The Works Museum

The Works Museum in Bloomington is a non-profit children's museum with a specific focus: engineering, technology, and making. Unlike broader science museums that cover biology, space, and earth science with interactive elements, The Works drills down into the builder mindset — how things are constructed, how machines work, and what happens when you design something, test it, and iterate.

For kids who are tactile learners, who love Legos or Minecraft or who take apart things to see how they work, The Works is a genuine revelation. The exhibit design prioritizes making over observing — kids aren't looking at things behind glass, they're building structures, testing forces, operating machines, and experiencing the engineering design cycle firsthand. The museum's founders understood that children learn through their hands, not through reading exhibit text.

The age range is wide but effectively best from about 2 to 13. Toddlers engage with the simpler building and sensory exhibits; older kids and tweens can tackle more complex engineering challenges and return to them multiple times with different approaches. The content doesn't age out quickly, which makes it a museum that families can revisit and find new depth in each time.

Summer camps at The Works are a separate product worth noting — multi-day programs that go deeper into specific engineering topics. These fill quickly, so if you're interested in the camp side, register early in spring. For day visits, The Works offers a quieter, more focused experience than the larger Twin Cities children's museums, which can feel chaotic on busy days.

The Bloomington location is easily reached from both the south suburbs and the Mall of America area.