Celebrate the Holidays at Hands On!

From our friends at the Hands On Children’s Museum:

Gift making, indoor sock skating, special guests, and a Noon Year’s Eve Countdown Party, make a trip to the award-winning Hands On Children’s Museum in Olympia a must for your holiday fun list!

Kids will enjoy making handmade gifts including silkscreened items, wreaths, ornaments, bath salts, and other seasonal delights. All gift-making activities include a free option, as well as an enhanced version for just $12. Special guest, native storyteller Itsa Shash will bring stories to life with his dynamic style and audience participation on December 18th. Plus, there are 10 galleries and over 150 interactive exhibits to explore along with a half-acre outdoor play space that includes a lighthouse lookout, trike loop, vintage schooner, mud kitchen, and giant climbing boulder.  

Special Gift-Making & Holiday Activities

• Wax Workshop, Dec. 16-18
• Inspired Chefs: Nature Ornament, Dec. 16-18
• Native Storytelling with Itsa Shash, Dec. 18 (12 p.m., 1:30 p.m. & 3 p.m.)
• Festive Felting, Dec. 19-21
• Wires and Pliers Ornaments, Dec. 19-21
• Winter Tinker & Build, Dec. 19-23 & Dec. 26-30
• Scents & Scrubs, Dec. 22-24 (Closing at 3 p.m. on Dec. 24)
• Inspired Chefs: Gingerbread Deconstruction, Dec. 22-24 (Closing at 3 p.m. on Dec. 24)
• Closed for Christmas
• Tinfoil Sculptures, Dec. 26-28
• Iridescence in Nature, Dec. 26-31
• Blacklight Drawing Room, Dec. 29-30
• Noon Year’s Eve Party, Dec. 31

Shine Bright in the New Year!

Ring in the new year early at the family-friendly Noon Year’s Eve Party complete with a Times Square-style, hourly countdown, ball drop, dance party, and parade, December 31st. Meet the magical Princess Mirabel and watch wacky Dr. Science experiments, get crafty in the glitzy glue room, silkscreen a silvery souvenir, craft a phosphorescent friend and learn about bioluminescence, launch a shooting star, and snap a keepsake photo in the photobooth. Buy your tickets online and save $2!

Sensory Inclusive

Hands On has created an inclusive sensory-friendly space to support families of children with autism, sensory differences, and special needs. The Sensory Friendly Room is a safe and calm space where families can relax and regroup. There are books, soothing textures, tools, and resources. The Sensory Friendly Room is open Saturdays 1 ─ 4 p.m., Sundays 10 a.m. ─ 4 p.m., and for the Noon Year’s Eve Party 9 a.m ─ 4 p.m. The Museum also offers a weekly Sensory Friendly Hour on Sundays 9 a.m. ─ 10 a.m. for families to enjoy the Museum before it opens with the exhibit lights dimmed, sounds, and flashing lights turned off.

Get Tickets Online for the Best Deal

Buy your tickets online and save $2! Tickets at the door range between $16.95 and $18. 95 (with senior and military discounts). Free and reduced Access Admission is available (with EBT, CHIP, Provider One, IC, or Apple Health card and ID) sponsored by WSECU. The first 2 guests are free, each additional guest is $3. Metered on-street parking is available or you can pay $1.50 an hour to park in the Museum lot.