discovery place children's museum

We travel to Texarkana once or twice per year to visit family, and we finally made it to Discovery Place. I took my 2- and 4-year olds on a slow afternoon over the December holiday, and we were the only people in the museum for much of the 3 hours that we were there. Why aren't local families taking advantage? They only charged me $4.50 for admission, and the kids were free. The two staff people we met were very friendly. The kids really enjoyed the magic sand table, an area where they could make their own Rube Goldberg contraption, the puppet show area, and the craft table. This place is small, so you won't need a stroller. It was so empty that I could let my kids run a little bit without having my eyes on them every single second. It was a great way to blow off some steam on a cold, rainy day! The downsides: no changing table in the bathroom (seriously!), and the animal area (snakes and fish) is pretty depressing. I'm not sure the animals were being held in the best of conditions, and they did not add much to our enjoyment of the experience. Give them a better home and turn that area into more play space!

Really enjoyed the Musical Tesla coils... BRING BETTER EAR PROTECTION. They have the ear plugs, but the whole show is REALLY loud. Loved it.

This place was the highlight of our trip to Texarkana! We were pleasantly surprised with what we got for the price ($4.50 ea). There were animals, discovery centers, and the coolest Tesla Coil music show!!

Two Tesla coils are set up to actually play music, and they take requests! I recommend you accept the complimentary ear plugs as the coils have good sound, but it only comes out at one volume, LOUD. A great display and the world's only musical Tesla coils.There is also a wall with carved pieces of wood arranged in an abstract mosaic. Each piece is stained a different color, and when touched they each make a different sound. Kids of ALL ages will love playing the wall.

So they're not as big and flashy as the children's museums in big cities (and we've been to several, all over the country). They're also not nearly as expensive, and children can hardly tell the difference. My kids didn't get bored there, and I didn't either!