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March 2024 by James M.
The Lawrence Hall of is an amazing place! Perfect place for kids to explore and play. Different aspects of science to appease whatever mood he's in and keep him engaged and curious. I love all of the hands on activities and fun ways to learn science concepts. It's not filled with a bunch of exhibits with reading and pictures only, but actual activities with included supplies or high quality displays to touch. Only thing I would change would the food selection. The cafe has been closed and the snacks in the gift shop are hardly foods that any responsible parent would give their kids (the most nutritious thing is a lunchable or protein pack with almonds and cheese). The rest are chips/candy/cookies. So bring your own lunch.
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February 2024 by Steve C.
PLEASE READ: They are a fully tax-payer funded institution that pays $0 in any state or local taxes and charges community members (children 2+ the same as adults) $20 to enter. They have no awareness for the financial burden their outrageous cost puts on the families of Berkeley. Meanwhile, they are fully funded by city tax dollars that keep their road open and that supports the tens of thousands of college students whose extortionate tuitions are a primary source used to fund their facility. I know they're likely to be like, "Nuh-uh! We don't directly take money from tuition!" But what should you expect? They are funded by the UC Regents as a non-profit. Where do the UC Regents get their funds? Yeah, tuition. And grants... which come from taxes. So... this place is literally 100% paid for by taxes, and then they put a $20 entry fee just to keep the place relatively empty. I mean, can you think of a greater travesty than allowing the children of this city to use their publicly financed museums to learn and grow? I shudder at the thought. At this rate, they should just raise the ticket price to $50/person. Why not? Why not raise it to $60/70/80? They set the price to keep the place empty while pulling in as much money as they can, which I'd guess mostly just goes to administrative staff. As the place has only a handful of staff actually in the museum at any given time. Most of whom appear to be college volunteers. The city of Berkeley should eminent domain this museum and boot the UC out if they don't make it free to the people who actually pay the taxes for the roads they take advantage of. It is beyond me how a city like Berkeley allows UC to bilk the citizens of this community while also calling themselves non-profit.
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February 2024 by Simone M.
Had a great time taking the kiddos here for our son's 2nd birthday! It was a week day so it was a much slower day with a smaller crowd as well. Which, for me, is the perfect time to visit! The only down side to the visit was that because there was a smaller crowd the exhibit attendants weren't as attentive to us. They were either on their phones and seated or only spoke to us when we asked a question. Also, it's been some years since I've been there for a field trip, but the hands on animal experience is not really "hands on". It's more like "eyes only!" lol Overall, we had a good time and will hopefully be back to Check out the exhibits we don't get a chance to see.
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October 2023 by Sabiha M.
Nothing but great things about this place! A friend accompanied me and my 8 yr old to this place. We literally spent the whole day there. The kids still were not done by the time it was closing. Even is adults were mesmerised by all the fun exhibits and experiments. We will visit it again for sure. The only negative thing I would say is that there was a cafeteria which was not operating. It should clearly be mentioned on the website. A book store had some snacks so we bought some since the kids were v hungry. And don't forget to bring exact change for parking! Bring quarters and dollar bills. The machines are old and they were not taking my credit card and when I put in a $20 bill, I was supposed to get $17 back but I didn't get anything back. Bummer.
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July 2023 by Juli M.
Fun and educational. My kids loved it. So much to do and see. Go during the week to avoid crowds.
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July 2023 by Daniel C.
The Lawrence Hall of Science is a fun, hands-on museum designed for little kids to have fun while observing physics in action. It was named after famous Nobel Prize Physics professor Ernst Lawrence from UC Berkeley. He invented the Cyclotron and after he died, two national labs were named after him: Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore. They have paid parking available on two lots. Just pay by License Plate number for a low hourly rate at one of the nearby kiosks. Enjoy the awesome views of the whole Bay Area, fountain, whale, and double helix exhibits outside before going in. Inside the Hall you'll see demos on paper airplanes, sound, basic gears and mechanical toys, and this air hockey table. They have a museum shop with snacks, toys, and books but no onsite restaurant or cafe. Also, no air conditioning so expect to see lots of fans throughout. I had fun while visiting, and I think our 3yo son also had a good time running around everywhere too.
