“Be Big” in Itty Bitty City
Work and play in a 10,000 square foot kid-powered metropolis filled with an airport, ambulance, bank, construction site, park, news station and more. Save the day by becoming an everyday hero or even a superhero!


 
The spaces in the exhibit are inspired by places in the Omaha area and have been created with the help of more than 30 area businesses and organizations.
Itty Bitty City is the museum's third "community-engaged exhibit" created in partnership with organizations from across the area. The community-engaged exhibit initiative received a supporting grant from the IMLS in 2011.
The exhibit includes the following areas:

IBC Fire Training Center, Omaha Fire Department
A physical play area where kids can prepare to work for the fire department

Cruiser Command Post, Omaha Police Department
Kids will fight crime in the city from a real OPD police cruiser and can listen to dispatch recordings

Itty Bitty House, Charles Thomas Homes, Habitat for Humanity of Omaha

Play pretend in this eco-friendly house. Kids can cook meals in the kitchen, barbecue on the porch and spend time together inside this residence that was made using the highest quality materials making it super energy efficient and environmentally friendly.
 
Werner, Werner Enterprises
Hop into the kid-sized semi truck, use an interactive computer to learn about maps and geography

Bitty Borsheims, Borsheims
Guests can shop for gifts and look at items on display, then ring up items at the cash register

City Vet, Nebraska Humane Society
Take care of the pretend animals where kids can play veterinarian, give them a bath and even try their hand at pretend animal surgery

Itty Bitty Channel Six News, WOWT Channel 6
Kids can sit at the real news desk to create their own newscast, and when they're done anchoring, they can use a green screen to go on location as a reporter or operate the news camera

Itty Bitty Expansion Project, CAT
At the expansion project construction site, kids can use the bulldozer and other tools to help make the city bigger and better

Sam & Louie's Pizzeria, Sam & Louie's
Take orders, make pizzas and serve friends and family at the Sam & Louie's pizzeria

Itty Bitty International, Lamp Rynearson & Associates
Kids can fly miniature planes and direct flight traffic from the control tower

Playworld Park & Putt, Backyard Playworld
Build gross motor skills playing on the large play structure and take a turn on a special putt-putt hole

Omaha Steaks Amphitheater, Omaha Steaks
Listen to live performances throughout the run of the exhibit or create a performance on the amphitheater's stage

Itty Bitty City Hall, Business Ethics Alliance
Learn about the Omaha Business Core Values with the Super City Alliance superheroes, Ace, Fin, Reese, Izzy and Moe.
Eco Expressway and Natural Gas & Go, MUD/Happy Cab
Use a pedal car to travel on the Eco Expressway, then gas up at Natural Gas & Go

Mini Mutual of Omaha, Mutual of Omaha
Brush up on office skills while you work at a computer, make calls on the phone and collaborate with coworkers

Children's Hospital & Medical Center Ambulance, Children's Hospital & Medical Center
Learn safety and rescue skills and save the citizens of the Itty Bitty City with the ambulance

Security National Bank, Security National Bank
Send money through the fan-powered deposit tube, become a banker at a teller's station and count money at thebanker's table, learn about the importance of saving to achieve your goals

IBC Water Works, MUD
See what's under the street and how utilities work at IBC Water Works or travel above ground through the manhole to be on top of the street

Children's Drive and Valmont Way, Valmont
Follow the streets and their Itty Bitty sized streetlights to get from place-to-place in the city and learn how to use the crosswalk at the intersection

Itty Bitty City will be open through April 14 during regular museum hours. Admission is $2 in addition to regular museum admission which is $9 for adults and children ages 2 to 59.

 

It's back and it's a little kooky, a little spooky, a small bit scary and just a tad hairy! Cobweb Castle: The Not-So-Scary Haunted House will is open at Omaha Children's Museum October 2-31.

Ttravel through the maze of the Ghostly Graveyard, explore the castle's Pirates Parlor, Kooky Kitchen, Sir Spooky's Table and Vampire's Batty Bedroom.

New this year is the Neon Nook, where kids can use neon shapes, characters and letters to create a spooky scene.

A new hostess in the castle, pirate Charlotte Longbeard and her friends present daily programs including Pirate Tours of Cobweb Castle at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Pirate Sing-A-Long at 11:30 a.m. as well as Villain Tales Story Time at 1:30 p.m. in the gift shop and 3 p.m. in Cobweb Castle.

Healthy Trick-or-Trick Nights
October 18 & 25, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Included with admission or membership.
Enjoy this healthy spin on the classic trick-or-treating tradition with yummy things to eat provided by Whole Foods Market and fun trinkets from Oriental Trading Company. Help us be green, bring your own trick-or-treating basket or bag! MORE DETAILS

 

 

Get ready to enter The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with a children's museum spin of course! This 10,000 square foot exhibit brings together favorite parts of the book and film in an interactive experience for guests.

Step into the glimmering Emerald City to learn about gems and make some of your own baubles to take home, learn about tornadoes and step right inside of one in Tornado Town, dress up as a character and take the stage at Rainbow Stage, launch some flying monkeys in the Witch's Castle, see the workings of a hot-air balloon, make-super sized bubbles at Glinda's Bubble Magic and much more!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is open now through September 9. Don't miss this magical exhibit

Daily Programs
Wonderful Wizard Parade (Tues.-Sat., 4:30 pm): Guests can join the Wizard of Oz, grab a musical instrument and join in a lively march through the museum.

