Children's Museum of Pittsburgh — Attraction in Pittsburgh

Oh my goodness we had SO MUCH FUN. This place is amazing. It is huge. It has so many great spaces and themes. The set-up allows for children to pursue multiple types of activites all within a theme. Each room has a place for quiet activities and one for whole-body /kinesthetic learning fun and everything that falls in between. The building itself is beautiful. This isn't your typical metal building with hard angles and square spaces. The building has chatacter and flow.

The learning opportunities they have created for children are amazing. Everything was clean. The pieces or materials needed for an experince were always present. The travelling exhibit was in great order and looked like the same setup we experienced at another children's musuem a few summers ago.

The stairs to the top floor with the child created sound effects coming out of the speakers had my girls giggling all the way to the top. The top floor was perfect for our youngest but still capable of keeping my 5 & 6 year old entertained without being in the way of the littlest-littles. In addition to walking up the funny stairs, there are indoor spaces for children to climb and move their bodies which is great if the weather outside is prohibitive for some parents taking their children outside. All 3 girls were red in the face and sweating from the number of times the practiced the physical activities to perfection.

We loved the backyard. The opportunity to play in the mud, water and sand along with offerings of traditional yard toys made my girls feel right at home. The art area had PLENTY of supplies. These activites provided guidance without feeling like it was process art. We never had to ask for anything to be refilled. It was all there.

The garage was so awesome. I loved the way children of multiple ages could engage in the same activity while each gaining something different from the experience.

I loved your cafeteria and if I had known ahead of time the food was decent and affordable I wouldn't have packed pbjs for the kids. The eat in space is great. I heard it is a peanut free kitchen. (Side note but there are no nut free tables or nut free eating areas so you can still bring your own food into the cafe. Though I'm not sure why the nutfree kitchen then I guess). The space for eating is so cool. My girls and I just kept staring up at the ceiling.

We have visited sooooooo many Children's musuem in sooooooo many places and this place stole my heart. There were lots of things to love but the staff here .... they are the fudge icing on a home-made cake. Every single employee in the exhibits and desk and store talked to the children. They didnt just talk to my children. They were talking to all the children. (Okay the cafeteria staff seemed like typical young people annoyed with their summer job but there job is to deal with parents not kids). The gentleman who helped the girls complete circuits, the young woman in the ezines who talked to all of the girls and gave them choices, several people in art, the soon to be teacher manning the outdoor space the woman freshening up the Eric Carle area and etc were great.

We have been in too many child centered activity places and experienced staff hiding behind tall exhibit pieces on their phones or talking with each other about their late night escapades completly oblivious to the children and chaos around them. The staff here seem to actually like kids and they ENJOY their jobs. They also seem to have knowledge of child development as their guidance with different children always seemed to be age appropriate.

If you are thinking about visiting dont think just go. In fact if you can make It happen, plan 2 days for this place. There are so many things to see and we never even made it to the "lab". Put your kids in some clothes you dont mind getting dirty and plan to spend the day or 2 enjoying...

I recently called and signed up for a season pass to the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh. The total cost was $215. I gathered 4 of my grandchildren and we headed over there on August 4th. Let me preface by saying at the time of my call, the young lady seemed new. I had to say, "do you want my card #" and she would reply "oh yes, thank you" .. then she seemed as though she was wrapping up the call, I had to say, "do you need my name, address anything like that ? " She stuttered around and replied "oh yes, I'm sorry, thank you".. so.............. on August 4th with 4 excited kids in tow we show up.. First big disappointment was masks are mandatory.. when I asked the lady at the desk why wasn't I made aware of this at the time of purchase, her very rude response was " you should have asked" then went on to say, "go over there and get a refund if your not happy," and said to the people behind us, "can I help you"? clearly dismissing me. My guess is she has had that question over and over in course of the day, so her response is automatic and uncaring.. Of course I wasn't going to go get a refund, I had 4 kids that I promised a day at the museum. I did have to go get our wrist bands which took a long time because I didn't "reserve my tickets".. I didn't know I needed to do that since I had a season pass... I was advised next time to reserve my tickets just incase they are at capacity that day.. again , this would have been useful information at the time of purchase. so.............. we're in.... we walk around the fist floor.. my 5 year old wanted to do wood working or shop.. after several minutes of the instructor trying to show him how to wear his safety glasses over his mask.. he gave up.. next... well... the only thing we encounter next was (this area is closed) .. 3 different signs of the 3 different areas closed.. When I asked about it, I was told those areas have been closed since the beginning of covid.. again.. this should have been revealed at the time of purchase... finally, everyone was thirsty so we headed to the cafeteria .. closed... a sign read vending machine for drinks down stairs.. we go down stairs .. in the one and only vending machine was a tea and some other kind of weird drink.. I decided to buy the one tea for the kids to share.. when I put in my money it said empty.. we couldn't even purchase a bottle of tea.. The final straw was when my 11 year old granddaughter was afraid to use the bathroom because it was unisex.. Very disappointed , thirsty and bored we headed out side, across the street was a misting station .. they played in that for a few minutes...

Member here. Like many aspects of this place. The staff have always been quite friendly. There’s free arts and crafts and projects the kids can do. A smaller outside area for play. A large cafe with healthy if bland options. Outside food is fine but only allowed to be consumed in the cafeteria. There’s a separate building for older kids but I believe it’s only open on certain days. We mainly use the nursery and water room. (Kids ages 6 months-3years).

A change of clothes is always recommended for the water room. There no pools or anything but enough things dripping and spraying that they’ll get wet. The museum does have free smock/aprons that can provide some coverage. The dressing rooms/ rest rooms are right on the same floor and a fair size. They also have dryer hoses. The water is always ice cold though so it can be extra chilly in the winter.

The nursery is nice but not expansive. I wish it had a gate by the stairs and before the elevator. Watching two littles I find my head swiveling like an owl to make sure no one’s going for the stairs or elevator buttons.

The nursery isn’t explicitly age restricted so sometimes you have older rougher kids that aren’t always very self aware.

It also has mister Rogers original puppets on display which is wonderful.

Each floor has a quiet nook which is great for nursing or if you have a kid that gets over stimulated easily.

Also filed trips can really throw your experience for a loop depending on the kids and chaperone attention.

We’ve had a membership for two years. Was bummed at the change in price between last year and this year. It was cheaper for a six person membership than for a four person membership this year. Wish members got free parking as well but they only get a dollar off. On the app the member parking option doesn’t work so you pay full price. Also the parking meter thing doesn’t print receipts/ sometimes isn’t working so that can cause quite a...