With lots of activities for all ages, the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity will have your children asking questions about the world around them for weeks to come!

The building that houses the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity was previously a Sacramento Municipal Utility District electric powerhouse built in 1912. The huge concrete building with giant columns along the freeway is a familiar sight to anyone who grew up in Sacramento. The building sat vacant for decades until efforts were made to turn it into an informal science museum for exploration. 

The newly constructed building and the renovated powerhouse contain many different rooms full of interactive activities in science. The design challenge zone will be a favorite for all ages, particularly toddlers and young school-aged children. There are large metal frames for attaching magnatiles, foam tubes and blocks for building large ball runs, Keva planks for small-scale engineering buildings, and other creations. The destination space exhibit has a remote-controlled Mars rover, a simulation spaceship complete with astronaut outfits, and a rocket experimentation zone. Finally, the nature detectives exhibit was a favorite for my nature-loving kids. They explored the bark to find creatures, watched bees in their enclosed beehive, sketched animals, and looked at specimens under a microscope. I recommend this exhibit for younger children and grade school-aged children as it seemed geared for that age range, though I had fun sketching the animals as well!

There are exhibits for water conservation in California and energy resources. These exhibits may not be as appealing to younger children, but the museum has done a great job of including interactive components to engage all ages. The multiverse theater is the planetarium that makes up the conspicuous dome shape you’ll spot outside. The planetarium show is a short 15 minutes, a good length of time when most kids can sit still. After that, the show blasts off into space and explores the solar system and beyond. I hope the show will feature other topics and features of the universe as time goes on. Overall we highly enjoyed our trip and are looking forward to completing the few exhibits that are expected to be added in early 2022.