Lawrence Hall of Science

This place is awesome! There is tons of stuff to do for our 3-​year-​old toddler. Sunday was actually our first time. We purchased a family membership and will be going back frequently.

A great place to take your kids. They have endless exhibits that are all interactive. Makes plans to spend a good part of your day here too because there is so much to do. The exhibits also rotate so there is always something new.

The Lawrence Hall of Science rocks! We spent over three wonderful hours here this weekend enjoying the following:
The outdoor play sculptures — both the DNA strand and the whale are designed for climbing fun. The kids loved spending time here before we went in. The adults enjoyed the fantastic view of the Bay — we could see both the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate.
The main entrance lobby — the kids could not get enough of the pin wall. They also tried out the zoetrope and the «ball fountain.» I enjoyed reading about Dr. Lawrence’s 1939 Nobel prize and the work he did to earn that honor.
The Exhibits
— Insect Investigations: learning about bees from various continents and how insects use camouflage, matching butterfly wing sections under a microscope to the correct species, and seeing live tarantulas, beetles and hissing cockroaches (we keep running into this creature — like at the Lindsey Wildlife Museum a year ago).
— Nano: the kids learned about how nanoscale objects behave very differently — my 6-​year was fascinated by the lovely patterns and shapes made by the 10 Nanometer Ferrofluid (liquid that acts like a magnet and is used in car brakes, hard drives and loudspeakers).
— Science on a Sphere: a huge globe that lights up to educate us about things that should matter, like seismic activity and global warming.
— Keva Planks: this table was super-​crowded so we didn’t spend too much time here. But building towers is always fun!
Animal Discovery Room — our two-​year old didn’t want to step away from Munster the hamster — she must’ve petted him for over 20 minutes. She also enjoyed watching the chinchillas at play, and other furry creatures like rabbits. The older kids were more into the snakes and dragons and the human anatomy (see pictures!).
Ingenuity Lab — we all probably spent the most time here doing all kinds of hands-​on activities. Our favorites were:
— Making paper airplanes and launching them. Our daughter built the only pink airplane so she could find and retrieve hers easily amongst all the white ones!
— Building parachutes with paper cups, coffee filters and pipe cleaners and launching them up a tube blowing air. Loads of fun!
So if you have young kids, or are a kid at heart, head over to the Lawrence Hall of Science. You won’t regret it.

I bought a membership for another museum that is connected with the association of science and technology centers, which allows free admission to over 300 museum affiliates. on their list is this museum, so we drove an hour to visit them, additionally we heard great things about this place. Unfortunately the ppl at the front desk told me that I had to pay to get in and they «had been doing this a long time» and told me I was wrong. then the gentleman brought up the website for the ASTC and condescending asked me, «ok, show me what your talking about»? I pointed out that the website stated the admission was free, then he said he was calling his supervisor. (because he saw that it said the admission was free).
she came up and backed him but said, we’ll let you in for free this one time because we don’t want to back up our line. I informed them that I should get one free admission for my family because the membership includes that and I’m not holding up the line, I’m just trying to get my membership benefits that I had purchased. I also told the supervisor that the gentleman was rude to me (he was chicken necking me and talking down to me), but she wouldn’t accept my complaint. furthermore they refused to give me a brochure about the museum. she then said she was printing info explaining to me why I’m wrong but as I stood there waiting for said paperwork she said, you can go in now!
well once we got it, it was worse! we did a bathroom stop and just about threw up because the ladies room smelled of horrific urine that I’d expect to smell at a Bart station bathroom. the exhibits were lame and mediocre and quite frankly wasn’t worth the gas money or the rude service up front. this was seriously the worst museum we’ve ever been to and we’ve lived all over California and have had many, many memberships to museums. save your time and money and go somewhere else. I expected more professionalism from Berkeley but I guess I expected too much.

One of my favorite places to visit during my trips up to the YAY area. Absolutely one of the most stunning views of the bay (please catch a sunset here) and an absolute pleasure to to walk around after eating some cheeseboard. The museum is a plus, semi-​old feel but definitely worth checking out.
If you’re in Berkeley this place is a must!!!

