The Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science has been open in Dallas for just over a year, and we finally made it there today! We have been meaning to check out this popular new museum for many months now, but just never made the leap. We received some unexpected free member guest passes (thanks Toni!) so today was the day.

Photo from DallasNews.com

Since opening, the museum has exceeded attendance forecasts, and therefore the website urges visitors to book tickets online to secure an entrance. We had an 11:30 a.m. reservation, and when we arrived there was a sign saying that walk-up tickets were already sold out until 4:00 p.m. that day. Parking was a little hard to find, as the lots closest to the museum were already full. But we found a city public parking lot not too far away and got one of the last remaining spaces.

Outside of the museum is a musical playground and a bunch of green frogs. Both were a hit with my kids and many other kids.

Musical playground

Outside the entrance

When we got inside the entrance, there was a big group of 11:30 ticket holders in a queue. It did not take long to get us all scanned and inside. We decided to head downstairs first, to the children's museum section.

It had a Dallas skyline playground:

Blocks and levers:

An arts and crafts station:

A supermarket:

A flower pattern activity:

Some creepy crawly snakes and spiders:

A camping section:

The kids probably could have played in this section for a lot longer, but the museum had 10 more exhibits open to general admission, and we wanted to see more things.

On the way to the next exhibit, we played at an interactive LED light wall:

The Sports room was also downstairs. The kids loved this activity where you could pick a person or animal and race against it. The boys first raced against a T-Rex, then a cheetah. They lost.

The room also had an interesting exhibit that showed the human body under x-ray/ct scan/mri/pet scan.

After the Sports room, we went back up and took the scenic escalator to the top floor.

The other floors contained exhibits about dinosaurs, the universe, gems and minerals, energy, engineering and life. I wish I could say that I got to fully enjoy each one, but my youngest started to get really fussy from being hungry and thirsty. She has not mastered getting water from a drinking fountain, so I decided to break off from the boys and allow them to enjoy the museum while I found my daughter some food and drink. Here are some photos of some of the other exhibits:

Since we visited the day after Christmas, I appreciated the fact that we did not have to walk through the gift shop to exit the museum. No more toys!

Unfortunately, we did have to exit the museum to get to the restaurant.

Overall, the Perot Museum is an entertaining place for adults and kids. The museum has lots of technology and variety in its exhibits, with hands-on activities for the kids (and adults) scattered throughout most of the rooms. We'd like to go back there again, but either with just our older kids or when my daughter is a little older.

Have you been to the Perot Museum in Dallas? How does it compare to other science museums you have visited?