Things to Do in Explora Science Center and Children's Museum

Water of the West exhibit

Rubber boots are optional but recommended. Kids reroute a miniature Rio Grande through pebbled arroyos, shrieking when the dam they built suddenly gives way. The room smells faintly of wet sandstone. You can feel the cool mist on your cheeks as tiny flash floods crash against acrylic walls.

High-wire bicycle

Pedaling a bike across a cable 20 ft above the lobby feels less scary than it sounds, largely because the counterweight dangling beneath you hums like a distant didgeridoo. From up there you glimpse the Sandia Mountains framed by the atrium glass. You hear the echo of toddlers drumming on exhibit bases below.

Keva woodworking workshop

The smell of pine shavings hits you first. Real tools, real nails, kids sanding blocks into airplanes under patient volunteer mentors. Sawdust sticks to your fingertips as you help drill a propeller. The low thud of hammers becomes a kind of percussion soundtrack unique to Explora.

Bubble lab

Giant hoops drip glycerin solution onto the tile floor, leaving slick galaxies you can feel under your sandals. When a bubble lifts off, rainbows glide across its surface until - pop - it spritzes your forearm with a sweet soapy taste.

Evening adult night

Once a month the exhibits reopen after dark for the 21-plus crowd. The café pours local Gruet bubbly. The normally kid-packed floors echo with adult laughter as grown-ups race paper airplanes in the wind tunnel. The scent of green-chile quesadillas drifts from the patio food truck. You can sip a canned cider while tinkering with circuits.

Old Town plazas - adobe courtyards, easy walk to Explora

Downtown Warehouse District - brewpubs and lofts, bus line to the museum

Nob Hill Route 66 - neon signs, diners, mid-century motels revamped

Barelas neighborhood - family guesthouses, tamale vendors at dawn

University corridor - student pricing, Central Avenue Rapid Ride transit

Eastside Heights - Balloon Fiesta views, pricier but quiet