Active military discounts
Yes
Childrens Museum of Illinois in Decatur
Categories
Location on the map
Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, US
Highlights
Accessibility
Wheelchair-accessible car park
Yes
Wheelchair-accessible entrance
Yes
Wheelchair-accessible lift
Yes
Wheelchair-accessible toilet
Yes
Amenities
Good for kids
Yes
Toilets
Yes
Restaurant
No
Crowd
Family friendly
Yes
Phone: +1 217-423-5437
Site: http://www.cmofil.org/
Site: http://www.cmofil.org/
Opening hours
- Monday:Closed
- Tuesday:Closed
- Wednesday:9:30AM–4:30PM
- Thursday:9:30AM–4:30PM
- Friday:9:30AM–4:30PM
- Saturday:9:30AM–4:30PM
- Sunday:12–4:30PM
Childrens Museum of Illinois in other cities:
Comments (199)
Always clean and friendly staff! We love it here!!!!!!! Recommend the season pass for this and at the zoo! Any meuseum and zoo!! Great deal for grandparents too!!
This place may not be the largest. And this place may not have the most funding. However this place has some things in place that are awesome and unlike anything else I have seen in the dozens of children museums we have gone to as a family in the last couple of years including the mechanic station teaching among other things time management.
Had a alot of fun my children 4 and 1 love going i cant wait till more of it can be open. Darn covid but i appreciate the effort to keep the spread of germs to a min while still giving the children a place to play especially in the cold winter
A lot of fun for my 18 month old and even myself. The admission was very cheap and worth it. It was not crowded on the day we went and masks were optional. We will be going again and again.
Very please with new employee Abigail Yoder at the Art Festival at Central Park 😀 I cant wait to see the program grow for the children of our Community.
There are a disappointing number of highly engaging activities for the value of $9 per person. Until covid protocols permit the return of all activities, I think the cost of admission should be significantly reduced. I am guessing many people agree because there were only 2 other groups here on a Thursday afternoon, and the zoo was not open.
My kids and nephews always loved this place when they were little.
My son loves this place. We can spend hours here several times a week. The membership is definitely worth it!
Our girls love the childrens museum so much. Definitely a good way to spend an afternoon, especially if its rainy or cold outside. Plenty of fun activities that they change out regularly, so its always a surprise!
Nice building but tickets are Way over priced. Im sure this place was nice when everything worked but Every area is either missing the parts to do the activity or something is broken in some way. My 4 year old had fun but mostly playing with the water table and train set which we could have done at home. The air tubes at the front of the building were the most fun thing in the building. The vehicles are cool but for $9 a person ($27 for the 3 person family)I wasnt impressed at all. We wont be back.
My son loves the helicopter and trucks outside, but other than that, everything inside is broken, and looks dirty. There is just not much to do anymore. The building is rather large and seems like a waste of space. We used to have alot more fun when they had the climbing tower and bubbles, etc.
My daughter had a blast as usual the hall of heroes is a nice addition. Some of the older exhibits can use some work but overall still a great time
My 5 year old could have easily spent all day here. She kept bouncing from exhibit to exhibit but could have done it all day and not cared. It wasnt too crowded when we went
My kids love this place and afterwards they are always tired out! Are you hearing me parents? My twins (4) and daughter (7) were so tired they went to bed.... with no complaints. 😁😁😁
It was okay, there needs to be more fire kids to do, some exhibits were not working well, the gear wall needs to work better. The price of admission was too high for content, it should be half that.
Fun family times.
Lots of things for small and big kids to do. Activities for the just starting to walk to 6-7 year olds. They had a real helicopter, firetruck and police car for kids to get in and experience. Even had a area they could could paint and make a mess. Just lots to do and keep kids hoing.
Fun educational activities for kids. My daughter loved it!
I recently took my grandchildren to the CMI fundraiser; huge disappointment. I have been an annual membership holder for a few years now and my grandchildren have always enjoyed it; until now. The only thing there for the kids was a single bounce house, one toss game, an advertising tent, hotdog vender, an MC of sorts and a rigged up duck sluice. No Decatur Police, No Sheriff, no fire trucks and no activities that have always been apart of the event. When I ask about it i was told there wasnt enough interest in those things. they always looked popular to me and i have pictures to back it up. then I paid $36 dollars to go in and there was almost nothing for the kids to do inside. While the sign said they were fully open; the pieces to the play areas were either very few or non-existent. Many of the interactive items were either broken or inoperative. We were there a total of 5 minutes and the kids wanted to go. They can use COVID as an excuse but it has been in decline the last couple of years. The kids said they dont want to go back and Im in agreement.
