This is an excellent place to take the family and blow off an entire day learning about cool stuff, and seeing some neat things you may not have seen before. I highly recommend this place for visitors to Calgary, but obviously it's excellent for Calgary natives, too. My only complaint would be that you're gonna spend a few shekels here, including the gift shop which wasn't as overpriced as you'd expect.
The live-narrated story + gigantic screen experience is pretty neat, and geared toward kids (but with plenty of content for adults, too) - my only complaint here would just be that sometimes the narration goes on for awhile with not enough happening on-screen, but that might depend a lot on which show you go see.
The outdoor playground is _freakin' amazing_ even for kids as old as mid-teen; my daughter loved climbing the HUGE net tower, but there are tons of things for kids of all ages. And the parents can park their butts and snap photos of their kids having a riot.
Start collecting reviews today
Claim your business to immediately update business information, respond to reviews, and more!
Visited for the moving whale exhibit. It was very interesting and a really great experience. The only reason it gets 4 stars not 5 is because admission is very expensive and other than the whale exhibit was very kid focused.
Ordinarily a great spot. They have many precautions in place during this pandemic (which is very much appreciated). However, such a huge quantity of the center was close that I felt it wasn't worth the $50 admission for our family of 3. The only areas currently open are the Animal Inside Out exhibit, playground, and movie. Worth it only if you have kids old and patient enough to sit quietly through a movie and appreciate the (very cool) anatomy exhibit.
Neat museum experience for kids and adults alike. Plenty to explore and do, but save some money and park in zoo and walk over if you plan to go to both. There is a $5 admission discount if you park here, then you can walk over to zoo.
It is worth visiting this museum, especially with children. Of course everything is in English, but the play instinct eliminates any language problem. Even I, as not a child, have become a child again myself.
I'm torn with this review. We have a season's pass for Telus spark, so we have been here a lot. The kids always have a great time exploring and playing (especially with the new outdoor Brainasium - read playground) which includes a four story slide. On the other hand as an adult that has been here now 6 times in the last 3 months I find it repetitive and somewhat boring.
That said my kids love it (aged 3 and 7). They always want to go and with the season's pass and both an indoor and outdoor playground it is a great place to bring them and let them burn off steam. I wish they would have the funding and money to change up the exhibits more often and provide more hands on programs and demonstrations (you can only see them light gasses on fire so many times before you want to jump on stage and do it yourself).
As a one off.... For sure this is a place to bring kids to explore and have fun! Highly recommend it.
As a repeated destination.... It just doesn't change fast enough. Your kids will love it, but by the end of a season's pass, if you have used it as much as we will have, I'm sure you'll be tired of it and need a change.
The line to pay took forever, as there were only two people at the front desk. As we toured around, it seemed like every other activity was broken. Not very impressed, especially considering the cost to enter.
$49 for myself and my daughter and that didn t include the dome movie. My daughter is a bit ADHD so she wasn t able to engage because the displays were very overwhelming, she ended up walking around aimlessly. Probably won t go back.
PS I probably wouldn t have known about the junkyard if I didn t read reviews because there s no signs.
It is very hands on. My two little ones are 3 and 5 years old. The Circus theme was interesting although not throughout the whole center. With a short lunch we did spend 4 hours there and only maybe 15mins or so in the play place area.The Dome is a little uncomfortable. The seats don't stay in the reclining position easily however we did enjoy the Panda documentary. After a $5 discount on the parking it was $95 for two adults and a 3yo and 5yo. $1 PER USE for lockers. So each time you wanted to go to your locker it was $1 each time. There's no coupons to be found so unlikely we'll be returning. My kids will have to wait until school field trips to go again.
Horrible for anybody over the age of 8 or so. At $26 for those over 18 this is a terrible rip off, all the attractions are meant for young kids and there aren't very many of them anyway. Don't forget the $10 Parking.
The Kids had an amazing time. The only downfall is it is very expensive for a family and then you also have to pay parking on top of the admission price. When they are charging so much parking should be included in your admission!
The science centre is no where near as good as it used to be before it was Telus Spark. They sold out to all the oil companies and have all these boring "science" oil exhibits. I've never seen such a large building with so much wasted space.
Update: I just saw the Animals Inside Out exhibition and I had previously seen the Whale exhibition. While they were both interesting, the exhibits were incredibly small, definitely not worth paying $26 for a ticket. Highly not recommended. I won't be visiting again.
Stop by with my daughter once a year and never disappoints. Always an interesting, fun and educational day. That said new activities are few and far between and admission ($26 for adults and $19 for kids) is a bit steep. Also avoid cafeteria, mediocre to bad good and once again over priced.
The TELUS World of Science has done a great job with creating engaging exhibits for the whole family. As a group of adults, we all highly enjoyed ourselves even in a space geared towards children.
It has interesting special exhibits, both the theatre and building are nice but in general the permanent exhibits are geared towards younger children, and it is often crowded. The gift shop has an excellent selection of sciencey toys.
