Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert — Attraction in Rancho Mirage

The design of this children's museum appears to lack the insight and experience of someone familiar with children's museums or child development. It feels as though an outsider attempted to create a children's museum based solely on a description, resulting in a rather disappointing experience.

While the museum does feature some new exhibits, they seem to prioritize aesthetics over educational value. For instance, the rock wall has only four vertical steps, with the remaining steps positioned sideways, offering minimal engagement for children. The overall layout and design do not reflect the input of educators, and the exhibits seem haphazardly assembled.

One room contains a mix of trains, a kitchen, blocks, and a non-functional lie detector. Despite the significant investment in renovations, many areas remain closed, leaving visitors questioning the allocation of funds. Some exhibits are constructed in a manner that suggests they will not withstand frequent use. For example, the air tubes station with feathers is situated next to a small ramp for ball testing, leading to frequent blockages when children mix the foam balls with the air tubes. Additionally, the baby and toddler area upstairs features new books with flimsy paper covers, which are easily damaged. During our visit, I observed numerous books discarded behind the slide, indicating a lack of durability planning. I recommend laminating the covers and reinforcing the books with clear book binding tape.

Many exhibits are outdated, and the pizza oven is notably damaged. While my children enjoy visiting, I find the experience underwhelming and often leave after just 30 minutes due to boredom.

I highly recommend Mr. Penny Pickle’s Workshop in Old Town Temecula as a superior alternative. It offers a more educational, engaging, and...

We had pretty high expectations for this place based on the reviews and we were very disappointed. There is a mixture of brain teasers for big kids and pretend play for little kids. The veterinarian center had a list of tools you could use to check on the animals but no tools available. The pizzaeria was a fun time. The grocery store was adorable but the staff that was in there kind of ruined it. Kids were running around shopping having a great time and she just started lecturing them on putting things back exactly where they belong. My children didn't even finish the whole process before they started putting things back. It was quite disappointing.

The second building was interesting. Had game type activities and STEM things to do. It was just so crowded you couldn't really do anything and there were materials missing. In the build a car section there were no motors. The wind stream had one ball. There was a cup thing where everyone was supposed to design a cup that had only 2 cups.

In the third building it's supposed to be an under the sea theme with a focus on the environment. There was a "maze" of seaweed that was just ropes hanging down. The sunken ship had a slide. A sand table that was running out of sand. A place to watch a fish show with two broken TV's and a blacklight coloring area with no paper. Later realized the staff was carrying around the paper. Not sure why it was being held hostage.... The staff in this building got mad at kids for tossing bean bags around. The staff just didn't seem to like children being children.

Finally, parents shouldn't have to pay full price. We stand...

What a disappointment. We patiently waited 4 years for them to re-open and this is what we get ?

The only thing my 4-year old was interested in was the feather tubes( there were maybe 10 feathers available) and the small climbing area. There is not enough things to do!!! We were there for 2 hours and that was a stretch.

Everything is nice to look at but isn’t interactive. It feels like whoever designed this knows nothing about kids and how they play. They definitely need to make some changes.

All “areas” were open when we went.

We paid $40 to basically be in air conditioning and it want even that cool in there- they had giant moving fans pushing the air around.

1 star because making PARENTS pay to get into a CHILDRENS play place is crazy to me. I don’t want to be there- I’m here for my kid. I could see paying $5 or something but to make the adult pay $20 per entry seems greedy.

Strollers are not allowed. How are moms with a sleeping baby suppose to come ? There’s plenty of room in there.

Kids Clubhouse & Zebra World have the right idea.

I LOVED the Childrens Discovery Museum as a kid and was SO excited to take my son. We won’t be returning. Bring back the car...