The new planetarium at the Texas Museum of Science & Technology will allow the museum to show different types of star shows as well as do star talks before.
I love Austin Museum Day because not only does it get families to museums and they get to go for free, but also museums come up with some really fun events to go with their exhibits.
Here is a selection of what this year’s museums are offering for families:
The Austin History Center has an exhibit “Making the Grade: Austin’s First Public Schools,” which could be fun for your kids to compare. 810 Guadalupe St. austinhistorycenter.org.
The Austin Nature & Science Center will let you see up close the creatures that live in your back yard. 301 Nature Center Drive. austintexas.gov/department/austin-nature-and-science-center.
The Blanton Museum of Art offers an Art Quest for you to explore the galleries and make your own art. 200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. blantonmuseum.org.
Blanton docent Gary Kattner, right, reads a book for (left to right) Mandy Kutz, and daughter Effie, 3, Cate Bowman, 3, and mother Jillian Bontke Bowman during a Storytime tour in the Blanton Museum of Art in 2014. Julia Robinson/ FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN.
The Contemporary Austin opens up its Laguna Gloria site for an Art and Nature event. Watch artists demonstrations and explore the grounds. 3809 W. 35th St. thecontemporaryaustin.org.
Head to the Dougherty Arts Center to learn to be a street artists, practice print making and play in a Pop-Up Maker Space. 1110 Barton Springs Road. austintexas.gov/dac.
The Texas Department of Public Safety’s museum will have police cars, drug dogs, a crime lab, road safety exhibits, horse patrol and more. Kids can get Junior Trooper badges. 5805 N. Lamar Blvd. txdpsmuseum.com.
Kids run in the Nature’s Spiral at the Luci and Ian Family Garden at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. DEBORAH CANNON / AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Elizabet Ney Museum offers Portraiture in the Park. Create masks, enjoy photo booths, make a clay bust and more. 304 E. 44th St. austintexas.gov/Elisabetney
The French Legation Museum will be having tours and games and hands-on activities on the lawn. Bring a picnic and enjoy the big oak trees. 802 San Marcos St. earlyaustin.org.
The Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farms has some new exhibits and demonstrations in this historical adventure park. 10621 Pioneer Farms Drive. PioneerFarms.org.
Go on a scavenger hunt, listen to a story and play games and blow bubbles at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. 4801 La Crosse Ave. wildflower.org.
Learn how piñatas are made and make one of your own at Mexic-Arte Museum. 419 Congress Ave. mexic-artemuseum.org.
Visit with Civil War re-enactors and churn ice cream, plus play old-fashioned games at the Neill-Cochran Museum. 2310 San Gabriel St. nchmuseum.org.
The O. Henry Museum, the Susanna Dickenson House and the Austin Fire Museum lets you create your own haiku and take photos of some of the museums’ historical subjects. 409 and 411 E. Fifth St. www.ohenrymuseum.org.
At the Republic of Texas Museum, you can play in Grannie’s Backyard and kitchen, dress in frontier clothes and meet some of the Texas originators. 501 E. Anderson Lane. drtinfo.org.
Bring your rocks and fossils to get them identified at the Texas Memorial Museum‘s Identification Day. 2400 Trinity St. D1500. texasmemorialmuseum.org.
Head to the Texas Military Forces Museum to see demonstrations of leather making and weaponry, plus make a plastic model. 2200 W. 35th St. texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org
The French Legation Museum offers old-fashioned games for Museum Day.
The Williamson Museum allows kids to create a 1920s fashion by making boater hats. 716 S. Austin Ave., Georgetown. williamsonmuseum.org.
The Texas Museum of Science and Technology has its new planetarium ready for testing. 220 Toro Grande Drive, Cedar Park. txmost.org. Read more about that planetarium here.
Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum celebrates SculptFest with live demonstrations and sculptures you can make. 605 Robert E. Lee Road. umlaufsculpture.org
Women & Their Work has a special game of “I Spy” in the gallery. 1710 Lavaca St. womenandtheirwork.org.
