Magic House - St. Louis Children's Museum Tours

Magic House - St. Louis Children\'s Museum showing a small town or village
St. Louis’ Children’s Museum is packed with activities to make learning fun, from stocking supermarket shelves to building a firehouse.

The Magic House, otherwise known as the St. Louis Children's Museum, encourages creativity and fun while teaching children about the world. There are exhibits, games and experiments sure to entertain everyone from babies to those in their early teens. Activities include playing president for a day, servicing a (mock) car and tending an outdoor vegetable garden. 

This interactive museum House opened in1979 in a renovated Victorian mansion. More than 10 million children — along with their parents, grandparents and caregivers — have visited since. 

Pick up a map at the main entrance to plan your day. One of the most popular exhibits is the Children’s Village, which offers a fully stocked grocery store, garage, restaurant, bank and nursery — all kid-sized. 

In the Star-Spangled Center older children can sit behind a president’s desk, read a speech at a podium and see how a voting booth works. 

There’s also a play area for babies under two and several aimed specifically at preschoolers. Spend time in the outdoor play area and vegetable garden, kids can take part in outdoor games, play hopscotch, pretend to drive a speedboat and get wet in the stream.

During the school year the museum is closed to the public on weekday mornings. Come in the afternoon during the week, or morning or afternoon on weekends to avoid the crowds. There are extended hours during school breaks. These vary, so check the website for details. Allow two to four hours for a visit. 

Stop for a break at the Picnic Basket Café, which serves healthy snacks including salads, sandwiches and soups.

The not-for-profit Magic House is in the outer western St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood. There’s limited free parking at the museum. On busy weekends, it's best to catch a train that takes a half-hour to ride from downtown to the Kirkwood station. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Reviews of Magic House - St. Louis Children's Museum

4.7
Top Destination
5 - Excellent
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5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveler
Aug 18, 2019

If you have kids, that's the place to go.

4/5 - Good

R_R
Jun 29, 2019

Tip: Make sure to take hand sanitizer. Not enough around in the facility and use after EVERY room, you visit.

5/5 - Excellent

Penny
Jun 21, 2019

Plan to spend all day there! We took 8yr olds and they loved it!

5/5 - Excellent

Jennifer
May 7, 2019

This is the most wonderful interactive kids place we have ever visited. The activities are endless. We spent 3 hours there with the idea that would be plenty of time to do everything. We were only able to see about half of the activities. There is something for everyone here with any type of interest you can imagine. I wish we had this place close to home, we would visit weekly.

4/5 - Good

FamilyTrip
Mar 18, 2019

Avoid on the weekends if at all possible! We went on a Saturday and it was an absolute madhouse. There were kids and parents running everywhere with no one paying any attention. I had to watch my 18-month nephew like a hawk as he was nearly run over multiple times (by parents too!). Too noisy and hot, we were glad to leave. Would have been a lot better through the week or a less busy time because the displays and attractions were all really cool and engaging!

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