When Alice in Wonderland said she thought of 6 impossible things before breakfast, she was probably thinking at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. The whole place is packed with imagination encouraging spaces and wonders of the animal and mechanical sort! Playgrounds, wooden treehouses connected by ladders and nets, a small creek, music making stations, lemurs, a butterfly house, mini remote controlled sailboats, really the list goes on and on. My kids love the Dinosaur trail, complete with fossil dig. There is a farm with live animals, a wild animal section with lemurs, bears, and wolves, and butterfly and insect house with all kinds of interesting creatures. There is a great train that goes around the park as well. Inside the visitor’s center, you’ll find another entire museum with great indoor exhibits, including simple machines, rockets and space exploration, fort building, and a toddler play area. Hope you and your family get to spend a few occasions exploring all that this great place has to offer!
With Love, Turtle Dove
Know Before you Go: There is so much to do at this center, it can take a long time to move through even the first few exhibits/sections.
The train does a loop around the park, but does not take you to any other parts of the park. There is a tunnel where visitors are encouraged to scream at the top of their lungs as they go through, both times. Fun, and surprising for some little ones!
There is a cafe in the visitors center with good coffee and a few snacks. The Sprout Cafe near the butterfly house has great allergen friendly selections and kids meals that always get the thumbs up over here
There are bathrooms near the entrance, the cafe and the sailboats.
Water play is great here. There is water in the Treehouse area and in the Mist area. Kids definitely get soaked. Watch out for loose rocks near the Water play stream in the treehouse area.
We love to explore. We learn best that way. When we can, we travel. When we’re not traveling, we hit every park, playground, museum, farm, small town, and interesting place within a 50 mile radius of our house in Southwest Wake County, NC. After about 5 years of solid daily exploration and noting important features of our favorite spots in the Triangle, I thought it was time to share with other parents who might be looking for some fun places to hang out with kids, and some important things to know before you go. So here it is, hope to see you and your family around!!
With Love, Turtle Dove 