MUSEUM DISTRICT. Incredibly well-attended, this colorful, popular museum is clearly designed for kids. Like most facilities of its type, it promotes experiential learning and offers lots of interactive exhibits. Science, culture, geography, and creativity are all given due reverence, and featured displays include Babbling Bayou (water exploration), EcoStation (an outdoor nature center), and Cyber Clubhouse (computer play). Traveling exhibits ensure that nothing ever gets stale for visiting young ones.

MUSEUM DISTRICT. If it's found in nature, you can probably learn about it here. This fascinating museum, established in 1909, instructs visitors on energy, wildlife, astronomy, and much more. As you enter the main room, dinosaurs loom overhead; beyond them are exhibits about the Serengeti plains, historic displays in the Hall of the Americas, and an arresting showcase of more than 600 gems and minerals. Additional levels present fossils and other features of the natural world. Added attractions include the Cockrell Butterfly Center, where dozens of species fly freely, and the Wortham IMAX theater.

MUSEUM DISTRICT. Seeking to instill in young people an appreciation of the human body and a high regard for health, this museum (affiliated with Texas Medical Center) takes education to a new level. The facility's biggest attraction is its "Amazing Body Pavilion," whose enormous replicas of the human form let kids explore (and walk through) the brain, the heart, the rib cage, and more. Interactive displays provide instruction about memory, vision, circulation, and hearing. Videos, games, and an outdoor sensory garden also further the cause.

CLEAR LAKE. For security reasons, visitors aren't allowed to see all of the Space Center operations, but regular tram tours let them visit most of the working facility, where they can ogle a Saturn rocket or observe shuttle payload bays. Exhibits cover the history of manned spaceflight and hoped-for future explorations, while the Mission Status Center provides live updates on current flights. In addition, the Kids' Space Place offers interactive exhibits, an IMAX theater, a full-scale model of the space shuttle, and moon rocks that you can actually touch.