Museum of Life and Science

Crazy day at the Museum of Life and Science. Everyone with a child seemed to embark here for the Dino Egg hunt and sunny day. The museum did a great Job setting this up and had to arrange a shuttle from a nearby school as the parking was full everywhere.

This place has so many entertaining and engaging exhibits and true exploration for kids.

The butterfly garden was magical and of
course the tree house is every kids dream.

Enjoyed the beautiful day here. Members have a separate line and the value for a year membership for a family is reasonably priced.

WOW! We never knew about this museum until our kids told us to meet them and our granddaughter here.

This place is FANTASTIC! It's HUGE!

My wife and I are members of the Greensboro Science Center, so we got half-price tickets here.

They have a nice gift shop that also has a small coffee shop as well. They do not offer cups of water, you will need to buy a bottle if you didn't bring your own.

The building where you buy tickets, where the gift/coffee shop is located, has a lot of hands-on science experiments for kids. Our granddaughter is two, and most things are designed for kids a bit older. However, she still had a ton of fun.

We then headed over to the butterfly building. This was a magical place. A butterfly landed on my forehead, and then down to my face, and stayed there as we walked around. My granddaughter got a huge kick out of it. Well, all of us did, actually

The entire complex is based around a shaded circular walking trail. The greenery is amazing and so well done. As you walk around you find other things to do. We did walk the entire path, but we could not do everything they had. It was too much and we started to get tired.

I can't say enough amazing things about this place. We are going back soon with our granddaughter and this will most likely be a regular spot for us.

Overall a great museum with lots of interactive fun for young and old. The play space/gym area was a great bonus my kids thoroughly enjoyed.

Great out door and indoor activities. Lots of space even if crowded. Clean facility. They have Sprouts Cafe food was decent quality. Also a nice coffee shop. Very reasonable activity.

I saw the words "life and science" and expected weird taxidermy and boring displays and a copy paste of every other museum geared towards kids. I was so wrong. I'm beyond impressed by this space and want folks to know that it's beyond a museum. It's a wildlife habitat for lemurs, bears and wolves and an amazing outdoor space for kids, families and adults too.

The kids treehouse section was so impressive. There weren't many kids running around yet so the adults were able to go up into the treehouse with our kiddo and it was just so cool and fun. The animals were adorable and the viewing points where you're watching them have you up close and personal while still at a safe distance. I recommend going first thing in the morning right when the lemurs are let out into their habitat. Watching them all come out at the same time and jump into their perches and trees was so so cute.

We were there for hours and didn't even see it all. The butterfly space was wonderful and I could have spent more time there. Also, the food smelled delicious and the popsicles they sold were so good but a little pricey ($6 each).

My first reaction was not great. It was expensive for a family of four to go and explore.
Once I walked in, I was floored. They had an indoor exhibit of reptiles and amphibians in a separate section that was super cool. Right next to that was a hands on Mathematics and physics section with multiple explanations and experiments for the kids to do. And it just got better from there.
There was a train ride for the kids. A butterfly encounter to walk through. A huge play area with wooden bridges and steps. Totally worth it and you can spend all day there!

My son and I really enjoyed this museum. The museum itself is made incredibly well, it's HUGE and I've never seen such a big children's museum. However, one experience we had with an employee of the museum turned this from a 5 star experience to a 2.

My son went to the experimental lab by himself and sat down to get started with the experiment. I ran to grab his 2 friends that we came with so they could enjoy together.

When the experiment started, they were all given a marshmallow to do an experiment on. Went great. Then for part 2, he found other objects that could be part of the experiment. He gave a balloon to my friends son, and shaving cream to my friends daughter. When my son asked for a balloon, he said they only had the one. So my son asked for shaving cream and this man said it was too messy and he couldn't get any if he wasn't going to clean it up. (No one was making a mess, but this is a children's science lab - LET THEM get messy. And then do YOUR job and clean, or teach them to do so as part of the experiment)

My friend's son finished with his balloon and asked for shaving cream - this man gave him the shaving cream with no issue. So my son asked again and this man reluctantly gave him the shaving cream while still scolding about a mess that had not been made.

Then as my son is experimenting with the shaving cream the man is like "well that's what happens when we use shaving cream, it makes a mess like I said"

No one else cleaned up their mess because another employee was there helping with that part. But still my son cleaned his own mess and we got up before the experiment ended because I could feel my blood boil.

My friend is white and her children are white passing, my son and I are mixed and visibly black. I was not the only one made uncomfortable by this experience - my friend and another white friend that was with us both noticed and said something about it when they left the experiment.

I honestly wish I could have been more vocal at that moment but I was registering what was happening while trying not to alert my son to my anger. We had just arrived to the museum, we are on a trip right now and this is DAY ONE.

But after having time to process what happened, something needs to be done to rectify the situation. The employee needs a write up, the museum needs some extra training, my son deserve an apology. Something!

While I was there I noticed how many beautiful little black children I saw - and I hope and pray that these will not be their experiences as well.

Super educational facility! Enjoyed every trip I've ever made here. Beautification grounds and great guides.

I want to clarify that this review if for a special event at the museum, and not for regular daily visits. We enjoyed attending a "Science of Beer" event last year and returned for a "Science of Wine" exhibit this year. We showed our IDs, had our tickets scanned, collected our souvenir wine glasses, and set out to enjoy some wine samples and the indoor exhibits. We noticed that there were fewer wine exhibitors than beer exhibitors but still had a good time. There were also some samples available in the butterfly house building, and we always enjoy stepping inside the butterfly house. It was at night so the outdoor exhibits, outdoor animals, and the train were not available. We enjoyed the experience and the new indoor exhibits, but would have liked to see more exhibitors (since the ones that were there seemed to back up with long lines rather quickly).

10 stars all the way! Highly highly recommend to go. You can easily spend ALL day here. This museum is everything! The indoor exhibits are good but the outdoors exhibits and trails offers SO much more than education! It's education + fun + exploration. Just can't miss when in Durham!