Hawaii Children's Discovery Center

My boy has been asking to go to the children's museum for awhile and when one of our usual activities was cancelled I thought it would be a good time for a visit!

Many of the things we have here on Oahu are great, for Hawaii. For example, the zoo. We've got a great little zoo, for Hawaii. Compared to zoos in other big cities it probably wouldn't be in the top 5, but for being in the middle of the ocean, far from the natural habitat of basically all animals, I think they've got a great variety of wildlife. I could give other examples, but you get the idea.

I don't think the children's museum needs that modifier. In my opinion, the Children's Discovery Center is a great children's museum. Period. End of sentence. There's more to do there than can easily be done in a single morning. For starters, there's the kid-size town which is great for imaginative play. My girl enjoyed driving the vehicles there, including The Bus.

I love the automotive center in the town, probably because it's a bit unusual among the standard fare of a grocery store, post office, fire station, etc.

Throughout the museum there are activities for younger kids who aren't into pretend play just yet. Keeping track of both a 20 month old and a 4.5 year old kept me on my toes, but little activities like these kept my girl engaged while her brother pretended to be all grown up.

There's a whole room about the body and I think this little theater, with a movie about teeth is kinda cool.

One section changes seasonally and the winter dress-up clothes and "sledding hill" would make people in colder climates laugh, but it was a big hit with the kids!

Upstairs is perhaps my favorite section of the museum. There's a Hawaiiana section with a boat, a plane and a few other interactive areas. Then there's a cultural section with little houses highlighting the clothes, food and culture of some of the nationalities present here in Hawaii. My girl loved driving the jeepney from the Philippines.
And in the China section my girl beat the drum while my boy did a lion dance.

Partway through our time at the museum we went across the street and had a picnic at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park. There's a little cafe at the museum but we packed our own lunch this time. The picnic gave me a chance to actually chat with a friend who met us there with her children; something that was hard to do as we tried to keep track of our kids in the busy, noisy museum.

Yes, there were quite a few people in the museum, but the number of children in each section would ebb and flow so everyone got a turn before too long and the last half hour before the museum closed (at 1PM) we pretty much had it all to ourselves.

Do it yourself:

Admission is $10 each for tourists and visitors over the age of one.

For military and kama'aina it is $8 each.

For directions, hours of operation (closed Mondays), etc. you can check out the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center's website.

Strollers aren't allowed in the exhibit areas so take a carrier if you have a child you'll be holding a lot.