Outside In

Welcome to Outside In, the children's nature museum at the Academy of Natural Sciences. The outdoors have been brought inside in this hands-on discovery center geared toward children ages 3-8 (but enjoyed by all). Its artifacts and specimens challenge inquisitive minds. Its activities provide fun and educational experiences for the whole family.

Coming through our door takes you on a magical trip to the great outdoors. Visit a forest, a mountain pond, or an ocean shore. Touch a real meteorite, view a stream from underneath, crawl through a fallen log, look for fossil footprints, pan for shark teeth, watch a live beehive, or read a book on Lucy's Back Porch (Lucy was a very special Outside-In volunteer).

Outside In is also a great place to meet our live animals. You may encounter a legless lizard, hissing cockroaches, a tortoise, a cowbird, or a rabbit. Every day brings a different set of animal visitors to Outside In from their permanent homes in the Live Animal Center on the museum's Ground Floor.

Outside-In is located on the Third Floor of the museum. It is open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on weekdays and 10:00 am to 4:30 pm on weekends.

Interested in reserving Outside In for your class or group? See Field Trips for more information.

Outside In is one of our more popular venues for volunteering. If you enjoy working with small children and are interested in volunteering, please see Volunteering at the Academy for more information.