Went to the museum today with my wife and step granddaughter. She is 18 months old and she had so much fun. She just was going from one spot to the next. It was amazing.
The kids had fun, but it seemed run down and rather dirty. A few construction areas had very unstable walls to block off the area so definitely keep your little supervised!
It can be a lot of fun for older kids (5ish and up) but the toddler section is so tiny with so little to do. For a place with so much learning available, I expected more than puzzles and books in the toddler area. If they would add more for under 2-3 years old, we would love to take our daughter.
Took my 3 year old grandson - great idea for a rainy day! We had a lot of creative, interactive fun !! I used to bring my children here years ago, so glad this is still here. Despite recent reviews I had read, it was clean, about as neat as you can get with little s running around, everything was in working order, and so much to do. Great asset to our community - we will be back, thank you !!
A lot of changes since we visited last. Good changes! The Hall of Heroes is really amazing and fun for kids to see and interact with! Such a really fun hands on experience for my kiddo and her classmates on their school field trip! Thanks for a great day!
Interactive exhibits and hands-on activities where children play to learn. Be sure to visit Heroes Hall.
It is a really fun place. I would have given it more stars but it was crazy when we went . There were some day camp kids there with little to no supervision and a school field trip. The kids would just swoop in and make a huge mess. Theyd runoff the kids who were already playing. Maybe call ahead and see if they have trips planned first? We didnt because it was a Wednesday and summer so we didnt think it would be packed with so many kids and little staff or supervision.
Great mixture of activities for all ages!
Went there for the first time today for a work event. Checking out the museum prior to the start, I thought the event was going to look like a tornado hit with all the children that were going to attend, but it didnt. Never did the museum look messy. Staff was very friendly and assist with ensuring the museum was a great experience for everyone. I plan on going back again.
Beautiful day for a walk. Saw flowers budding in Sculpture park.
The Childrens Museum was amazing. We spent several hours there, and our son had a blast. If we lived closer, we would definitely visit regularly. Its one of the better childrens museums weve been to, and look forward to going again on vacation.
Kids had a lot of fun. Clean place, lots for little kids to play at. Not very busy now though
Its great for younger children. Last time I was there it seemed they had babyfied the exhibits and my 10 year old grandaughter decided she had outgrown it. Also, not a cheap date as they charge adults accompanying children full admission so that adds up.
We had my sons second birthday party here, and it was amazing! Alot for the kids to do, was actually entertaining for us adults, and overall was a great day. They have a eating area on the second floor that we sat at and ate cake and whatnot. Great time, and the people that work there were great as well. Very friendly!
The concept of having local business create entertainment platforms in exchange for advertising is wonderful, definitely the best childrens museum we have been too. The sizable donations from Howard Buffett are evident and appreciated as well. Great place to tire out the kids.
Most of the exhibits had pieces that were missing or not working. All the pieces that were present were completely disorganized or broken. The staff start closing off exhibits, such as the paint station, 45 minutes before closing time which kept the kids from going and enjoying. Way too pricey for something this simple.
Amazing experience and fun for the family!!
It is ok. Alot of the exhibits are not working or are missing parts. And I question the cleanliness of the place.
We came in from Missouri and decided to take my kids there. We had so much fun here. I definitely see us coming back here again. I loved this place so much. We took so many pictures and shared lots of moments together.
Children younger than 5 years of age will enjoy it very much but there was not much for children between 5 to 10. My grand son who is 8 became board very quickly. My grand daughter that is 4 could have played for hours.
Always a fun time! Grocery store, Mr. Potato head, and water table sections are a favorite among my kids. Admission and gift shop prices are very reasonable. Love that its located right next door to the zoo!
Great place for children. Our 30-month-old twin grandchildren really enjoyed it. I am sure if they were older they would have enjoyed it more. They really loved the helicopter the train engine and the grocery store
My kids love coming here. My oldest is always asking to come here and has a blast every time. Activities dont seem to change, at least not very often, but at least there is a variety to do compared to smaller places Ive been to.
A little sparse but fun.
This is a great place to take your young kids. There are a lot of interactive displays for them to learn about, but also to have a fun time. The only downfall is there are not many attractions, so after about an hour or two all the fun has been had.
