7 Seattle-Area Spots for Kids Who Love Dinosaurs

At Pacific Science Center, where everyone gets an apatosaurus hand stamp at the ticketing window, you know you’ve brought your dino fans to the right place. Inside, find a dozen large-scale model dinosaurs — 13, if you count the one being eaten by a deinonychus. The kids will be thrilled to discover that some of these dinosaurs move! Creakily, yes, but not bad for robots over 30 years old. These dinosaur robots were purchased in 1987 for a traveling dinosaur exhibition. The pachycephalosaurus and deinonychus are full-size, and other robots are half-scale.

Below the big dinosaurs are interactive panels at kid height, and miniature dioramas at toddler height. Don’t miss the chunks of coprolite (fossilized dinosaur poop) you can touch. Climb into a duckbill dinosaur footprint to get a sense of just how humongous these creatures were.

Find it: 200 Second Ave. N., Seattle
Cost: General admission $27.95 adults, $19.95 for ages 3–17, ages 2 and younger free (buy tickets in advance online and save a few bucks per ticket)

Money-saving tip: Most science museums will have some kind of dinosaur exhibit, even if it’s just one little corner. It’s well worth the money to purchase a Pacific Science Center membership. Your membership will get you free admission into any ASTC museum more than 90 miles away — that includes the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland and Science World in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Up next: Fremont topiary dinos