Shhh … be careful not to wake up Mama and Max.

Come meet Mama T.Rex and Max, our full-size, permanent, animatronic tyrannosaurus dinosaurs. Mama stands proud at 25 feet tall and 60 feet long while her juvenile son Max is about 7 feet tall. Some ask why he is “hairy”? Well, research shows that tyrannosaurus were born with feathers, so the hair that you see on Max symbolizes what that research would show he would look like in that stage of his life.

Mama and Max roar during the spring and summer months or as long as the weather is permitting.

Pedal, push, balance, ziggle, and cyclone your way around our outdoor prairie on our Roadways exhibit. Be sure to look both ways and follow the road signs. Beep beep!

At the Dino Dig, visitors conduct their own excavation and unearth dinosaur bones that could be found on a South Dakota farm, just like the now-famous T. rex named Sue!

The Dino Dig inspires and stimulates children’s interest in paleontology and archeology. They’ll share in the awe of discovery as they hear Mama, a life-sized animatronic T. rex that stands 25 feet tall and 60 feet long roar from just around the bend.

Using math skills of comparison, children will develop an appreciation of the size of a dinosaur versus other animals. Or, they’ll just keep digging. Either way, it’s a great way to learn through play.

A living maze of prairie grasses invites children and their grown-ups to wind their way to the center and back. Find butterflies and flowers hiding in the grasses. Or stop by the lilypad cymbals or the melody xylophone to add a peaceful song to your prairie play.

The maze builds curiosity about nature as children learn to identify plants or grasses native to the South Dakota prairie.

Connect nature and music.

Drop stones into the Stonophone and listen as they create music while they travel. Create harmony by striking the tubes. Write a song to share with the world as the wind sends it on its way!

The Music Meadow contains a sculpture dedicated in honor of Suzanne Hegg, the founding Executive Director of the Children’s Museum of South Dakota. Mrs. Hegg believed in the power of play and often used the quote “Nothing without joy!”. Find your joy by creating music in our meadow.

Explore in and around the banks of our meandering stream.

Step on wading stones, or head for the water, grab a bucket, explore and pour! Take your turn dodging streams of water on the splash pad or sit and enjoy nature on the berms of a tunnel. The benefits of playing in nature and the outdoors are tremendous.

If you time it right, you can fish for South Dakota trout and sunfish in the fishing pond!