Children’s Discovery Museum

Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose serves the needs of children, families, and schools as a center for learning and discovery. The museum offers interactive exhibits and programs in a warm and inviting environment.

The museum focuses on three mission areas: connection, community and creativity. It is a place of connection for the community, and it connects children to creativity. Parents, teachers, and caregivers can find support for their roles as educators and children can find avenues for self-expression through the museum itself and its activities. The museum’s programs also encourage children to define their role in their local and global communities.

When visiting the museum, visitors encounter various exhibitions, including galleries that show how individuals, groups and cultures express themselves through the visual arts, as well as studios where children can create their own artwork. And in Bill’s Backyard, children can discover the natural world with hand-on activities.

Mission Statement

Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose inspires creativity, curiosity, and lifelong learning.
We believe that today's children become tomorrow's visionaries.

Services

Kids lead the way at Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, exploring and discovering through open-ended, play-based learning. Over 150 hands-on exhibits and programs in the sciences, humanities, arts, nature, and health spark curiosity and ignite family fun where children build life skills in creative and critical thinking, problem-solving, and confidence. The nonprofit celebrates people and diverse cultures, creates authentic connections, and builds global understanding.

Welcoming more than 10 million visitors since 1990, the award-winning museum inspires creativity, curiosity, and lifelong learning inside the stunning 50,000 square-foot purple building designed by the late world-renowned Mexico City architect Ricardo Legoretta, and outside in Bill’s Backyard, the half-acre nature space.

Exhibition Galleries: Amazing AirMaze, Art Gallery, Art Loft, Bubbles (in Bill’s Backyard), Mammoth Discovery, Rainbow Market, Secret of Circles, Streets, LeRoy Neiman Art Studio, Lee and Diane Brandenburg Theater, Cadence Amphitheatre, WaterWays, Wonder Cabinet, World Theater and World Market, Voyage to Vietnam: Celebrating the Tet Festival in the West Wing Changing Exhibit Gallery.

Outdoor Learning Environment: Bill’s Backyard: Bridge to Nature connects children and families to the natural world with ten exhibit features on one half-acre that brings science and environmental education and imaginations to life.

Cultural Celebration Series: Ten culturally rich programs throughout the year invite families of all backgrounds to experience the many customs and traditions represented in Silicon Valley.

Youth Programs:
• BioSITE (Students Investigating Their Environment)

School Field Trip Program: Non-guided museum visits can be booked with a minimum of 10 kids per school or qualifying organization. The maximum group size is 150 children and adults.

Access and Inclusion: The museum offers two programs that ensure children and families can visit the museum regardless of ability to pay. Museums for All and the Open Door Policy.

Play Your Way: The museum hosts special evenings throughout the year for children with autism and their families.

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