The Lawrence Hall of Science

My kids ages 3 and 5 loved this place. We stayed for 5 hours and I had to drag them out because they wanted to stay. Lots of hands on science and building activities for kids to explore plus an outdoor play/picnic area, robotic dinosaurs, climbing structure, puppet theater, music area, and more. Go on a sunny day with a picnic lunch so you can sit outside and enjoy the view.

We had so much fun here that my son says this is his favorite museum! They have Axolotls!!! We got lucky and happened to be there during their feeding and water tank change all while talking to the animal care worker about Axolotls. This was the highlight of our visit! All the other exhibits and activities were so much fun like the marble drop building station (ending in end of May) and the animation stations. Wow, we were pleasantly surprised. And the view of the SF bay is unparalleled. They also have a waterfall and dinosaurs that move and make noise in the back. We were there for 4 hours but could have spent the entire day if we didn’t have to avoid traffic on the bridge. We will definitely be back! Don’t forget to pack a lunch as the cafe is permanently closed but there is a cafeteria to eat your lunch at downstairs. And parking isn’t free. You have to pay at the pay station.

A good place for kids to explore and learn. Lots of hands on activities that there’s more than enough to fill the day. We usually do a few and then go again another day to attempt the others - makes the membership worthwhile when you can go 3-4 times a year and it pays for itself and more. This time, we checked out the newest exhibit on food. It was cool and much to learn that helps kids to learn what to eat for happier gut bacteria.

The Lawrence Hall of Science (or 'The Lawrence' for short) is part of UC Berkeley. It's been a prime science education institution in the Bay area for over 50 years. The interactive exhibits are geared toward 3-12 year olds. There are numerous stations where children can explore scientific concepts. Two halls house temporary exhibits. Currently, one is on music and acoustics. There is also a large screen movie theater and a planetarium. Downstairs are workshops and labs for visiting school classes and summer camps. The terrace and outdoor area offers a fantastic view of the Bay area, with UC Berkeley just below and San Francisco in the distance. On the downside, there is no air conditioning in the whole building. It should get installed by fall 2024. Also, there is no full restaurant on site, only snack food is available. You can bring your own food.

To everyone who wants to visit this exhibition, I really cannot recommend it. Save the money. The exhibition was a great disappointment. It is absolutely not worth the 20-dollar price if you compare it with other institutions. I am still not sure what the purpose of this exhibition is. The different topics stations are really badly explained or not explained at all. A lot of stations are out of order. Moreover, it feels like the different stations are randomly ordered with no real thought about how to teach science. I think the worst part is that a lot of parents go there with their children way too young to even understand the background. Then they leave their kids alone, running around and pushing random buttons. It feels like a kindergarten with way too many overexcited children. For the rest of the visitors, there is no possibility to enjoy or learn something about science in this environment. However, you can not make the parents responsible since the explanations at the different stations are so bad that if they don't have any background in this area they are not able to understand it and teach their children. I suggest the responsible person for the exhibition make a trip to the Swiss Science Center Technorama to see how this kind of exhibition is done correctly so that everyone can learn something about science.