Bay Area Discovery Museum456

My 3 year old, all my friends and family along with myself absolutely love BADM. The staff is great and interactive with the kids. They are always super friendly. We received a membership for christmas so we visit frequently. There are many activities for children ranging from infants to older children. It is definitely a place to check out. We never stay less than two hours each trip..so much to do. WE LOVE BADM!!!

The Bay Area Discovery Museum is an excellent venue for parent to play with their young children. The museum gives children an outlet to be creative and have fun doing it. The museum also encourages the parents to play and be creative right along with the kids! The price is great, it costs less than taking the family to the movies and you can stay from opening to closing and your child will be guaranteed to have some great fun. They have activities ranging from physical play, water games and art labs where the kids are allowed to be as creative as their imagination allows. My kids have tons of fun when we go there, it allows them to be creative and social.

It's pricey, so we don't go very often. However, when we do go, my toddler absolutely loves it. She really enjoys the open environment and loves to explore/discover things at her own pace. She especially loves the salmon creek in the tot spot area and the art studio. I highly recommend it!

The concept is good, but we stopped going there after they fixed it up. The staff is always on the kids to not do this and don't touch that, don't go there. This attitude defeats the whole purpose. Very sad.

Why do we love the Bay Area Discovery Museum? The Discovery Museum is a great place were children can explore and be free to be kids. We have been going to the Discovery Museum since my now two year old was 6 months old. We have created many great Memory's. Our typical Discovery Museum trip starts at about 10am. We head straight for the Tot Spot. We start inside the Tot Spot room were she climbs into tunnels and end up in ponds with lily pads (little water beds) that she happily bounces around on. Then we move to the outside Tot Spot were there is a stream (built up to tot chest level so there is no concern of them falling in) with a water fall and tons of play fish and crabs to splash around...and a bridge to cross a thousand times. That keeps the tots busy for at least an hour. Then we normally head up to the Meadows were the tots put on butterfly or bee wings and they climb around structures that represent Meadow animal homes. As we leave the tot spot there is always a couple of musicians singing with guitars and plenty of musical instruments the kids are encouraged to pick up and play along, sing or just dance. Then we break for lunch. The cafe serves decent food with healthy choices for kids like PB & J, milk, yogurt, string cheese and decent salads to name a few. After we have lunch we head off to the art room. Were there is great big activity table set up with play dough and tools. There is also plexiglass windows kids can paint on. I have been to the Discovery Museum at least 12 times and there has always been a couple of staff members on hand to replace materials. The staff members have always been happy and excited about being around the kids. In fact on more then one occasion we have had a staff member play side by side with the kids at the play dough table. We normally end the day at Look Out Cove. Were there is a gravel land slide that is great for digging in and playing with giant trucks. There is a real fishing boat that kids can climb around on as well as another great tidal water feature to explore. The view of the Golden Gate isn't bad either....it makes for GREAT pictures!!

It is important to note that you have to pay for concerts on top of the admission price to the centre. They do not restock resources and materials well throughout the day and so if you dont arrive early different room activities are missing key elements and the purpose of the activity is not clear or the activity no longer functional. There is a tots area but this is size restricted and so you cannot necessarrily take siblings in. This is difficult for one parent. The food available is pricey and lacks variety. There is hardly any space to shelter on cold or wet days to eat food. Overall I rate the whole experience disappointing, and I have been several times so this was not a one off experience.