Lutz Children's Museum — Attraction in Manchester

We have been going to the Lutz for about 4 years now. We love it for a few reasons:

First of all, with the reciprocal membership I pay once, keep my money local and get benefits of half price or reduced admission in other children's museums and science/technology centers. The Lutz participates with BOTH programs. If you are from Manchester or the surrounding area, putting your money into this museum is a no-brainer. You can pop in any time with your under 6-er and have a great hour or two for free for the whole year.

I say 'under 6-rer because my 6yo still loves the place but in short amounts. Which is fine and actually more of what we are looking for anyhow. I have a 2yo as well and while she could stay all day, I certainly can't. Pack a lunch, have it outside after playing and go back in after lunch. Or just go for the hour. Say hi to all the animals, Try to mimic the bird calls, dance to the music upstairs, do the activity (craft or animal) every hour.. whatever it is you can certainly find plenty to do for an hour or so and I find that is my family's limit anyhow.

The Lutz also has CLASSES. The only museum around that has educational classes for 2-10yrs old. They are wonderful. They have music, art, animal, and holiday themed classes. They run by the age group (generally, 2-3, 3-5, and 5-10) once a week and are put out in three month chunks with their newsletter. They are affordable and if you are a member you get a discount. Awesome.

The trips, special events, music concerts, summer camp - We are going to the Statue of Liberty this Saturday and they go to the Bronx Zoo yearly as well. We do the Drop & Shop during the Christmas season where you can drop your child off for a fee and take a few hours to go shop or eat or wrap gifts. The kids stay and play and watch a movie, have snacks - it is a blast. During the summer they have a summer camp program, around the spring they have concerts once a month with people like Stacey Peasley, Zak Morgan, Bari Koral, and Debbie & Friends. Free with your admission or membership. At the end of the summer there is Farm Day at the Fish Family Farm out in Bolton where you can have free ice cream and enjoy the animals, face painting, hay rides, tie dye - tons of stuff to do.

The Lutz goes around to the libraries and schools and does animal education programs also. Chances are if you are from the area and you don't know about the Lutz, your child does. I think the Lutz has SO much to offer and is a great part of our community. Sure other places are bigger but this little museum really has a lot more to offer than all the other places out there.

Lastly - the size of the Lutz is actually a good thing from my point of view. I like being in one room and being able to keep an eye on my kid. Kids don't need much to keep them active and engaged. Too much and they get over whelmed. I like that the Lutz pushes them to use their imagination and doesn't have too many things cluttering up the place. Keeping it small is comforting and not at all stressful. I don't have to have my kids fighting over who wants to go where (Our second favorite place Kid City is gorgeous and awesome but have more than one kid and you are bound to make someone unhappy when you have to change rooms!)

So yeah - my heart is obviously lives at the Lutz. I am happy to have found something that my kids can grow up with. I feel lucky to live so close to...

My 2 year old and I visited the Lutz museum on a Tuesday morning directly when it opened. Currently the museum has a limited amount of open slots available for entry due to COVID, but booking online was quick and simple. During our 2 hour visit, there were about nine other children ranging from 1-6 years old, which certainly made it feel as though there was plenty of space despite the very limited size of the museum.

Overall, the museum was decent for anyone in the toddler range of age. There are several pretend areas such as a bank, food stand, old-time school, barn, and market. However there is not much to do in each of those spots. The museum also offers a very limited animal area with turtles, ferrets, chickens, and other small animals, but again, not a whole lot to see. Rounding out the museum is a large cafeteria styled room with an attachment to the “shadow room” where the children can make shadow puppets.

For my two year old, she was easily entertained with these exhibits for two hours, but was becoming bored with the limited areas around 2 hours. it also seemed for the children five and over to be not as engaging of an experience. They often left much quicker than the other families with toddlers.

If you’re looking for a 1 time, two hour adventure with a toddler, I would recommend a visit, but curb your...

Unfortunately this children's museum has fallen into a state of disrepair and needs updating and mending. The train, photos of family members, radio and telephone system are all broken. "Money" for the Post Office are made of wood with hand colored pictures covered in tape. Parcels for shipping are blocks of wood wrapped in colored duct tape with black magic marker words such as "Sugar". The cans of food and pasta were the best accessories yet worn, covered in tape and quite tacky/sticky and needing a good cleaning. There weren't enough or of good quality supplies for the town store fronts, which is the main attraction. My grandchildren 3 and 4, were quickly bored, the visit was about 45 minutes. Admission is $10 each. While I understand the need to care for the small animals they have, Lutz should reinvest in play equipment (Lots of good quality long lasting toys available on Amazon these days) and clean what they can save. Ditch the dirty worn blankets in the home, fix the electrical parts that are broken, and refresh the paintings of the...