This museum is small compared to the likes of Indianapolis or the St. Louis City Museum, but it is still a gem for Decatur. They continue to update it regularly thanks to much community support (businesses and individuals) and they are finishing up a very large addition in July 2018. Weve been season pass-holders for several years now and my kids still enjoy going there every chance they get. Current favorite exhibits are the construction room, the giant tooth-brushing area, the stage, and the hospital area.
Our kids had a lot of fun and we are looking forward to going back.
Overpriced for a building with a bunch of play rooms of the same stuff 3stories of law enforcement theme and Ive seen more exciting activities at my childrens Holliday partys at their school place is pathetic had to come back , my daughter wanted her birthday here we paid 250.00 for the room its December and they have no heat hard to enjoy a party and play when your all stuck in winter coats this place is horrible
There are several different areas for the kids. Seating for parents to watch their kids explore. Gross and fine motor skills along with learning experiences.Adjacent to the zoo for a quick walk over. Picnic areas to eat lunch.
Very disappointed. it’s was almost $40 just for me and my 2 kids to get in and see / do everything in literally 15-20 minutes! the building was disgusting , i feel as if someone should be cleaning up every so often my kids could not enjoy themselves because of that very reason! i will not be returning!!!!
Recently expanded. Great way to let children explore career options...while playing.
A wonderful place to take yr kids
Took my son there for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it was great! Its probably one if the coolest things Decatur has to offer! Theres so much for children to do and learn there!
We took our 9 year old granddaughter and she had a lot of fun. Thought it was more for younger children. Would of liked to see more science hands on thing to do for older children.
The Childrens Museum of Illinois really is a great place for younger kids to go and not only have fun but learn as well. They have so many different exhibits that we had to returns three weeks in a row and my daughter still hasnt seen it all yet. If youre looking for a great place to bring your child. The childrens museum will not dissappoint you.
Fun kids museum. Had a good time with the family and lots of hands-on exhibits. Especially good for the younger ones, older kids (4th grade and up) may be bored after a short while.
Overall really good, and fun. However a complete mess, and some of the things were broken so my daughter couldnt even play with them. Also it seemed a bit disorganized. But still would go back.
My kids love it here. Lots for kids to play with and to learn about. They offer a family pass too - which is nice if you go often.
The Childrens Museum is a wonderful place to take the kids if you ever feel like getting out of the house. Its fun for adults too, honestly!
Pretty cool place - I love that Decatur has something like this available to the community. I wish theyd make it available to residents at a lower price, but I understand how difficult it must be to keep it financially viable.
Great place to spend some quality time with your children or grandchildren. Had a great time and the museum had enough stuff to keep the kids busy for hours, I would recommend going at least once
Its a great place for kids 10 and under. Was surprised that a few of the new interactive models were not working, but understandable
My child had a blast. It was fun and entertaining. I wish there was some music playing, that would have been awsome
Fun but crazy with lots of kids. My toddler kept getting pushed away from activities but it was a good place none the less!
Really grateful for this place. My grandkids love getting to visit again after lockdown.
We took our 4 yr old grandson and he LOVED it!! It was a very nice place, clean, and lots of variety and imaginative.
We dont have children but we like to support local attractions so we stopped in. It seemed like some of the toys Or displays could have been a little cleaner. We had an okay time.
Very nice staff friendly clean only thing is wish there was more for littles around 2 to do also higher stools so she could reach water table :)
So much fun. Outdoors is fun as well as indoors. We made gingerbread houses, and played all day.
Our child loves it.
They were working on a new exhibit and in the hands on room with sports/other things 1/2 the things were out of order. We want to go back and see if things are fixed after thw new exhibit is completed...
For all the tax payers $ they spent on this place..... Very disappointed . Took 15 mins to see and do everything here , kids 6 and over will not have that much fun here . They need to take notes from stl museums , this place is really kind of a joke , coukd have thought of maby way better options to spend tax payers money on esp when this place boring as boring can get .
The nearly the Childrens Museum I just been newly remodeled but it really let me down compared to what it used to be. Its no longer Childrens Museum its like a Police Museum or something I was excited to see the new expansion of it but once I got in there and saw that they took out all the things that made it a children museum before, I was really disappointed
My 3 kids (12, 11, 8) all enjoyed this place. Many exhibits are not maintained, missing pieces, broken, etc. But none of them seemed to care at all.
They need to lower the price or not charge adults! The adults only supervise what their children do and since no activities are geared toward adults (nor should there be,) then the admission price should not apply to adults!
