Portland Children's Museum

02/16/09

Below expectation, unfreindly staff, and great place to pick up the flu

by haylee123 at Citysearch

Well, I have been looking forward to go going to this place for a long time, but it wasn't as great as I expected to to be. Some staff (some were nice though) was unfriendly and snobbish, and I feel like I was discriminated against racially and unfairly singled out several times. I also noticed there were a lot of sick people there who were quite obviously ill. I, personally, would stay at home if I were that sick, as not to infect others, but now I am sick as a result of going there. There was very limited and unaccomadating bathroom facilities, and the dining area was so small I literally saw about 10 people standing around a table trying to eat standing up. There must be only 7-8 tables in the whole place. The exhibits were substandard, I have seen better exhibits in my small town childrens museum. For the price, I would say go to the zoo instead!

• Pros: somewhat fun for kids
• Cons: limited bathrooms, limited eating area, limited locker space, lots of sick kids, unfreindly staff

04/09/08

ok place every now and then

by hardboiled at Citysearch

Compared to some of the other Children's Museums we have been to like Seattle and San Jose, Portland's seems lacking in the amount of interactive and learning fun. We used to have a membership but after a year's worth of playing at the Children's museum, my son actually got bored of it.

We go every now and then, but the exhibits are often disappointing and I feel like they have so much space and don't use it very well. The new theater shows do not hold the attention span of my now 5 year old and the shadow/tree walkway seems like filler for what could be so much more interesting. The train table area is always a disaster when kids won't share and the building area doesn't seem to quite work all that well. The market is really fun but overall, there are a lot of useless exhibits. That being said, my son does enjoy going there now that we only go every 6 months or so and we had a very good birthday party there as well. As family friendly as Portland is, I think they should up the quality of the museum and put more into it.

• Pros: Colorful and attractive for kids, lots of space and the market area is a lot of fun
• Cons: Exhibits can be weak

The museum's location next to the Oregon Zoo means tons of space for interactivity and fun for little ones.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
Kids can do miniature construction at the Building Bridgetown exhibit, feed and clothe baby dolls or do other medicine-related activites at Kids Care, splash around in Water Works and create colorful works of art with clay, paint and various crafting materials. For an afternoon of fun, it's well-worth the admission price.

03/01/03

Great Place for Children

by mudder91 at Citysearch

We love this place! Every month or so something changes and they keep opening new exhibits. My 3 year old has loved it since he was 9 months old. A membership is a GREAT value.

03/01/03

Wonderful Outing!!

by KenIverson at Citysearch

I took my 4 year old grandchild to the Children's Museum and we both had an absolute ball! The water play - well, we could have spent all day in that one room trying different things. Finally, a place to play with water, INDOORS, and not have to say "no, that'd make too big of a mess"! We also loved the music area. Try the musical bridge, everyone can play it at once. The bathrooms were clean and spacious for changes too. Wonderful place, I bought a pass after our first visit. Very friendly & helpful staff, both on phone and in person.

• Pros: Entertaining, Educational, Interactive
• Cons: crowded at times

02/14/03

Used to be Great

by Jayotta at Citysearch

The children's mesuem had a great homey, learning, creative environment before it moved. Now it is overpriced and not nearly as much fun.

I don't find most of the staff particularly helpful or friendly and I felt like my child of color was not treated fairly.

My children have as much fun at Old Wives Tale and the adults can eat.

12/10/02

Rip off for toddlers..not worth the 5 bu

by heatherfiona at Citysearch

I was very dissapointed, I took my 16 month daughter there and paid 5 dollars for her to get in, I was expecting there to be lots for her to do. Once I was inside I realized I was very wrong, the only thing there for her to play with was the kiddie area which was more for babies, not walking..There was no staff to help with the paints or coloring area, the puppet show was a joke, a small room, and no where to stand or sit..its great for older kids but horid for younger ones...

12/05/02

fun for kids of all ages

by swank at Citysearch

Great programming and EXCELLENT location. I highly recommend it for kids of all ages.

• Pros: interactive, inexpensive, educational