Catawba Science Center — Attraction in Hickory

Fantastic time!!! I wish I could give this review 10 stars!!! My grandkiddos beg to visit the Science Center every time they come to Hickory, but due to CoVid, we’ve been unable to go since last year. WOW, what a surprise we had when we finally got to visit this past weekend. On Saturday 2/27, I took my grands (aged 5-7) and we stayed for over 3 hrs. Everything has been revamped with fresh paint and new items/exhibits. The Goose bumps exhibit was super fun, and we all enjoyed the aquarium. The Nature Center had wonderful new items to explore, and the kiddos absolutely loved getting to watch the groundhog eat his lunch. The entire building has been cleaned from top to bottom and there was someone constantly sanitizing all the surfaces while we were there. The staff, as always, were so friendly. It is obvious they love their jobs and are proud to be employees of the Catawba Science Center. Aaron and Pam were two of the staff we encountered while visiting, and they were kind, caring, and full of amazing information about the exhibits and the center. I asked my grands what their favorite thing was about our visit and they couldn’t pick only one – the Tree house exhibit, the aquarium, the Gross Lab, and of course, the gift shop were top on their list (Shout out to Mindy for helping them pick out their souvenirs) . Thank you Catawba Science Center – each of the staff should be applauded for all they have and continue to do to make this place such a fabulous place to visit. We can’t wait until our...

I really want to like this place, but it is just not good. Nothing has been updated in many years. Half of the exhibits are broken and dirty. It is not stroller or mom/infant friendly so if you are planning to come on your own with a baby and an older sibling it will be a struggle. The staff is always very friendly and it's right in my own community so I really want to support it. I decided to give it another chance today. I haven't been in about a year. They advertised "dress like a bug, get in free" for today only. I went out and put together a special bug costume for my 3 year old and brought her and her infant brother for what I thought would be a fun afternoon. However, there was a huge group of summer camp kids there. It looked like 100 or more kids. Why on earth would they do a one day only promotion to the community when they already have such a huge group scheduled to be there?!?! They still charged me full price to get in and my daughter wasn't able to participate in anything because it was completely taken over by the summer camp! Whoever is running this place is not doing a good job. There is obviously no planning and the place is just deteriorating. We won't be back anytime soon. So...

We've been taking our toddler here for a while now. The staff is always beyond helpful and the environment kept family- friendly. They have special exhibits that switch out from time to time and so there's always something new to experience. My little one loves the aquarium section the most, especially the touch pond with sharks and rays. The planetarium shows also switch out from time to time- for the most part the shows have been a little too advanced for my 4 year old but are a unique learning experience for older kids. We recently joined CSCs membership program which includes free visits for the family (worth the cost right there), discounts, and tickets/special nights for other events in the community (i.e. Crawdads baseball). We have also been attending CSCs summer programs- week long classes with flexible scheduling (we go just M-F 10a-12p) and my little one won't stop talking about all the new things she has learned in classes such as Underwater Explorer or Little Dinos. If you're new to the area or even been around for a while and have kids of any age, I would 110% recommend...