exhibits

Explore concepts such as gravity, water, light and shadow, math, and electricity

Balance a ball on a stream of air and notice the forces that keep it afloat.
Send a paper rocket flying and wonder how design shapes its path.
Watch a rainbow on the surface of a bubble.
Observe the quiet curiosity of an axolotl.
Transform ordinary materials into a new invention.

With more than 250 hands-on exhibits, Explora welcomes visitors of all ages to explore, reflect, and rediscover the world through science, technology, engineering, art, and math—one question, one experiment, one moment of wonder at a time.

Explora Hours

Monday-Sunday

10am–5pm

Become a Member

Balance a ball on a stream of air and notice the forces that keep it afloat.
Send a paper rocket flying and wonder how design shapes its path.
Watch a rainbow on the surface of a bubble.
Observe the quiet curiosity of an axolotl.
Transform ordinary materials into a new invention.

With more than 250 hands-on exhibits, Explora welcomes visitors of all ages to explore, reflect, and rediscover the world through science, technology, engineering, art, and math—one question, one experiment, one moment of wonder at a time.

Explora Hours

Monday-Sunday

10am–5pm

Monday "Toddler Time"

9am–11am

Become a Member

Download Explora Visitor's Guide

DOWNLOAD EXPLORA VISITOR'S GUIDE

English

Tiếng Việt / Vietnamese

Español / Spanish

中文 / Chinese

English

Tiếng Việt / Vietnamese

Español / Spanish

中文 / Chinese

Step into Grandma's Casita and explore the science of kindness! This immersive exhibition invites visitors into the home of Grandma, a retired social scientist, world traveler, and proud New Mexican. Inside, you'll hear stories of kindness from around the world, try hands-on experiments (like studying the ripple effects of a kind act or exploring how faces express emotion), and flip through her research notes. It's a warm, interactive space where kindness isn't just a value, it's a subject of real scientific study across fields like neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and anthropology.

This exhibition was made possible through the Fostering Character Through Children's Museums grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., in partnership with the Association of Children's Museums. Explora is one of more than 20 museums nationwide participating in this multi-year initiative, with earlier development supported by The Jennifer Riordan Foundation and its partners.

These surprising experiences reveal something about how we perceive the world. Our senses take in lots of information. Sometimes, the data are incomplete or in conflict with what we expect, so our brains struggle to make sense of what we're perceiving. That can create an illusion, something that doesn't feel quite right or has multiple interpretations. In many ways, what you perceive is just your brain's best guess about reality.

This newly-reimagined space contains both novel experiences and classic favorites, only a few of which are shown here. Be sure to explore them all!

Tap or click the images to see a larger version

Look closely… or maybe not so closely. Shift your angle, tilt your device, or take a step back. What do you see?

Exhibit News

Permanent Exhibits

Water Flow Patio is Back!

The Puzzle Theater is a new space in our theater for puzzles of all kinds. Visitors are welcome to spend time working on puzzles at their own pace throughout the day.

Puzzles have been part of Explora for many years and were previously found in the upstairs area, now redesigned as the Cabinets of Curiosity. This new location offers a dedicated space for continued exploration and problem-solving.

The Puzzle Theater is currently open to visitors and available into early spring.

Water of Life; Life of Water

Explore the wonders of water with our refreshed collection of liquid-based exhibits!

Play with waves and water drops, build streams and waterfalls, and create eddies, vortices, bubbles, and more. Experiment with brand-new experiences and have fun with familiar classics. Make a splash at Explora!

Explore the Exhibits

Family Science at Tiguex Park

Tiguex Park is officially home to nine new interactive STEAM exhibitions!

In partnership with the City of Albuquerque Parks & Recreation Department, community groups, and area residents, we worked together to create nine new outdoor STEAM exhibits designed to engage families in play, curiosity, and shared learning.

On Thursday, November 13, 2025, our Exhibits team spent the afternoon exploring the installations with students from San Felipe de Neri School, chatting with them about how each piece connects movement, science, and discovery. Their energy brought the exhibits to life in the best way!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported this project from start to finish!

Explore the Exhibits

EXHIBIT NEWS

Permanent Exhibits

New Exhibit: Mechanics Alive!

Get an up-close look at a collection of wonderful automata, which are artistic mechanical sculptures. These intricately hand-crafted artworks are making Explora their exclusive stop in New Mexico. This is the second visit of Cabaret Mechanical Theatre automata to Explora, and there are both new artworks and old favorites included in the collection, which will be shown in groupings throughout the museum.

LEARN MORE

Water Flow Patio Re-opens

Get an up-close look at a collection of wonderful automata, which are artistic mechanical sculptures. These intricately hand-crafted artworks are making Explora their exclusive stop in New Mexico. This is the second visit of Cabaret Mechanical Theatre automata to Explora, and there are both new artworks and old favorites included in the collection, which will be shown in groupings throughout the museum.

