Hawaii Children's Discovery Center Museum

If you have children ages 2-10, this Children's Museum is an excellent place to spend a morning on a rainy day. Even if it's a sunny day, it's still worth the trip as a change of pace from another day at the beach. This museum is clean, well-organized, and very kid-friendly. When you walk into the center, there is a small gift shop carrying a nice selection of educational toys and some snacks. There is a short orientation video that you can watch or just skip ahead to the exhibits where you will find such fun themes as:

Fantastic You: Climb inside a stomach and learn about digestion; Explore your sense of smell; Visit a health clinic; Learn about how the heart works; Crawl into a giant mouth; See a skeleton in action; Experience the challenges that people in wheelchairs face maneuvering around a home; and more.

Your Town: Become a weatherperson on TV; Become part of a theater production by selling tickets, working the lighting, or dressing up and performing a play; Become a judge in a courtroom; Become a police officer; Work at a bank; Dress up as a firefighter and hang out in the firehouse until the alarm sounds and climb onboard the fire truck to fight the fire; Become an auto mechanic; Go shopping in a grocery store and scan the items at the register; Construct towers with foam bricks; and more.

Hawaiian Rainbows: Pick pineapples on a plantation; Ride a jet to a neighbor island; Climb aboard the boat and load cargo or ring the bell; blow an enormous bubble; Go on an underwater adventure; Visit an old-time Hawaii store; and more.

Your Rainbow World: Learn about food and homes in other countries; Visit a Japanese home; Cook lunch in a Chinese kitchen; Travel to the Philippines; Throw a net in a fishing boat; Experience the change of seasons at the Mainland house; and more.

The Children's Museum is open Tuesday - Friday from 9AM to 1PM and on the weekends from 10AM to 3PM. It's closed on Mondays and major holidays.

Official Website:   http://www.discoverycenterhawaii.org

Tips:
* Weekdays seem to be less crowded than weekends. Give yourself a couple of hours to see everything.

* Pack a picnic lunch and eat at the beautiful Kakaako Waterfront Park that is right outside the center. There is plenty of shade and some picnic tables plus wonderful view of the ocean. Local keiki often bring cardboard boxes and slide down the hills at the park.

* Remember that the Children's Museum closes at 1PM on weekdays so don't arrive too late...

Getting there:
The Hawaii Children's Discovery center is located across from the Kakaako Waterfront Park in downtown Honolulu. It's about a 10 or 15 minute drive from Waikiki. Take Ala Moana Blvd past the Ala Moana Shopping Center. Turn left on Cooke Street and drive straight until you reach a large parking lot at the end. Park there (it's free) and walk to the museum.

Video of the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center