We loved this place! Our grandson played for a long time running from one area to another and back again.
Museum features many fun activities for kids to enjoy such as: bubble station, climbing apparatus, water works station, mini grocery store.
My kids love coming here. Great for all ages. You can bring a picnic and make a day of it.
So many hands on activities! Not a museum at all- fun learning place for kids. My 4 year old granddaughter loved it!
Definitely a great place to bring the little ones. They may not have what a major museum would but they have a lot of interactive exhibits for kids.
Nice place to go in a cold day!!! 👪👍
Great place to take the kids! They always have a great time and run some energy out while learning!
One of Decaturs finest attractions. Great concept and worth the price of admission. The yearly pass for grandparents is a best buy.
The kids love it! The attractions wont wow the parents, but theyre educational and fun for the kids.
Very hands on, the kids (ages 6 & 5) loved it!!!
This is a great place for kids thinking about having my son Sevens birthday party there in 5 months.
This is a great place for kid entertainment. They always have special events and you can have birthday parties here.
Hidden gem in Decatur. My son loved the exhibits and had a blast. It was hard to get him to leave and we will surely be back.
Great place to take your child/children to learn and have fun with hands on realistic toys of life skills.
We love the Childrens Museum! They update areas frequently it seems like theres always something new and fun to explore.
It was great for my toddler, he had so much to do I had trouble keeping up :) and it has an elevator so I could get a break from running around for a few seconds
A great place for the kids. We were there for about 3 hours and he still wasnt ready to go!
Its $5 for person children under 2 free went last week kids had a blast we will go again n again so if u wantva great cheap place for the family go. Here
We usually get distracted with everything there is to do and spend too long here. Great place to hang with the kiddos!
This is a place for younger kids I feel under 8
Always a great time for kids. A very open environment full of learning.
Kids had fun so Im happy
Great place to take the children, so much to do and educational too!
Recently remodeled - very nice! Music program for toddlers very enjoyable.
So much fun and the zoo is adjacent, its a great place to spend the day with the kids.
Fun and safe. Lots to see and do. Kids had a blast.
My 10 month old had so much fun exploring and I loved watching him!
Great variety of activities for kids, and everything seemed clean and in good shape.
Has an area for small children. A little loud this day for children with sensory issues but does offer days especially for this
Not a lot of fun for the money. Was better before.
Good stuff for the kids to play with. Staff is nice. Membership is too expensive.
My grandkids always have a great time when we go to the children s museum in Decatur Il
Incredible place to take the kids. Lots of fun. Very clean.
Excellent place to take the kids. A great place to learn and have fun.
An AMAZING local place to take your young kids for hours of fun!
Two floors of interactive activities. My one year old and four year old loved it
Very disappointed. My kids got bored after 10 minutes. Not worth the money .
My son loves coming to the museum and everytime we come there is something new!!
Took school children was fun to watch them play was pre schoolers they get in to what they are doing
Kids had a ball! Lots of things to do; many required kids to use their imagination.
Lots of fun
Kids really enjoyed 2 stories of fun. Will return!
The kids stay very involved and the exhibits are fun and interactive.
A great place to take the kids to explore and learn.
Great place to take kids of any age.
So many activities for kids, and the car repair is something that kids never get to practice- great ideas for jobs, too.
Currently undergoing renovation. Many of the old exhibits are closed, or gone. Looking forward to 2019.
Wonderful place for families, lots of different things to do.
Had a birthday party at the Museum and it was great!! Highly recommend!
Only fun for young kids.
The place has become run down do to construction but I am sure after that is done it will return back to how it use to be.
It’s a shame it’s closed I can’t wait to come back
Is free with ASTC travel passport program. Kids love it.
Great place to take grandchildren!! Lots of activities.
Starting to grow again but has lost a lot of good exhibits
I cant believe how amazing Decaturs Childrens Museum looks... Awesome Staff!
Im a member but its not as good as it used to be. Seems to be improving again though.
My kids love and enjoy the activities of this place
It was horrible, and so unclean and so unsanitary i will not bring my children here again
Great place for young children to play hands on activities.
This is a great place for kids, a lot of interactive things
Always clean and a great place to take young ones.
Small, but packed with interactive exhibits that are informative and educational.
Wonderful interactive exhibits a must visit for preschoolers.
Had a great time with my granddaughters and the rest there
My day care children always have a good time
Let your kids goof off in here for a couple hours. Expand their creativity.
