6 tips for Visiting the Creative Discover Museum – Chattanooga TN
As a family travel writer, I have been to my fair share of children’s museums and play areas. As a mother to two small children when I do visit such places there are a few things that stick out to me from the get go. The major things are is it safe? Will I lose my kid in here? Where is the bathroom? Can we buy food? Will my kid have fun?
Well, I am here to tell you the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga checked off all my boxes and some! We arrived right as they opened, for those of you who have never been to a children’s museum, opening is the best time to go for a few reasons. You can find parking, there are less screaming children and the exhibits are clean and ready to go for a day of play.
When we walked in there was water play and for some reason most children’s museums have this first, no idea why, just an observation. We walked into the main area and there were oversized instruments, art and all kids of fun things. My 19-month-old just kept say “ohhh wow” and giggling it was adorable but I digress.
They had all kinds of fun interactive themed areas for the kids to play an learn. They also had a great sized 3 and under play area that was gated off. This is much appreciated when you have a small child. The “big” kids can get wild when they are excited and having fun so it was great to have a spot just for the littles.
We first explored the art section where there was all kinds of interactive art projects and even a stop motion movie simulator. From there we entered a hall with all the music and performance exhibits. There was so much fun to be had in there we could have stayed all day! From there we went to the section with dinosaurs and a hug fossil dig area. This was also a big hit. They had a section for building and engineering but my girls were a tad small and not as interested but it was also very cool.
One thing I want to point out is the layout of the sections was perfect. They all had the same entrance and exit so if you had more than on child to chase after you just needed to make sure they did not make it in and out the main entrance without you noticing. After paying and learning hard we went upstairs to the traveling exhibit and outdoor play area. All very interactive and fun.
Bottom line if you are visiting Chattanooga with young children this is a must to add to your itinerary.
6 tips for visiting the Creative Discovery Museum:
Send the entire day there! They have so much for the kids to do and all kinds of fun classes and presentations so plan your day around all the fun stuff. They even had a cooking class that we unfortunately had to miss.
Don’t worry about the food. They had a create little cafeteria area with great snack and healthy lunch options. Aside from the normal kids means you often find yourself getting when traveling or visiting a museum or theme park.
If you live in the Atlanta area or near bye it is totally worth a day trip. The drive is easy and like I mentioned you can make an entire day of it if you want. Our kids kept asking to go back once we left for the day.
Countdown to Kindergarten is open to residents within a 50 mile radius and will get your child free entry all summer long! For more info visit: https://www.cdmfun.org/countdown-to-kindergarten-1
The tower on the second floor next to the bee exhibit, while cool for the kids, the view is not as exciting as expected, so if your kids will let you I would skip the multiple flights. Unless you want the exercise.
They have a very cool outdoor mural by their gardens on the second floor but you can only look at it from the Bee exhibit. There is also a fun huge bee honey comb that makes for a great photo opt with your kids.