The Thinkery In Austin: Is The Children’s Museum Worth It?

By Kelsey Kennedy | September 18, 2025

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The Thinkery is our awesome little kids museum here in Austin. It's located in the family-friendly east Austin neighborhood of Mueller, and it's on pretty much every "best things to do in Austin" guide. If you're wondering if it's worth it to visit, I'll go ahead cut to the chase: YES!

I've been to this kids museum so many times with my two boys, so I'll share a few helpful tidbits, in case you're visiting or new to Austin, to help you plan your trip to The Thinkery.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelsey Kennedy is a native Texan and a local Austin author, photographer, and blogger with a serious obsession for all things Austin. As the creator of four Texas-focused travel websites, her work has reached over 12 million readers in 38 countries, all searching for the coolest things to do in the hottest cities in Texas. For more insider tips on the capital city, check out her bestselling travel book, Austin Food Crawls: Touring the Neighborhoods One Bite and Libation at a Time.

What Is The Thinkery?

It's called a "children's museum," but it's not really a museum... The Thinkery is a two-story building full of "hands-on activations designed to spark children's creativity."

They have interactive STEAM, exhibits, weekly programing like reading time, birthday parties, an outdoor playscape, arts, and much more! I'm telling you - my boys have spent hours here and never get tired of it.

A traditional museum is a place where you go, look around, tell your kids "don't touch anything!!" a hundred times, and read.

The Thinkery? It's fun, playful, active, and entirely focused on kids. I love it.

Best Ages For The Thinkery - A Parent's Perspective

The Thinkery is designed for kids ages 0 - 10 in mind, but here are my thoughts:

I've brought my kids to The Thinkery as young as 9 months and they've had fun crawling around and playing! Anything younger than 9 months? You're basically just pushing your baby around in stroller. But it's a fun/safe space for babies and breastfeeding moms, so feel free to bring the babies along!

From my experience, the ideal age for enjoying The Thinkery age 2-8. Anything younger than this and it's not really worth the money, and older than 8 is when The Thinkery starts to lose its magic.

**NOTE this isn't universal! I actually have a friend who told me her 10-year-old still enjoys The Thinkery!

Where Is The Thinkery Located In Austin?

It's at 1830 Simond Ave in the Mueller neighborhood of Austin.

They'll validate 3 hours of parking garage at McBee Street District Garage or Simond Garage. I always take advantage of that and park in one of those spots!

Mueller is the most family-friendly neighborhood in Austin! If you're going to plan a visit to The Thinkery, make sure you schedule some time to visit the parks, coffee shops, and restaurants nearby.

Mueller Lake Park is directly outside The Thinkery. It's a fun place to walk around, throw rocks in the water, and watch the geese.

Lick Honest Ice Cream is a short walk from The Thinkery. Their ice cream is all made locally and the flavors are so good!

Halcyon is a popular coffeee shop with a lot of yummy breakfast items. It's also right next to The Thinkery.

There are really cool fenced-in playground outside The Thinkery. We always stop and play for about 30 minutes once we're done at the museum!

Which Thinkery Location Is Best?

The Thinkery opened a new second location in Del Valle.

To tell you the truth: I haven't been to the new one yet! So I can't personally tell you which location is better.

However, if you're visiting Austin, I recommend going to the original Thinkery in Mueller, simply because it's more centrally located and closer to the other kid-friendly things to do in Austin you'll probably be doing with your family.

Is The Thinkery Worth It (Pros and Cons)

Pros:

It's a great way to spend 1-3 hours. Seriously, my boys love it and have so much fun, and I love seeing the creative, engaging play.

Screen-free entertainment. It's increasingly hard to find these days. Good job, Thinkery!

Air conditioning. Perfect thing to do with kids on a hot day, rainy day, or whenever.

It's one of the best children's museums in Texas. I've been to so many of them in Dallas, San Antonio, and smaller Texas towns, and The Thinkery is in my top 2. It's awesome and definitely worth a visit if you're new to Austin.

CONS:

It's $19 + tax per person. So if you're bringing 3 kids, you're going to be paying about $100.

Limited options for older kids. Like I said, ages 2-8 is the sweet spot. Elementary kids can definitely join, but it's not as fun for them as it is for preschoolers.

Crowded on the weekends. But isn't that just like everything? 😉

A Few Tips For Visiting The Thinkery

1. The outdoor playscape is epic - don't skip it! Of course, the only photo I have is this crappy screen grab of my baby climbing (haha), but it's seriously SO fun!

When you enter The Thinkery you'll be indoors, and most kids will be mesmerized by all the exhibits and not even notice there's an outdoor space. But don't skip it! There's a cool water feature, a really epic climbing structure, and a few shady benches where parents can sit.

2. Bring a change of clothes for the car ride home. Between the indoor water feature and the outdoor climbing gym, my kids are always soaked/sweaty/dirty by the end of our visit to The Thinkery.

Just bring the change of clothes.

3. Pack a picnic lunch to enjoy outdoors. Since admission cost is a bit pricey, a picnic lunch is a fun way to save on food. My boys always love taking a little lunch break halfway through our play time. We'll head. outside, enjoy a packed lunch, and then head back in for more play.

4. The last Tuesday of every month is free! There's a "pay what you can" day on the final Tuesday evening of every month. If the cost of The Thinkery is prohibiting you from visiting, then you should take advantage of this generous offer.

5. Make it a half day outing in Mueller! I like to start with coffee, then head to The Thinkery for a few hours, enjoy a picnic lunch, and then end the day with ice cream at Lick before heading over to Mueller Lake Park for some play time.

6. There's a dedicated baby area at The Thinkery. I utilized this a lot when I was bringing both of my boys to The Thinkery when they were 9-months and 2-years-old.T

The baby crawls around in the safe, cushioned baby area while the 2-year-old enjoys playing in the toddler area. Everyone wins!