A great place to wear your kids out!
They have new things since Ive been last and a lot of empty spaces for hopefully new stuff.
Great family fun for all ages
Great place for kids to play on a rainy day
Its always a blast!
Not What It Used To Be Kinda Ruined It
My 7 year old loved it.
Dozens of activities for the kids. Currently expanding, but still open.
Grandchildren had so much fun, thanks 😊
Very rude workers who dont know how to speak respectfully to blacks
Wonderful place to take the kids for an afternoon
Excellent!
Enjoyed and loved going
Great indoor play area for kids
A great place for you little ones
Wonderful place to take my grandchildren!!
Great new first responder and law enforcement exhibit!
Kids had a blast 💜
Great place for kids of all ages
Great place to take the family!
Fun place for children to explore and have fun.
The kids had a great time
Took my grandsons to run their energy off!
Great place to take your kids
Great fun for a small museum.
Loved this place it was perfect for children
2 floors of fun for the kiddos!
Good place to take your children
This is so good and my kids love it
The new remodel was a big let down
Very fun and activities for kids
Expensive but kids love it.
Such a great time for the family.
A lot to do for only a couple dollars
Kids had a blast
Great for your kiddos!
Great place kids love it
Super fun place!!
Great time for a Rainy Day
Fun place to take children.
Fun place to take kids
Kids can play for hrs
Basic. Need more to do
Lots of fun activities
Awesome place love it
Needs things for older kids
Great place for kids!
Fun time as always
Total reviews rating 4.4
199 Reviews for Childrens Museum of Illinois 2023:
Review №1
2022-03-24Great childrens museum for ages 1 & up. My daughter throughly enjoyed herself. There was numerous activities on both floors.
Review №2
2022-04-09Had a lot more exhibits than I was expecting. It entertained my kids (whose ages are from 3 to 10).
Review №3
2022-06-16Don’t waste your money! Not worth the trip or the time. I remember going here as a kid and had a great experience. I brought my kids (4 and 6) today (June 2022) and was very disappointed! We arrived 10 minutes after opening and several exhibits were not turned on yet. I also noticed that several areas had not been “reset” from the night before. For example, the grocery store had very little items on the shelves- they were all still piled up in carts and baskets. Many of the dress up items were on the floor and not hung on the appropriate hooks. Many of the exhibits have buttons and I would say more than half of the buttons didn’t do anything. There were missing pieces at more than on exhibit. Other exhibits just didn’t work- the theater’s curtain was stuck closed, the ball was stuck on the clean water exhibit (just two of many examples). The craft station had absolutely no new paper. Every paper had already been colored on or cut up. My kids kept saying, “let’s just pretend it works.” I shouldn’t have to pay $9 a head to pretend your museum does what it’s supposed to.
Review №4
2022-03-25We hadn’t been here for several years, and recently (last week) took our 4 year old. Boy was I shocked…. Everything was dirty, many of the exhibits didn’t work, things were just broken and thrown around. Not near as many exhibits as I remember from several years ago. The main attraction was still the supermarket… our son loved it, but the felt vegetables were dirty and gross. The plastic food/fruit felt very sticky like it had not been cleaned in a while. It was pretty sad really. It used to be such a fun place 😞 The fire truck and helicopter outside was a nice addition! I hope some day funding will help bring this back to where it once was.
Review №5
2022-06-30Our grandson is 4 years old.He really enjoyed museum.Dont go when alot of school bus and expect to ride the train.We had to go another day and go to zoo in order to get on the train.The depot next to museum had a covered seat depot to wait for the train.Passed us up 3 times with packed train coming from zoo.Enjoyed second visitGrandson wasnt disappointed since we were able to ride the train.
Review №6
2022-05-15Very nice kids museum. My 5 and 7 year old had a great time, lots to do, varied activities. Some centers were broken, but the kids dont notice. A very good way to spend an afternoon with your kiddos.
Review №7
2022-02-22This place is great, the boys loved it. Lots of hands on.
Review №8
2022-05-01Very disappointed in our museum. Alot of things have been removed, everything was broken. Took the climbing tree out. Would recommend this only for children 5 and under and definitely needs to be much cheaper in admission prices. Would not recommend
Review №9
2022-04-24Fun and exciting museum for children and families to enjoy.
Review №10
2022-05-12Many fun and interesting short attention getters but nothing that wows children for more than couple hours. I wouldnt plan anything for kids over 8 mostlikely.