The Children's Museum of South Carolina - Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Museum with Interactive Exhibits and Programs

The Children's Museum of South Carolina is located at N. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and is just across the street from the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and Sheraton Hotel. The entrance stands out with its red doors, blue awning and yellow sign. The museum opens Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm, but is closed New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The museum opened it doors for the first time in 1994 and due to its popularity quickly expanded. It aims to provide educational fun for children through interactive learning and is enjoyed by visitors from schools, day care centers and other groups along with tourists from around the world. The Museum also takes part in community-based festivals held each year.

The Children's Museum of South Carolina is a place of discovery for children, helping them to learn more about things such as fossils and rocks or the human body. It has interactive fun for children of all ages with exhibits such as the Emergency Room, Doctor Molar's Dental Office, Kid's ATM, World of Electricity and Wonders of Discovery Lab. There is also a special puppet show provided as part of the experience.

Children apparently enjoy USS Kidz Afloat as much as anything else, where they can experience what it is like to be on a real boat. Another favorite is Bubble Mania, which enables youngsters to fool around on the inside of a giant bubble. The Discovery Classroom contains a few animals such as rabbits, turtles and a Chilean squirrel called a degu.

The traveling exhibition explains how vehicles move by land, sea and air. It is color coded and divided in to sections so children can learn the science of gravity, friction and the laws of motion at this exhibit. Visitors can ride on a hovercraft, launch rockets and hot air balloons or experiment with pneumatics, pulleys, hydraulics and levers to see which mechanical advantage works the best.

Birthday parties can be held here too with specific scheduling for morning or afternoon parties lasting approximately two hours, but it is recommended bookings are made at least three weeks in advance. The party will start with an hour long exploration of the museum for the kids, followed by the use of the discovery classroom for eating. The classroom can be dressed with balloons and decorations by party organizers, who can also bring along food and drink or arrange for the museum to provide this.

Reviewers have stated that the museum building is a little on the small side so when it gets busy it is maybe too cramped. Others felt that there were a lot of exhibits and toys but they are quite basic in design. However, many said that their children, especially those under six years old, thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits and overall it was a nice place to take the kids on a rainy day and quite good value for money.