McKenna Children’s Museum ~ New Braunfels, TX

As the temperatures heat up outside, we are all looking for indoor entertainment for the family.   And a great place to try out this summer is right down the road in New Braunfels, The McKenna Children’s Museum.

When we were kids, museums consisted of antiques under glass and lots of “Do Not Touch” signs.  Kids now-a-days have the opportunity to visit museums that encourage you to touch and play and make a mess.  The McKenna Children’s Museum does this well.

Just step inside and see the amazing facade before you – teepees, chicken pen, grocery stores, hospitals and a spaceship?  You can’t help but get a little excited walking into this amazing world of imagination!

The museum is divided up into sections with fun activities such as Destination Space, Outside the Lines Art Studio, and Lend-a-Hand Ranch.  My kids loved blasting off to the moon in the giant rocket, dashing into the Art room to create a masterpiece and then running off to kayak and roast hot dogs on the fire at the campsite.

There is a fantastic area for the tots – don’t you just love this amazing train table?

The “Hospital” was such a fun play area as well, where you could drive your ambulance, complete with flashing lights, and then put on your doctor coat and check on the new babies in the nursery.

But one of our favorite spots in the whole museum had to be the grocery store – my son packed his cart full of his favorites – jellos, cake mixes, and ice cream – and then allowed his sister to ring up his bill- a whopping $235!!

Once we headed outside, there was no turning back.  My kids loved the water table with tons of different water toys and functions to play with (all shaded too!).  My oldest son took a liking to the giant foam brinks and proceeded to spend more than an hour building & perfecting his ramp.  He was pretty proud of this one!  And we loved climbing on the new Luckey Climber.  This is a 30-foot tall maze that all 3 enjoyed getting lost in.

To say we had fun is an understatement.  I could definitely spend an entire morning or afternoon here and still find new things to play with.  McKenna Children’s Museum is worthy of repeat visits and a fantastic place to beat the heat this summer!