Children's Museum of Virginia

Before I begin let me start off by saying that this review is based solely upon my personal experiences and my personal experiences alone, so with that being said let's begin!.Your first thought probably is would a grown man be visiting a children's museum, why you ask? I have an easy explanation and here it is :My place of employment decided to throw us another employee appreciation luncheon here at the museum and this is not the first appreciation luncheon the city of Portsmouth has had for us. But let me tell you this won topped all the others was here to have the honor to experience. They knocked it out the park with this one, I thoroughly enjoyed it from the time they opened the entrance doors until the moment I departed!. They had 3 or four different food trucks with one truck for ice cream ( Mister Softee) ) the best soft serve ice cream you can get on a mobile vehicle, probably better than some stores as well. I must apologize I didn't get the names of the other food trucks because it was so much going on with the excitement of being there and all the employee interaction that was going on. Great variety to choose from!. When you walk in there is a huge area in the front entrance that you can purchase tickets for admission. There are two levels here and countless things to explore for both kids and adults as well. I apologize for not taking any pictures because there was so much employee interaction I didn't even pull out my phone until i returned back to my vehicle. There is lots of parking in the front on the street as well as parking in the rear of the museum, and if that is not enough parking they have a parking garage on the next block for your parking pleasures! I am not 100 sure but every time I have parked here I never paid a parking fee so I would like to say it's free. But when in doubt check it out!!.. The city of Portsmouth really knows how to treat their employees and I have been employed with a number of cities in the Hampton roads area since I moved to the state of Virginia from New York and by far this is the best city local government I have been employed by. I actually started my career here but left to explore different opportunities. I am glad to be back and I am here until I retire! So to the city of Portsmouth I would like to say thank you for bringing me back aboard, to the children's museum I would like to thank you for allowing us to have a great experience here, and to the people who have not visited the Children's Museum of Virginia and you live in the area. What are you waiting for?.And to those who decide to take a trip to the Hampton Roads area, this is a place you should explore with the family or just yourself if you want, I guarantee you won't be disappointed!. This concludes my review, thank you for taking time out to read it. I hope this was helpful advice to all. Trent L.

Spent another morning at the Virginia Children's Museum in Portsmouth, VA. It's packed on Sundays, but hey, we needed some silly fun on a cold, rainy day. Definitely worth the chaos!

Great interactive kid's museum from interacting exhibits for kids, activities from painting and art for learning to numerous exhibits and activities! You can spend hours here with the kids, such a great place!

This is one of the absolute best children's museums I've been to! Engaging, clean, spacious and informative, this is def a must visit if you have kiddos! My five year old loved all the fun things she got to see and do, especially the sock skating and craft for the holidays. She absolutely adored the areas that let her play pretend and move her body; as a parent I liked that it was clean, easy to see my kid while she played, and that it was truly educational! Def a top of the list stop, don't miss it!

We took our granddaughter there a number of times and each experience was better than the last. We are fortunate to have such a special children's museum so close by.

The Children's Museum of Virginia is a fun spot for kids with interactive exhibits. While the upstairs is sometimes closed, the lower levels offer plenty to enjoy.

Took my ten year old daughter on a Sunday afternoon. It was a lot of fun despite the upstairs being closed. The train exhibit was really cool. Unfortunately, we also got to witness a gentleman very casually taking a dump on the sidewalk after leaving the museum on High Street. That was an exhibit I didn't intend to show my daughter. Portsmouth, what a dump High Street is. Shame. The museum was cool though.

First time experiencing this museum and I was accompanied by my granddaughter. First thing everyone should know is that you need to make reservations online and/or purchase tickets. I was informed of this after I purchased a membership. I drove from Virginia Beach to Portsmouth and had promised my granddaughter a day at the museum. Luckily after explaining that it wasn't mentioned online we were able to get in. The museum was jam packed. There were three different schools attending at the same time which made it difficult for my granddaughter to engage or enjoy any of the activities. We ended up leaving after being there for only 30 minutes. It seemed like a fun place to spend a day exploring but will have to go back when it's not so busy.

Tip: reserve your tickets online. You cannot buy it while there. Suggest that you park in the lot as street parking limits you to two hours (free) onlyWe came here on a Wednesday morning to check out this place. I was not expecting it to be that big but I was wrong. There is so much just on the first floor for kids of all ages. Our favorite room was the fire fighter room which had hoses where you can put out the fire and a fire truck where you can sit and pretend to drive. The second floor also had a variety of activities and exhibits for kids to play. I would say that the second floor was geared towards a bit older kids (not toddlers) but it was fun. They also have this cool train room that had so many trains and toys that kids can see. This place is pretty big as two hours was enough to check out every corner but the kid didn't want to leave. Definitely recommend it as an option for indoor activities.

Went here for my son's first birthday and it was awesome! Fun for kids and adults alike. Definitely think they should adjust their set up and clean up times bc there wasn't much time for us to set up and clean up with the allotted time so we didn't get to open presents but honestly I wasn't that worried about it. Family loved it and we even ended up getting a membership bc it's so awesome!!