Oz's Wonderful World (Tues.-Sat., 10:45 am; Thurs., 6:45 pm; Sun., 2:45 pm): Guests will discover the Wonderful World of the Wizard of Oz through special projects and activities. Children will have the opportunity to create their own magical shoes, paint a scarecrow, launch a hot air balloon and much more.

Meet Me in Oz (Tues.-Sat., 1:45 pm): Guests will take a magical journey along the Yellow Brick Road to learn about the different characters from the Wizard of Oz and discover each one's fun and unique personality. Lions will roar, monkeys will fly, and a scarecrow or two will be stuffed. Children will explore the concepts of love, courage, teamwork, and home. Children who participate in this program will receive a $1 Gift Certificate to Farmhouse Cafe.

Character Appearances
Appearances are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through the run of the exhibit at the following times.
Tuesdays     10:30-11 am, 1:30-2 pm
Thursdays    10:30-11 am, 1:30-2 pm, 6:30-7pm
Saturdays    10:30-11 am, 1:30-2 pm

 
This 10,000 square foot kid-powered construction site has plenty of work to be done. Real painting, hauling, building and planning gets little builders excited about the real work of construction. Construction Zone: Return of the Bulldozer brings back some of the most popular parts from the first Construction Zone exhibit and offers spectacular new areas to learn and explore.

Kids Quarry
Ride a pedal-powered front-end loader or backhoe and scoop “rocks” around the quarry!

Big Rigs
 A giant play set from Backyard Playworld sits alongside a kid-sized Werner Enterprises Semi and a Big Bulldozer for massive fun! Kids can get in the vehicles to “drive” and play with lots of buttons and levers. And, they'll brush up on spatial awareness while loading cargo in the truck.

Pulley Place
Our parachute machine returns along with a pulley bucket station with wheelbarrows to move “rocks”. A real repurposed crane from Topping Out, Inc. allows kids to raise and lower an I-Beam.

Creation Station
Oversized foam shapes created by Imagination Playground let kids create their own structures and vehicles in this area sponsored by RDG Planning and Design.

Carpentry Corner
This free-build station will house special tool kits to check out and do a real construction project! Special program times and limited seating will let kids work with their parent or caretaker to make a birdhouse or other wooden structure.

Paint Shack
Ever wanted to paint a wall in your house? The Paint Shack houses real brushes and rollers for kids to express their creativity big time!

Try-A-Trade
Partners from several Omaha unions have created interactive exhibits so kids can learn about electrical circuits, plumbing, bolts, ventilation systems and more.

Concrete Station
A massive sand pit houses a sifting station that kids can mix and mold “concrete”. Earth-movers also help move the “cement” around the station.

Water Works
In this “underground” obstacle course created by Metropolitan Utilities District kids can climb through a “pipe” maze to see what’s happening below ground and how it works above ground.

Build It
Kids can use their imagination to design and build amazing structures with different kinds of building sets like Legos, KNex, builder boards and more.

Construction Zone was created by Omaha Children's Museum in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Metropolitan Utilities District, Ash Grove Cement Company, Kiewit Building Group, RDG Planning and Design, Werner Enterprises, HDR, Topping Out, Inc., Oriental Trading Company, Backyard Playworld, Millard Lumber, Lyman-Richey Corporation, Diamond Fence Co., Ready Mixed Concrete Company, Universal Flooring, Davis Erection Company, Inc. Sheet Metal Workers Local 3, Steamfitters and Plumbers Local 464, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 22, Ironworkers Local 21, Omaha Plumbers Local Union 16, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters Local Union #444, Piping Resources, Inc. Midwest Scaffold Service, Clear Creek Landscapes, Watkins and Heartland Scenic Studio. The organizations involved have spent hundreds of hours developing the exhibit and building it in the 10,000 square foot traveling exhibit gallery on the museum's second floor.

May 28, 2011 - January 8, 2012

Stomping and roaring robotic dinosaurs and Ice Age mammals are invading Omaha Children’s Museum this summer as the museum celebrates its 35th anniversary with the new exhibit Dinosaurs: Dawn of the Ice Age open May 28, 2011 through January 8, 2012.

Massive, lifelike dinosaurs will be on display ranging from the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex to the gentle Apatosaurus, mother and baby. The Ice Age will come to life with animals that have never been seen at the museum before as guests meet mighty mammals that ruled the Earth after the dinosaurs - Smilodon, Baluchitherium and Woolly Mammoth. Visitors will learn about each of the giant creatures, including interesting facts about Woolly Mammoth, which is Nebraska’s state fossil.

Created by the California-based Kokoro Exhibits, which pioneered the first robotic dinosaurs, Dinosaurs: Dawn of the Ice Age features 15 carefully fabricated replicas sculpted with lifelike, pliable outer skin stretched over sophisticated mechanical skeletons capable of both sweeping and incredibly detailed movement. Guests will see twitching ears, lifting heads and tails, wrinkled nostrils, blinking eyes. And of course everyone will hear massive roars. MORE DETAILS