For nearly 15 years the downtown museum thrived in Portsmouth's historic 1846 Courthouse on High Street. With its move in 1994 to a revamped former department store, the museum has mushroomed into the largest children's museum in Virginia with about 150,000 people visiting annually. Watch out for weekends and holidays when as many as 2,000 people a day try to crowd in for hours of fun. If time is critical, go early or late in the day on a weekend or on a weekday when all you're likely to face are school or summer camp groups. The museum has 14 major displays, ranging from a crane that hoists white foam beams to activities that focus in a fun way on flexibility, balance and reflexes.
All exhibits allow hands-on entertainment.
Art Moves, a darkened alcove where colored laser lights project your image on screen as you dance to music. The city room with its 1960 Mack fire engine and real police motorcycle. The Science Circus where you can race rolling hockey pucks and pound a rubber air cannon all in the name of testing scientific principles. The art room lined with old Frigidaire doors where kids can post their favorite masterpieces with magnets. The museum includes a 64-seat planetarium with frequent shows.