Portland Children's Museum, Portland

Part museum, part exploratorium, part science lab, part library, part playground, and part theater, the Portland Children's Museum is an engaging, educational and thoroughly enjoyable experience, with opportunities for creativity, teamwork, solo learning, etc. Kids can spend hours entertaining themselves in a safe environment and, on a summer day, they are also able to enjoy the outdoor area, which features a wonderful tree for climbing and some very creative spaces.

There are different themed areas such as the grocery store, theaters, water play, pet hospital, construction zone, or bridge-building, and an outside area including the stream (water play), the dig pit (sand pit with shovels and buckets), the grove, amphitheater (with buckets of soapy water to make giant bubbles). Each area is well thought out and uses realistic material (especially the construction zone that features rocks and bricks made of rubber but looking just like the real thing).