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June 2023 by Angela F.
What a wonderful place! I brought my preschooler (4 years old) a few weeks ago and we both had a nice time. I think he's just on the precipice of being the perfect age. First, walking in, we had a lot of fun making and launching our paper airplanes. I love that they have the obstacles to try to get your plane to fly through! He also had fun in the "little kids" area with the hands-on activities. This area is probably best designed for small children age 1-5. I think his favorite room was the physics room with all the games, the miniature golf, basketball, etc. I personally LOVED the hands-on pinball activity! This was such a clever idea!!!! We had a lot of fun building our own design. Some of the other exhibits were a little too old for him, which is totally fine. I think the museum is best geared to children in elementary school and middle school. I remember coming here in 7th or 8th grade and seeing demonstrations with liquid nitrogen circa the year 2000. I wish the cafeteria area downstairs was open, but they sell some pre-packaged snacks upstairs in the gift shop. The gift shop has lots of the STEM activities and toys you're probably used to seeing at science museums. Solid afternoon for us. I may think about joining as a member, too!
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June 2023 by Moni P.
This place is good for being creative and making things on your own. The kids liked making paper airplanes and paper rockets then launching them.
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January 2023 by Loe M.
The Lawrence Hall of Science is awesome! i went with 9 other elderly people and had a great time/ A lot of the major attractions were close due to upgrades but we still had a blast. I HAVE TO GIVE A HUGE SHOUT OUT TO RANDY AT THE FRONT DESK. He made our entry so enjoyable. again thank you to all the staff who supported this visit and making a great one. I have to say this is one of the nicest museums we have visited. I hope by writing this review more people visit this place. THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL YOU DID. YOU'RE AMAZING!
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January 2023 by Beetle G.
Lawrence is the perfect spot for younger kids...up to age 10 or so at least. The science education is essentially play-based, so those looking for a teen or adult experience should look elsewhere. But younger kids will learn many scientific principles without even knowing they're doing it. It's not flashy, just well thought out and we'll executed. We have 8 grandkids and have, for 2 decades now, been maintaining a family membership because the grandkids love it so much. We are, by the way, two retired research scientists, so we have a strong appreciation for science education. Lawrence is a local treasure.
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December 2022 by Molly M.
It's changed a lot post Covid and not for the better. I used to take my kids here all the time in 2019 when we had a memberships. I loved the exhibits and there was so much to do. We went there recently and I was very disappointed. There were mostly crafts and no real exhibits. There wasn't a ton for my 4 and 6 year old to do. They did love that the reptile area was open and they had fun there. I was able to entertain them somewhat but for the price we paid I expect more then just crafts. When we were there two years ago they said they were going to remodel and I do not see that. Someone needs to step in and revamp this place and bring in better exhibits for the kids. The dinosaur one was so cool, I wish they would bring that back. It's too bad because it has so much potential I will wait to return until they have improved things.
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July 2022 by M K.
Very cool place for kids. Lots to do and friendly staff. And of course the view is breathtaking. Definitely recommend it to all parents with small kids.
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June 2022 by Keisha F.
This is a fascinating place to engage student learning! We have a cool instructor Ime (he/him), young Black man that's into science and that's great for our students to see with all that's going on in our world today. He has kept everyone engaged and paying attention to each project we've built. This is a must visit place for schools looking to show their students how important science is to our society and the different facets that involve science that we don't even think about. Bottom line science is COOL kids and COOL people love science!!
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March 2022 by Morgan S.
This place was horrible!! A lady that worked here,her name is Ava, went out of her way to make sure we had a horrible experience!!!! She was incredibly rude to my daughter and my husband was furious. She kept following us to the different areas we were at too and kept harassing us about how to do everything properly. What the hell was this lady's problem??!! Isn't the point of this place for kids to try and figure out how things work?? We will never come back now because of her!
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March 2022 by Brenda M.
I recall coming here in elementary school and so much has changed. I took my 3 year old and I honestly had higher expectations. First, we were looking forward to seeing the dinosaurs exhibition, sadly I was told by a staff member that they closed it down a few months ago. Overall I would say it's more of an activity center as my child was able to create, build, and explore a new place.