The Lawrence Hall of Science is located up on the hills above University of California Berkeley. If you haven’t been here before, it’s a nice drive depending on which way you come up. I recommend taking the 24 West. There are a couple of lookout points with great views of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge on a clear day.
Parking is paid prior to entering into museum. Remember your stall number or you will have to go back to your car.
The views from the plaza and terrace are breathtaking. The exhibits are more appropriate for older kids. It my be a little too advance for young ones. The ingenuity lab (hand ons engineering) on level A was cool. The staff was very helpful in explaining and getting you setup. The animal discovery was also fun, but only open from 1:30 to 4pm. The stop motion animation was interesting and popular. Planetarium shows are $ 4 each. There are different shows depending on when you come.
Refer to their website for additional details.

The Lawrence Hall of Science is a great children’s museum, tucked away in the Berkeley Hills, and close to Tilden Park. It’s on one prime piece of real estate! The views from this museum are amaaaaazing. The museum itself is small, but perfectly sized for my 11 month old son.
There are plenty of activities and exhibits for children of all ages, but we particularly loved the futuristic exhibit with a body scanner, holographic cell phone, facial expression copying robot, and many other forward thinking displays. Behind the museum is a beautiful creek (great for little toes to splash around in.)
The only negative is the life sized whale outside that can become EXTREMELY hot (just ask my little one!) Be careful when the sun has been beating down on it.
All in all, there is much fun to be had here!

Fabulous views, getting a photo op with a Nobel prize, and taking in a fun planetarium show made this a fun afternoon for a couple of visiting Berkeley parents.

I would love to write a glowing review about the kid-​friendly layout, great learning environment, thoughtful exhibits, and helpful volunteers, but this was all overshadowed by the identity theft I suffered last week because this place allowed a card skimmer to be installed on its vending machine card reader and doesn’t care to do anything about it. Visitor beware.

An awesome place for the view, exhibits, and fun! Great stop with the kids for some hands-​on science and exploring.

I can be virulently nostalgic and morbidly afraid of change in many ways, but if we’re going to make science fun for little kids, we need to make things interactive, attractive, and scientifically accurate. That means more than dispelling persistent myths about dinosaurs dragging their tails – sorry, Grumpy, Dopey, and Big Alice! – it also means making museums less like old-​fashioned schools.
What does this have to do with the Lawrence Hall of Science? Well, the top level is cool in an old-​building-​trying-​to-​be-​new way, but the lower levels just remind me of being a little kid who was afraid to go to high school because of all those intimidating charts and lockers and communal linoleum science-​lab desks with the weird gas spigots popping out everywhere.
It’s good to see the prices have dropped. When I came with my then eleven-​year-​old niece last summer, the going rate was $ 17 for adults. I’m normally a stickler for rules, especially when it comes to public institutions like UC Berkeley and especially science museums that don’t get anywhere near the money that athletic departments and football stadia receive, but $ 17? Really? I flashed my long-​since-​expired UC Berkeley employee ID and either got in free or received a heavy discount. My niece liked it, but it definitely wasn’t worth what I paid for her at the time. The prices are now a much more reasonable $ 12 for adults and $ 10 for children and seniors, but that’s still too much for how small the place is and how little there is to do.
Her favorite activities here were actually pre-​admission. There’s a huge DNA strand and a whale that kids love to climb on. While your kids are doing this, you can admire the gorgeous view. All of this is free – OK, not quite; you still have to pay for parking.

Great views of the Bay area, but the museums was boring to me. A waste of money. Maybe it a good place for kids, but not for adults. This was my first and last time here!
The theater was super old and the 3D glasses all had scratches on them.

This is a great place to take the youngest budding scientist. As a parent it’s important to get out of the house and this is the place to go. Great things to explore and climb on. Now my son is older so we have to make sure there is an exhibit so there is more than the usual things.
I can also recommend the classes. The classes can bring in a whole new realm of interest. LHS has a great live animal class. A great way to have your child learn about and touch and in some cases touch the animals.

Awesome place for children under 10. They can play all day in the exhibits. Price is very reasonable.
It looks like they have a lot of classes, but we did not take any. I would love to do that next time.
Views are amazing. The have a small café and food is fairly good.
It is near Tilden park and Anza Lake, so make a day out of it!

