Entertainment

For Austin parents searching for something different to do with the kids this weekend, Thinkery is adding a little big-top energy to its usual mix of hands-on learning.

On Monday, Sept. 7, the Austin children’s museum will host the Thinkery Carnival, a one-day event at its Meredith Learning Lab in Mueller featuring a petting zoo, live aerial performances, balloon artists, face painting, spin art, story times and classic carnival games. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1830 Simond Ave. in Austin. 

For families looking for Labor Day activities in Austin, the event offers something of a mashup: part neighborhood carnival, part children’s museum visit and part STEAM lesson.

What Families Can Expect at the Thinkery Carnival

The Thinkery Carnival stretches activities across most of the day rather than centering everything around one performance or attraction.

A petting zoo from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. will give children a chance to meet goats, sheep, rabbits and other animals. Meanwhile, Jungle Movement Academy’s Circus Troupe is scheduled to perform aerial acts at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Families can also stop for face painting from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and balloon creations from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

One of the more distinctly Thinkery-style carnival attractions is Spin Art: Spin Science, scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Children will use spinning motion to create artwork while also getting an introduction to the science behind centrifugal force.

Story times are planned for 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Then there are the familiar carnival staples. Kids can try Lucky Duck, play basketball, baseball toss and ring toss as part of the Carnival Sports Challenge, or jump into a ball pit created with younger visitors in mind.

The result is a day that still looks and feels like Thinkery, even when circus performers and carnival games take over the building.

More Than 40 Years of Learning Through Play in Austin

For longtime Austinites, Thinkery’s story reaches well beyond its current red building in Mueller.

The nonprofit traces its beginnings to 1983, when a grassroots group of Austin parents and educators wanted to create more educational and cultural opportunities for local children. In those early years, there was no permanent museum at all. Exhibits were transported around Austin and presented at schools, parks, libraries and other community spaces. 

The organization opened its first permanent location, a 5,000-square-foot building on West Fifth Street, in 1987 before later moving into downtown Austin’s warehouse district.

A major shift came in December 2013, when the Austin Children’s Museum became Thinkery and opened its current 40,000-square-foot Meredith Learning Lab in Mueller. The new identity placed an even greater emphasis on STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art and math — through interactive exhibits and staff-led learning experiences. 

Today, Thinkery describes itself as Austin’s only children’s museum and focuses on play-based STEAM learning designed to help children become curious, creative and confident thinkers. Its offerings include interactive exhibits, field trips, programs for babies and toddlers, family events, birthday parties and educational work through the nonprofit’s STEAM Learning Institute.

The organization expanded again in 2024 with Thinkery – Del Valle, a neighborhood museum developed with Del Valle ISD. That location includes interactive STEAM exhibits intended to make hands-on learning more accessible to families in southeastern Travis County. 

A Carnival That Still Fits Thinkery’s Mission

That history helps explain why even a carnival at Thinkery comes with a learning component.

Rather than separating education from play, the museum has long built its programming around the idea that children can learn by touching, building, experimenting, moving and asking questions.

At the Sept. 7 carnival, that philosophy shows up in activities such as spin art that doubles as a science experiment, physical circus performances that introduce children to movement and balance, and hands-on encounters that encourage kids to explore rather than simply watch.

For Austin families, it also creates an easy way to combine a special event with the museum’s regular interactive exhibits during the same visit.

Thinkery Carnival Tickets and Admission

The Thinkery Carnival is included with special-event general admission for Sept. 7.

Tickets are $21.95 for general admission, while Thinkery members receive free admission. Thinkery notes that admission pricing is elevated for the carnival compared with its usual general admission rate. 

The museum is located at 1830 Simond Ave. in Austin’s Mueller neighborhood. Thinkery offers up to three hours of validated parking in the McBee Street District Garage and Simond Garage, although visitors must use a Metropolis account for validation. 

With the petting zoo running for several hours and performances and activities staggered throughout the day, families do not necessarily have to arrive when the doors open to catch the main attractions. Those hoping to see a specific aerial performance or participate in an activity with limited hours, however, may want to plan around the published schedule.

One More Reason for Austin Families to Make a Museum Day of It

Austin has no shortage of family-friendly weekend activities, but Thinkery Carnival gives parents a somewhat unusual option: a traditional carnival atmosphere without leaving the museum’s hands-on learning environment.

Children can pet a goat, watch an aerial performer, throw a baseball, get their face painted and create a spinning science experiment — all under the same roof and within the same afternoon.

For an organization that began more than four decades ago by hauling educational activities around Austin in a station wagon, a full-building carnival centered on curiosity feels like another chapter in the same idea: give children somewhere interesting to play, then let the learning happen along the way.

Stay tuned to My Neighborhood News for more Austin family events, weekend activities, museum programs and things to do across Central Texas.

By Tiffany Krenek, My Neighborhood News 

Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.

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