I wanted to like this place, but unfortunately I left very dissatisfied. The $26 entree fee wouldn't have been bad if there was at least more to do. It took me around half an hour to see all the mediocre exibits. Given the size of the building I expected they would have a lot more to see, but the exibits themselves take up only one quarter of the building. The food in the dining area was dreadful. Overly salty, not thoroughly cooked, and ridiculously overpriced. I actually felt quite sick after eating most of my food before having to throw it away. The dome theatre seemed interested but the seats were uncomfortable and I strained my neck trying to look up at the screen, and I was already seated quite high up. All around bad experience and I won't be coming back. Save your money and skip out on this sad excuse for a science centre.
I am undecided on how to rate this place sorry for the somewhat long review.
I can see why some rate this a 5 and some a 1
I do have season passes for my family and it is my second time doing so, so I suppose 3 stars is merited.
The Good:
Customer service is very good. I once got my yearly pass extended due to extenuating circumstances which I really appreciate
The children's place has a play structure Great for 6 and under. This will keep the kids busy and is the only decent indoor play structure that is 1/2 decent that you can go to with a yearly membership. The Science shows are simple and good for ages about 4-adult. The dome shows are now included which is very smart based on the entrance fee. The dome shows are sometimes boring for those who are younger (under 6).
Outdoor play area is great for kids (4 to 12)
The family yearly pass is sensibly priced if you have young kids and want to have many days out exploring the many exhibits.
The Bad:
Always a number of broken exhibits...
Some of the exhibits are lame with something to read and little or no interaction. Children will sometimes ask what is this, and then leave before you can even explain.
The building is beautiful to a fault. It seems that this must be a major contributor to the insanely high entrance fee. For a single adult it will cost you $38 inclusive of parking which is psychotic. To feed a family of 2 adults and 3 kids with Ikea quality food it will set you back $75. The new cafeteria design is confusing and more expensive than it was. (You can bring outside food and drink.)
No food in the theatre is annoying as with the very high fees to get in, hire a cleaner or 2.
The 'junkyard" is somewhat insane as well. These days parents DO generally hover too much. Spark solution, allow children of all ages into an area not allowed to be supervised by parents complete with saws, hammers, drywall knives, cleavers, nails, raised platforms with no railings, with no age restriction. No major accidents as of yet but this appears to be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Maybe for a "mild child" of 7 and up this area would make sense (the argument is some risk exposure increases executive function which does have merit). I took my four year old out of there as soon as a saw him fighting with another kid over a cleaver like object and another running with a drywall saw. "Don't thouch Daddy's tools" will be much harder to enforce after a few quick trips though this area.
Great fun place for kids and adults, there are play grounds and play areas that can tire out the very physical kids or toysfor the calm ones. Lots of things to explore and do, and the food quality has really improved!
There are adult nights which are great for or a get together, drink some brew and "learn" something...
We had a great time at the Science centre! We took our 1 and 3 year old and they had an absolute blast. We were only able to spend 3 hours due to not getting there until later in the day and it closed, however this is a place we could have easily spent much more time. So much to do for all ages to keep everyone entertained! We drove 3 hours from Medicine Hat and will certainly be back again. Highly recommended for a full day outing of activities fun for the whole family.
Came for the featured exhibit only. The rest was definitely geared towards kids. Which is great for the younger generation of course, but it's definitely the least adult-friendly science museum I've ever been to which is a shame.
Good place for all ages. Interactive exhibits which helps learning! Decent rate and 5$ off when you pay for parking! Very beautiful & is accessible to all
Great preschooler area! Playcenter, climbing wall, water table, theater, baby/toddler corner. Limited number of exhibits for older people but each is very interactive.
Lots to do and learn for young and old!!! Only gets 4/5 stars because some of the stuff doesnt work - for the price I'd expect everything to work. That being said I still highly recommend it as a way to spend the day. Don't miss the demonstrations!
Confused by the great reviews on this place. We went for the Animals Inside Out exhibit last week. The exhibit was ok but felt small for the amount you pay to get in. The rest of the exhibits feel more like walking around an overcrowded daycare. Hoping they make some solid improvements in the coming years, otherwise I'd recommend it only for those with children.
Their camps are great for kids. We put our child in little engineers and junior scientist for summer camp and our son just loves it. Highly recommend their summer camps.
The black lady on the Test your balance who putting the harness to the kids are so rude.. she should need a training on how to work in hospitality business.. she was yelling to the guest.. she let those kids to line up and waited for more than an hour to wait for their turn and all of a sudden she told them to go because they can t serve them because their gonna close.. oh my god she should put a close sign after the last person so that no kids can go in line and waited for so long.. i suggested her that so that no one is hoping to take their turns but the black lady yell at me and said who are you? Are you my boss? Don t tell me what to do..can you believe that? I don t know why she still in that position with a really bad attitude and manners..
Best place to kindle young minds. They also have a huge Dolby HD theatre/planetarium with 1.15 hour programs, though uncomfortable, without reclining seats.
I love taking my son to the children's area, outdoor playground and dome shows. The shows they do in the atrium and stage are also really great. My biggest complaint is that do many of the exhibits are broken all the time. Things are just getting old and they aren't bothering to fix them. I also down they would have better travelling exhibits and more often.
sparkscience.ca
