Parents magazine lists best science centers

NEW YORK — Is a family trip to a science center worthwhile with pre-kindergartners? Yes, according to Parents magazine, which conducted a survey of the more than 150 science centers in the U.S. and discovered that about a third of them have galleries designed for kids 6 and under.

The magazine’s September issue also came up with a list of the country’s 10 best science centers, with an emphasis on those catering to younger children with hands-on exhibits and family-friendly experiments.

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AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

The Museum of Science in Chicago was one of the science centers cited by Parents magazine as worthwhile for smaller children.

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They are the Center Of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio; the Exploratorium in San Francisco; the Museum of Science in Boston; Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J.; the St. Louis Science Center in St. Louis, Mo.; the New York Hall of Science in Flushing, Queens, in New York City; the California Science Center in Los Angeles; the Sci-Port Discovery Center in Shreveport, La.; the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia; and the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore.

Parents magazine also identified 15 runners-up: Discovery Science Center, Santa Ana, Calif.; Detroit Science Center, Detroit; Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh; the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center, Mobile, Ala.; the Louisville Science Center, Louisville, Ky.; Pacific Science Center, Seattle; Wonderlab Museum of Science, Health, & Technology, Bloomingtown, Ind.; Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago; Discovery Place, Charlotte, N.C.; and The Children’s Museum of Science and Technology, Troy, N.Y.; Sci-Works, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Science City at Union Station, in Kansas City, Mo.; Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.; Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich, Vt.; and Discovery Science Place, Tyler, Texas.