We packed up the kids and the SUV and headed west on a road trip to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Visiting the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis was something I wanted to do for some time. Our 9 hour road trip from Rochester, NY to Indianapolis, Indiana took us to the one of the best children’s museums in the United States.
Coming from Rochester, NY the home of the Strong Museum of Play, we had high expectations for our visit to the largest children’s museum in the US. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis consistently ranked as one of the top activities in Indianapolis and winner of a 2023 Travelers’ Choice Award, did not disappoint.
Best Time to Visit
Our visit in late August yielded an almost empty museum. The best time to visit if you want to avoid crowds is likely after the school year has started. In western NY, kids don’t return to school until after Labor Day. We find the prices to be cheaper for attractions and hotels, and often many major attractions less crowded.
As we crossed the covered parking bridge into the building, we could see the large sports park to the left. To our right, a huge Brachiosur attached to the outside of the building! Once we made it inside we were never without something cool, interactive or educational to see or do. We spent nearly 3 hours at the museum.
In addition to the time of year or the time of day, you can also check the Children’s Museum site to see which exhibits are starting or ending to plan your visit.
Accessibility and Autism-Friendly Services
The Children’s Museum offers a wide array of accessibility services for guests with different needs. There are many physical accomodations for visual and hearing impaired visitors. One of the autism-friendly services offered by the museum are select days called Museum My Way. It is an adaptive museum experience with limited capacity for visitors with disabilities and/or sensory sensitivities.
On the museum website you can find a sensory map so you can easily identify exhibits with bright lights, loud noises, flashing lights, strong smells or other sensory effects. Noise-reducing headphones are also available to check out from the Concierge Desk in addition to fidgets if you need one. There is also a dedicated Take a Break space on level 3. The space is quiet with lower lighting levels, soft seating and fidgets.
Lastly, they also provide a social narrative complete with pictures you can view online so you can walk your loved one through a visual experience and explain what will happen before your visit.
Exploring Exhibits
Once in the lobby, we flocked to the life-sized version of Bumblebee from the Transformers movie franchise.
At the time of our visit, there was a Scooby-Doo! Mansion Mayhem exhibit which was perfect for a our Scooby obsessed kid! The interactive exhibit featured the iconic blue van as well as the opportunity to solve mystery clues like a real member of the team.
Like many museums, the Children’s Museum changes exhibits seasonally and they often rotate exhibits to other children’s museums throughout the country. T Scooby-Doo! Mansion Mayhem exhibit is now moving throughout the country until 2025 (see dates and locations). When you are planning your visit, visit the museum website to learn about upcoming exhibits.
There are some areas and experiences that stay the same for visitors to enjoy year after year. Things like the 35-foot-long, 55-ton steam engine train, the classic Carousel that is over 100 years old, the Playscape area for kids 5 and under, and the Beyond Space immersive exhibit that details NASA’s Project Mercury program just to name a few!
The Outdoor Sports Legends Experience
Visiting the Children’s Museum of Indianpolis in summer gave us great weather to take advantage of the outdoor area. As a fan of our local Rochester Strong Museum of Play, I have to say the Outdoor Sports Legends Experience area is really one of the things that sets it apart from all other children’s museums. Since Indy is in the midwest, the outdoor sports area is only open from March – October.
There are 12 outdoor sports experiences and 3 indoor activities that make up the Outdoor Sports Legends Experience. You will find football, basketball, soccer, hockey, racing, golf, baseball and the huge tree of sports. What makes this even more unique is the fact that many of the sports activities are made for all ages and have kid-sized equipment.
There are regular sized basketball goals where you can run a full game of 5-on-5 but the other courts have basketball goals that players can easily crank down for the littlest baller. Additionally, they offer adaptive equipment for those who have visual and other physical impairments.
The tree of sports is like a big tree house. When you reach the top, you can look out over the entire sports park area. The kids had a ball running in and just hanging out at the top. This is also where we decided to eat lunch.
There is a food court on site inside the museum. The food court was a little pricey as I paid $9.00 for a bag of chips and a pop. There is a snack bar in the sports section as well. We ate mostly the snacks we brought with us.
Getting to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
This road trip route took us west and south from Rochester through Buffalo, Erie, PA and Columbus, OH. If you are flying, you can easily catch a flight into the Indianapolis International Airport.
We chose to stay downtown at the Courtyard Indianapolis at the Capitol. For this trip we picked a downtown location for convenience. We were also close to attractions like the Indianapolis Zoo, the state capitol, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Fountain Square and Lucas Oil Stadium. We booked a room with 1 king bed and a sofa bed. More room with kids is always good.
Our hotel was about a 5 minute drive from the museum. If we were feeling more adventurous we could have walked or even have taken one of the many rental scooters. The parking garage is located directly across from the main entrance. There are additional outdoor lots as well. Parking is always free at the Children’s Museum.
Getting Your Tickets
My friends was able to secure free tickets to the museum for us. Ticket prices range according to the time of year and when you buy tickets. If you buy at least two weeks in advance, you can save 20% according to their website.
Adult tickets range from $23-29 while youth tickets range from $19-23.50. You have to check online to find the best rate. Between driving our own car, using hotel points and free museum tickets, this was a very affordable road trip.
Our tickets were emailed to us. If you buy tickets online you can download the ticket barcode as well. Once you reach the entrance you will scan your barcode. You can print off tickets if you choose.
Activities in Indianapolis
There are plenty of other things to do when visiting Indianapolis. Downtown we checked out Monument Circle, got some Chicago style pizza from Giordano’s (awesome!) and went to the mall. Chicago is only about 3 hours away if you have the time.
By staying downtown we were able to access the city Canal Walk easily. Canal Walk cuts through White River Sate Park in downtown Indy and is a lovely walk along the Canal. There are paddle boats available to ride the canal if you don’t want to walk. We walked to the Colts Canal Playspace, a playground dedicated by the Indianapolis Colts. It is an very nice park offering a lot of space to climb, jump and swing.
On another day, I met my friend for lunch downtown while the kids enjoyed the hotel pool. We grabbed lunch at a place called Dave’s Hot Chicken where I got my first taste of Nashville Hot chicken. The food was great, service was quick and the chicken wasn’t too hot. I had a medium (spice level) chicken slider, fries and we split the mac n cheese (it was just okay) but my chicken sandwich was bomb!
Other activities that we did not experience but that are major attractions in the area:
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Home of the Indy 500
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
- Watch an Indianapolis Pacers or Indianapolis Colts game
- Indianapolis Zoo
- Visit Fountain Square
I’ve heard that the Zoo is a pretty great, but we had a pre-planned pit stop to the Cincinnati Zoo on this same trip. We also couldn’t pass up a trip to Long’s Bakery, a local institution and voted repeatedly as the best donuts in Indianapolis.
Overall, if you are visiting the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, you can definitely fill in few days with other activities and experiences. Indianapolis is a major city offering major fun.
