Madison Children's Museum

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by decorating your own magic clover wand. This event is free with the price of general admission. Image credit: Jamie Bare

Madison's St. Patrick's Day Parade returns to Capitol Square! Stop by MCM before the parade to create a festive button, flag, or hat to adorn yourself. The parade begins just outside the museum at 1:30pm. This event is free with the price of general admission.

Explore new materials and creative techniques through facilitated art activities and bring home hand-made treasures. Projects vary each week and may include sculpture, painting, comics, printmaking, and more! This event is free with general museum admission.

Social time for babies and their grown-ups! This playgroup is thoughtfully designed for our earliest visitors. We will provide a space for infants and toddlers (2 years and under) and their caregivers to explore and play together, and engage in activities that support various aspects of child development. Parents and caregivers will have the opportunity […]

Explore the world of music and rhythm! Join Tim in the Celebrations room each week to enjoy play-based songs, games, and stories. Today, we'll play a variety of different musical instruments and have lots of fun along the way. This event is free with general museum admission.

Join Laurie and our Art Studio staff for a weekly drop-in art experience designed for MCM's youngest visitors and their caregivers. Through open-ended & process-based projects, empower your little artist to freely explore materials and art-making with their senses. And the best part? We take care of cleanup! Today, we'll create layered paint prints with […]

Visit MCM for free every Thursday evening, 4–8 pm! Enjoy extended hours each Thursday, completely free of charge. Please check in at the admissions desk when you visit during free hours. Looking for more affordable ways to visit? During the rest of the week, MCM also offers heavily discounted admission and memberships to families who […]

Decorate a paper bird and watch it soar, propelled by your breath! Image credit: Uzol Dyan Heffner

Choose your own art adventure—drawing, sculpting, cartooning, and more! Drop by the Art Studio classroom for open-ended creative opportunities, facilitated by our talented staff. This event is free and open to all ages.

Celebrate World Water Day by testing local samples. Gain a better understanding of how our ecosystems filter water, and what organisms live there. Join us each week for new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) activities. These hands-on programs foster creativity, ignite curiosity, encourage divergent thinking, increase problem-solving skills, and offer new ways for […]

Our art studio staff will lead visitors in a weekly assortment of creative clay sculpture activities.
We will create all kinds of collaborative projects- plant pots, jewelry, ornaments, tiles and more.
All ages are welcome to join us and experiment with clay.

Give your weekend a bright and early beginning at MCM! Enjoy early hours starting at 8 am, every Saturday through March 30. If you've got little kids in the family, we know you're probably up anyway, so come downtown and let them climb the walls (literally, in our Hodge Podge Mahal climber.) Extended Saturday mornings […]

Create imaginative pieces of art by shaping wool fibers into your own free-form designs. This event is free with general museum admission.

Dive into an exciting drop-in art experience each week with Laurie and our Art Studio team. Embark on projects with a wide variety of art media and processes for all ages and abilities. Materials are included—and the best part? We take care of cleanup! Today we'll create and customize colorful ornaments made with blown eggs. This event […]

Take science to new heights with our friends from the Four Lakes Chapter of Women in Aviation International! Put yourself in the pilot seat with their plane flight simulator, explore the phonetic alphabet used by pilots, and experiment with paper airplane designs to see what makes them soar. This event is free with the price […]

Have an extra-squirrely toddler? Take advantage of the museum's extended Saturday hours! Enjoy the tactile experience of scooping, pouring, and sorting colorful pompoms in the Wildernest, then get out those wiggles during an extra hour in the museum. This event is free with general museum admission.

This winter, enjoy a full extra hour of play on Saturday afternoons! We are open 8 am to 5 pm every Saturday through March 2024. This event is free with general museum admission.