I wanted to name this post “5 ways to save money on your Children’s Museum Membership” but that seemed rather long-winded, yes? Then again, it is descriptive.
If you are a toddler owner, local children’s playspaces are a treasure trove because littles can run, jump, explore, paint, drip water, and play without you doing any chasing or cleanup (well, maybe clothes and hands). An annual membership can save headaches about who has a meltdown when and cut our visit short. Not naming names, but ummm… you know what I mean.
I have some mom-tested ideas for saving on admission prices and I know that at least one of them will work for you.
- Leverage another membership (zoo? science museum? student discount? AAA? affiliate children’s museum) to see if it can save you money on a yearly pass or daily outing. My zoo outing got me into a smaller hands-on wildlife preserve for the day.
- Split a membership with a friend. Our friend Darci used this sneaky strategy with terrific results. If you and a buddy are both on maternity leave or similar schedules, do this!
- Borrow a membership from the library. Our local Discover+Go program gives FREE day passes to these destinations with certain restrictions. Superhero Andrea likes to do this.
- Ask for a membership as a big gift. Birthday or holiday? A huge YES PLEASE for a year of outings rather than one more noisy toy. I coordinated a group gift for my sister and her toddler son when they were living in a Manhattan apartment.
- Look for deals on Savvy Source, Groupon or Google Offers. They happen pretty regularly. You might make a trade-off in your reciprocity benefits, but it may be worth it. My Oakland zoo membership didn’t include free ride passes but it was about half off, so, yay!
I’d love to know if you have any other tips for saving cash at kids’ museums (beyond packing your own snacks)!
ps Whitney tells me that the toddler in each photo looks like the same kid. What do you think?
As they get older we had to start making agreements before we went about the amount of money we had or did not have to spend in the gift shop. I also started them on proper saving of allowance as a result of a recent Bay Area Discovery Museum item they wanted. They saved for 4 weeks (combining their earnings) and went back to pick up the 30$ face painting set they wanted.
Save money at the Children’s Museum http://t.co/DLzDX2rAXa
the Children’s Museum in Pittsburgh offers $1 admission if families present a SNAP card or green MedicAid card, which is a great way for low-income families to enjoy the museum.
Our city also does free admissions days periodically to various museums and kids attractions. You have to really scour the internets and mark them in your calendar though!
@Jen, I have a standing “we will not buy souvenirs” policy at places like that. It does make things easier.
@Katy, You remind me that there are often museum free days courtesy of local or national sponsors: Bank of America and Scholarshare recently hosted some in our area.
The idea of giving membership as a gift is fabulous… Kudos to you’ll.
Thanks @Veena, I tried to talk my mom into renewing it for the next year, my sis loved it so.
Funny story…I was at our local children’s museum yesterday and saw a mom having a nap…hiding out inside the pyramid
@Summersault, I LOVE that. Don’t think I’d do it, but I’ve wanted to for sure.
I check out all our local children’s museums and see which one has the least cost with the most benefits. Our choice is a VERY tiny museum, that in itself is not worth it. But when the reciprocity gets me in to all the fancy places for a great discount? Totally worth it! We also try to take our own lunch. And we don’t visit the gift shop.
@Alissa, I do not deal with those gift shops either. Slippery slope, in my opinion.
Every year, even her very first birthday, my parents have given my daughter a museum membership. Until this year, we actually had one for their museum in Milwaukee because reciprocity got us into so many out here — and in the Bay Area most reciprocity has restrictions of only allowing 2 free visits since so many museums are so close together. I felt a bit guilty, so we would hit up the gift shop to support the local places.
We have also done the splitting a membership at the zoo and Fairyland — same deal, we eat there and will visit the gift shop on some visits to still fully support the local place. And honestly without the membership we wouldn’t visit them often at all, so they are definitely coming out ahead;)
Love it Cara! Those places are soooo expensive that I find a membership usually pays for itself after 2-3 visits.
5 ways to save money on your children’s museum membership http://t.co/3JsbDAoP3f
[...] 8, and they both live in Berkeley, CA. When they’re not blogging – read Heather’s tips for saving money at The Children’s Museum! – they’re busy running 510Families.com, an activity guide for families in East [...]