There’s nothing quite like a building FULL of educational, interactive, and indestructible exhibits designed just for kids! KidSenses Children’s Museum in Rutherfordton, NC is one of the highlights of Western North Carolina for families with young children. Local mom, Sarah Burnett, recently visited with her 3 kids and shares everything you need to know to plan your own adventure!

Coming from Upstate South Carolina, our family’s experiences with children’s museums have included The Children’s Museum of the Upstate at both their Greenville and Spartanburg locations, EdVenture in Columbia, and the Hands On! Children’s Museum in Hendersonville, NC. Then a friend invited me to KidSenses—wait, what? How had I not heard of that? I thought I was becoming quite the connoisseur! But no, this was a BIG one we had managed to overlook.

KidSenses originally opened more than 20 years ago, and it offers 2 stories of indoor fun—all geared towards children from birth to 10 years old! There are also 2 major expansions in the works, with a goal to open by end of 2025: Discovery Garden, an outdoor interactive nature experience for all ages, and The Factory, a learning laboratory for tweens and teens!

Getting to the Museum: KidSenses

KidSenses Children’s Museum is located smack in the middle of historic downtown Rutherfordton, NC. This town is roughly 45 minutes from Spartanburg, SC, 1 hour 15 minutes from Greenville, SC, and 1 hour 15 minutes from Charlotte, NC. Talk about centrally located!

When you pull into the city limits of Rutherfordton, you know it: Large signs welcome you to this historic mint town, and the speed limit drops to 25-35 depending on the area. Their downtown may be small, but there is heavy foot traffic, so local police are vigilant to carefully enforce safe speeds.

There is free, 2-hour parking on either side of Main Street through almost all of downtown, and this includes several spaces directly outside KidSenses Children’s Museum’s front door! There is also free public parking directly behind the museum, and sidewalks to take you up the hill back to the main entrance.

Admission and Discounts to KidSenses

Visitors enter the museum through a small gift shop and then purchase tickets at the front desk. Tickets for adults and children ages 1 year and older cost $8 plus tax. There are discounts available for seniors aged 62 years and older and active military members.

Memberships start at $70 for one person, but you can add up to 4 more people to one membership for just an additional $20 per person. Families with more than 5 total people can add additional members for $25 each, but this option is strictly limited to immediate family only. Membership benefits include free admission for one year, one free guest pass per member, and discounts on other museum purchases.

The museum requires 1 supervising adult per every 5 children, so larger families or those visiting with groups will want to keep that in mind when purchasing tickets or memberships.

1st Floor Exhibit Highlights

Right when you walk in, you will see the At Your Service interactive fire station exhibit! It is right next to the admission counter, so my kids always run right to it while I’m buying our tickets. This exhibit features a kid-sized stationary fire truck, firefighter costume pieces, dalmatian statues, and lots of engaging noise-makers!

If you have any animal lovers, your kids will love what comes next: the PetSenses veterinary exhibit! Here, you’ll find a variety of stuffed animals for pretend play, alongside all kinds of veterinary equipment to explore. Our kids’ favorites are the x-ray machine and grooming station.

Got a child with a knack for engineering or who just love running around? The Gears and Gadgets exhibit is for them! There are gears to turn with a crank, a see-it-yourself tornado machine, and a wall of pneumatic pipes with scarves and puff balls that kids can send flying across the room!

That child who loooves attention? They’ll delight in the WFUN Studio space! There is a kid-sized anchor desk, wall-sized green screen, and multiple background options to project—from weather to a parade of puppies! Your child will rest assured that all eyes are on them when they see themselves on the TV monitors all around them.

Another family favorite is the Little Family Dollar, a kid-sized grocery store complete with carts, checkout counters, and every category of food. Of course, my kids have no trouble finding the sugary stuff, but as a mom, I a big fan of the fact that roughly a third of this exhibits centers around healthy fruits and vegetables.

