crawl and slide down.

Things that you should probably know: This place is close for 2 weeks maintenance and cleaning in the month of September - so if you want to book a birthday party, you might want to contact them in advance for your options. You can download their activities for the month to view their upcoming events. You can also go to their website and check Parent Hub for things you need to know. They have one time passes and annual memberships. You can bring your food inside and eat on the third floor, just don't bring peanuts or peanut butter as some kids are allergic to nuts. It is a good idea to bring extra clothes for kids in case they get too wet playing with water in the basement.

So you might ask, why only 4 stars?

I give this place 4 stars because it hasn't changed much over the years. Some of the stuff are not being utilized or broken - like we were never able to try the recording room. The mystery log has 3 out of 5 slots empty. The John Deere tractor's steering wheel is also broken. The grocery store and grub could use new stock of items. I wish they have more interactive activities as well. Overall, it is a great place for kids to burn their energy doing what they do best -...

I visited the museum Friday afternoon. Anticipating something very new and exciting, I was very disappointed with the level of activities that were not operable. While I realize the children are to use their imagination, the children had to really use their imagination because all the parts were missing in just about every station or the stations were not working at all. These stations, for example; the vet station. These peices that can be, should be, connected with some type of line or string so all the children can experience this station with most of the parts. The station with the scan items had a total of two things. A heavy telephone and a giant video game. That's it! Nothing else. There were no mailbox items. None. There were no "Operation" parts. None. Two options in the Scheels room not operable. The bank not operable. Of the $50.00 I was charged. I feel we got $5.00 worth. This building does not feel like a treehouse as advertising suggests. Maybe a treehouse would have been a good idea to have included in this design. At least their would have no missing parts and no chance of being NOT operable. As far as personnel. There was one young girl trying her hardest to keep what was operable working. Otherwise, what looked like the managers, all I observed was talking and no action. The two I noticed should have been trying to locate and replace all the missing peices which should be a non stop operation. The only children to receive a interactive experience, from what I can see is ONLY the first child of the day to enter that specific station when opening. Otherwise, it's a complete and utter disaster for any other child to enjoy.

First ever...