This building of stunning modern architecture, on full view from the Woodall Rodgers Freeway through Dallas, is the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. That reflective slice of glass jutting up and out the side is a 54-foot escalator with a spectacular view of downtown.
What’s even more extraordinary than the building’s exterior are the interactive and imaginative features at every turn, from the motion-activated “dancing water” molecules connected to the ceiling, to the giant leap frogs in the outdoor science park, to the museum’s 11 permanent exhibit halls.
Moody Family Children’s Museum
Reopened in May 2025, the fully renovated Moody Family Children’s Museum is nearly double its original size and completely reimagined with interactive exhibits and experiences designed with kids 7 and under. It’s both indoor and outdoor too. The programmable waterfall is the highlight of the nature-inspired outdoor space, and inside, littles can bounce from one creative space to another.
For example, the “Creative Makery” is all about building and designing like a future engineer, and the multi-sensory Imaginarium is the museum’s first (of all its exhibits) fully immersive and digitally interactive. That means kids can tap, touch along to discover things like music, pattern recognition, even the relationship between cause and effect. They’ll never know they’re learning, which is the beauty of it.
But of course this new children’s museum is also full of tactile play spaces, particularly this fiber-art-meets-play-structure crocheted by world renowned visual artist Toshiko MacAdam. You won’t see this one-of-a-kind climbing structure anywhere else.
The Perot’s new children’s museum keeps the little kids in mind too, with its expanded toddler area to explore.
Exhibit Halls
For more fascinating finds for all ages, visit the T. Boone Pickens Life Then and Now Hall for the world’s first replica of an Alamosaurus – the museum’s paleontologists unearthed a portion of its vertebrae from Big Bend National Park. See the Alamosaurus alongside a T. rex in the exhibit as well as a mammoth and a newly discovered Triceratops-like species named for the Perot family. The T. rex appears again – a simulated one, anyway – in the Sports Hall, where you can try to outrun the dinosaur.
In the Texas Instruments Engineering and Innovation Hall, conduct your own experiments in architecture, engineering, mechanics, software and electronics, with the only risk of shock to your child’s intellect. Grab a plastic cone and send it up through a wind tunnel to learn about turbulence, or assemble, program and drive robots on a platform.
The TI hall also houses two small but arguably the most symbolic pieces inside the museum – a Nobel Prize and a Nobel Peace Prize. The donors hope the presence of the shiny gold medals will inspire the next generation of Nobel laureates and innovators, starting with the kids who walk through the lobby.
There’s really so much to see, too much to expect to see all in one day. It’s especially easy to be mesmerizing inside the Lyda Hill Gems and Mineral Halls. So you’ll want to come back regularly to spend more time in different areas and of course during the Perot Museum’s special exhibits. (See below for more on what’s coming up next.)
3D Theater
When you need a break from exploring the exhibit halls, head back downstairs to the Hoglund Foundation Theater where you can take a seat and slip on a pair of 3D glasses to watch one of several rotating films. Check the schedule for daily showings of films like T. Rex. and Butterfly Journey 3D. Each about 20 or 30 minutes long and admission is only an additional $8 so you can choose to watch one or maximize your visit playing and exploring every moment.
Top photo courtesy John Smith
See below for special exhibits and events at the Perot you won’t want to miss:
