Discovery Cube

Discovery Cube Orange County in Santa Ana is the kind of science museum that converts kids who think they hate science. The entire facility is built around the premise that physical engagement beats passive observation — and the exhibit designers have followed through on that premise in almost every room.

The building is a striking structure (a giant cube on a corner, as the name implies) and the interior delivers on the exterior's promise. Exhibits cover physics, life science, earth science, and technology through hands-on stations where kids are the experimenters rather than the audience. The tornado tube lets visitors create an actual vortex and see how it behaves.

The hockey lab connects physics principles to a sport kids already understand. The earthquake simulator creates a physical experience of ground movement that makes the concept of seismic activity tangible rather than abstract.

For families with a range of ages, the Cubelets area is specifically designed for toddlers and preschoolers with exhibits scaled and simplified for the under-5 set. Having a dedicated young-child area means you're not constantly pulling a three-year-old away from exhibits designed for eight-year-olds.

Scheduled science demonstrations happen throughout the day and are worth timing your visit around — check the daily schedule at the entrance. These are live presentations where staff conduct experiments and involve kids from the audience. The quality varies by presenter, but the best demonstrations are genuinely impressive.

Annual membership is reasonably priced and pays for itself in two visits. Discovery Cube also has reciprocal membership agreements with many science museums nationally — if you hold a membership at another science museum, you may get discounted or free admission here.