There is also an arts and crafts exhibit called Creation Station, where a museum employee could be leading a DIY activity depending on the timing of your visit!

The Alphabet Trail

As a mom of 3 preschool-aged kids, I cannot go without spotlighting this area of the KidSenses Children’s Museum! This is a special space JUST for kids ages 4 years old and younger, and while most of the exhibits are wide open to the main lobby, this one can only be accessed through a closed door.

Walking into the Alphabet Trail feels like entering a different world from the rest of the museum, combining a beautiful forest and farm scene. My oldest absolutely adores all the hidey-holes, and my 3-year-old delights in going up and down the baby ramp which doubles as a slide! My youngest keeps himself busy pulling up and “planting” all the crops.

Here, everything is geared towards the youngest crawlers and cruisers…and the weary parents who have been carrying them! There are busy baby toys, a couple options for little climbers, a cave crammed FULL of stuffed animals, a large play-barn, a reading area complete with sofa, and rocking chairs for both parent and child.

If you are a nursing mother, this may be your most ideal space when that need arises. Just keep in mind that other moms and dads may be coming in and out with their children, too!

Downstairs Exhibit Highlights

There are 3 ways to get downstairs to the rest of the museum: the elevator, the central staircase, or the “Big Climber” in the middle of the floor!

The Big Climber is a series of platforms surrounded by netting which extends from the ceiling, through the main floor, and into the downstairs. With a hole on each floor, it’s an exciting way for kids to travel… But parents be warned: You do NOT want to have to squeeze in there to catch one of them!

When we get downstairs, our kids run straight to Lights! Camera! Action! This exhibit is a performing arts space complete with a stage, curtain, and puppet theatre. If you’ve got a performer in your family, settle in on the benches for audience members and watch how long your child’s imagination can keep you all entertained!

Our absolute family favorite downstairs is the Kids Pueblito Café. We have a little play kitchen at home for the kids, and they absolutely love playing “restaurant.” Imagine their excitement when they saw THIS! A play restaurant big enough for multiple cooks in the kitchen, tables and chairs for grown-ups, and all the aprons, menus, and food items they could want!

The downstairs is also home to the ZAP Theatre, where museum staff could be putting on a show about the infamous rivalry between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla—complete with lightning bolts! The HealthWise exhibit is also downstairs and open at limited times for children to conduct real experiments to learn about the food they eat.

Private Party Packages

Some exhibits are only open when a museum employee is scheduled to lead an activity there, but you might also notice a party in progress during your visit!

KidSenses offers multiple party packages for kids, with prices ranging from about $150 to $325. All birthday packages include admission for up to 20 kids, use of the private party room, and a birthday crown, balloon bouquet, and teddy bear for the birthday child.

Parent Tips: KidSenses Museum in Rutherfordton, NC

• KidSenses is a popular destination for field trips! To avoid a crowd, call ahead to find out whether any field trips are scheduled which could coincide with your visit.
• The best time of day to visit is DEFINITELY when they first open! Not every child who visits will know to put things back where they belong, so arriving early ensures that your children will be able to find everything in its proper place.
• Pick your parking based on how long you plan to stay! 2-hour parking is available right outside the front door, and those spots are most often available first thing in the morning. For longer visits, you will want to park in the lot behind the building.
• Expect each floor to take at least 2 hours to fully explore. I was pretty intentional to keep our kids moving, and they easily could have spent a lot longer in each room. We typically only tackle one floor per visit, because my kids’ energy starts to bottom out after that much time.
• If you visit in the morning, consider packing a picnic lunch and heading to Kiwanis Park after your visit! Or if you’d rather dine indoors, check out one of the great family-friendly restaurants available right in downtown Rutherfordton!

General Museum Information

• Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 9 am-5 pm
• Address: 172 N Main Street, Rutherfordton, NC
• KidSenses Website
• Email: info@kidsenses.org
• Phone: 828.286.2120