I’m giving it a four-​star review, but it’s definitely a five-​star for kids.
I went with a group of four adults, and we had a nice time. It was a Sunday and not very busy, which made it pleasant — we had a lot of fun playing with the exhibits, which we wouldn’t have done if there were too many kids around.
The Design Quest exhibit was the most fun. Roll balls down inclines and loops to see what designs do and don’t work with roller coasters, see how blade shapes affect wind turbine efficiency, and a simple-​to-​use stop motion camera to make short animated clips.
The Science Fiction Science Future exhibit was a bit dull in comparison, more gimmicky in video screens doing the fun bits and not you.
We also saw two Planetarium shows ($ 4 each) and they were both really interesting: «Cosmic Colors» and «Searching for Other Earths.» Best for astronomy novices both young and old.
The café is reasonably priced (burgers and salads around $ 8), but you are really close to a lot of great restaurants, so I’d plan on that instead.
Do head outside for the view, as hazy as it may be.

I took my 2.5 year old here today. She had a blast. Obviously the science element is too advanced for her to really understand but there were a lot of hands-​on items for her to be engaged and excited for about an hour. The cafeteria is pretty decent and has a breathtaking view. I recommend that you bring your own food, but if you don’t, you’ll find sandwiches, salad, burgers, fries, chicken tenders, hummus, fruits, pasta etc. We snagged a table right next to the window and my kid was mesmerized by the view while I went and ordered food.
There is only one bathroom in the lower floor near the cafeteria. There is no bathroom on the upper floor where the most exhibits are. There is no child sized toilet although there is a child sized sink which makes washing hands much easier.
I also appreciate that there was ample supply of hand sanitizers at every exhibit.
I would have given it 3 stars if I had to pay for my kid. Children under 3 are free. Otherwise it’s $ 12. The facility is old and dated, which we don’t mind. But, it isn’t all that big, so I can’t imagine even older kids spending more than 2 — 2.5 hours. For young toddlers, 1 — 1.5 hours would be maximum including snack/​lunch time. So, for us to pay $ 24 for 2 people to spend 1 — 1.5 hours would be too much for what we would get out of the place. It’s entirely possible that we didn’t explore everything. The basement is dark and a big dingy, so my kid didn’t want to spend too much on the lower floor. The weather was cold, so while there’s ample outdoor space, we didn’t spend much time outside.
Parking is easy, but it’s paid parking.
We’ll definitely be back until my kid turns 3. After she turns 3, the cost would not justify the benefit we get, so we’ll probably wait until the kid is much older and actually understands/​appreciates the science aspect of the museum.

The terrace atop this hill offers a great view of The Bay – at least when Karl the Fog isn’t around! It’s nice to drive up here, especially with out of town people. You can see the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge, and the SF skyline.
While I always enjoy the fabulous view of the Bay Area outside, the inside of this museum is a little lackluster. Many of the exhibits seem old and some of the interactive elements were broken.
However, definitely visit the ANIMAL ROOM downstairs in level C! It’s like a really cool zoology classroom with many animals – bunnies, turtles, snakes, chincillas, etc. I think I spent 30 minutes in here ogling over the adorable bunnies.
Come up here for the view! Then go across the Bay for the California Academy of Science or Exploratorium for more interactive museums.

This is an amazing science museum with a gorgeous view of the bay. I enjoyed learning about formula 1 race cars in their SPEED exhibit.
Some of their activities are only available on weekends and holidays. I will definitely return on the weekend so that I can check out the Animal Discovery Room.

Cool hands-​on science museum, sort of like the Exploratorium, but smaller and more kid-​oriented I think. Great (free) views overlooking Berkeley and beyond from up here, too!

A great place for kids and adults to visit. Very informational and the staff is very friendly. My son had his yearly field trip here and he had a blast. They attended a class about dinosaurs defense and they got to pet several live animals. They have different classes and I wouldn’t mind going back to check the rest. His favorite part of the hall was the beach ball air floating gizmo. We brought our on lunch but their cafeteria food looked pretty good at reasonable prices. It was a very fun experience.