EXHIBIT NEWS

Permanent Exhibits

Water of Life; Life of Water

Explore the wonders of water with our refreshed collection of liquid-based exhibits!

Play with waves and water drops, build streams and waterfalls, and create eddies, vortices, bubbles, and more. Experiment with brand-new experiences and have fun with familiar classics. Make a splash at Explora!

Explore the Exhibits

My name is Manchas, which means “spots” in Spanish!

Leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) are native to central Asia. They can range in color from muted brown to bright yellow or orange, but all have leopard-like spots. Geckos dine primarily on insects, but they also will eat small mammals and reptiles.
Fun fact: Like many lizards, leopard geckos’ tails pop off easily to help them escape from predators, but they usually regrow later.

¡Me llamo Manchas!

Los geckos leopardo (Eublepharis macularius) son nativos de Asia central. Su color puede variar desde el marrón apagado hasta el amarillo brillante o el naranja, pero todos tienen manchas similares a las del leopardo. Los geckos se alimentan principalmente de insectos, pero también comen pequeños mamíferos y reptiles.
Dato curioso: al igual que muchos lagartos, los geckos leopardo pierden fácilmente la cola para
escapar de los depredadores, pero normalmente les vuelve a crecer más tarde.

Family Science at Tiguex Park

Tiguex Park is officially home to nine new interactive STEAM exhibitions!

In partnership with the City of Albuquerque Parks & Recreation Department, community groups, and area residents, we worked together to create nine new outdoor STEAM exhibits designed to engage families in play, curiosity, and shared learning.

On Thursday, November 13, 2025, our Exhibits team spent the afternoon exploring the installations with students from San Felipe de Neri School, chatting with them about how each piece connects movement, science, and discovery. Their energy brought the exhibits to life in the best way!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported this project from start to finish!

"We drove from Boulder, CO just to come here. Who needs Disneyland when you’ve got Explora? Thanks."

- Visitor’s Comment

Explora's Permanent Exhibits

Download a map of Explora's exhibits

Ball Run

Engineering Gravity / La ingeniería de la gravedad

Experiment with balls and ramps to slow down the effects of gravity. How can you use friction, slope, and momentum to send a marble down a ramp on a pegboard wall?

Electricity

Charges, Currents, and Circuits / Descargas, corrientes y circuitos

Experiment with electricity. How can you make electricity? What does electricity need in order to flow and do the work we want it to do? What happens to electricity transmitted over a distance? How does a switch work? Can you make a light bulb turn on with only two wires?

Bubbles

Curious Bubbles/ Burbujas Curiosas

Investigate properties of bubbles. From micro bubbles to giant bubbles and everything in between. Will your bubbles stack? Which size of bubble will float for the longest amount of time?

Water

Water of Life; Life of Water / Agua de la vida; La vida del agua

Explore water and its unique characteristics. Is water sticky? Can it flow uphill? What patterns will water make when different objects interrupt its flow?

Water Flow Patio

Outdoor water exhibits. These exhibits are a little bit wetter than our indoor water exhibits, and offer just as many possibilities for experimentation and investigation into the intriguing properties of water. Can you build a dam out of LEGO® DUPLO® blocks? What happens when you pump water into a water tower that’s ten feet tall? Can you move a solar panel so it powers a fountain of your own design?

LEGO® and DUPLO® are a trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this web site.

Air

Moving Air / Aire en movimiento

Experiment with air and the things it can do. What happens when you squeeze air? What is the best way to cut a paper cup to help it fly? Is there a relationship between air speed and air pressure?

Knee-Hi Sci

Hands-on area specifically designed for our youngest visitors to safely engage.

$Children and a docent interacting with a digital math exhibit$

Math

Math Moves! / ¡Movidas matemáticas!

Get a feel for proportion – fractions, ratios, similarity, scaling, and percentages. Can you balance weight the same way you balance an equation? Why might a 120-tooth gear create a 5-segmented pattern when driven by a 24-tooth gear? What might the pattern be when a 36-tooth gear drives the 120? How do the locations of a weight or of pivot points change the force needed to lift a lever?

A hand interacting with a red laser experiment

Light and shadow

Light, Shadow, Color / Luz, sombra, color

Investigate light. Can you make light bounce? What affects how much light will bend? What makes things focused or blurry? What makes a shadow big or small? What produces a yellow shadow?

Children and a docent interacting with a digital math exhibit

Rotary Pavilion

The Rotary Pavilion

How would you build something you can sit inside? What can you transport using a wheelbarrow, a basket, or a 20-foot conveyor belt? In our “Working Together to Build a Village” exhibit area, tabletop and large-scale materials invite experimentation with architecture design, engineering, and construction. Families can build together, while enjoying a view of the Sandia Mountains.

Explorations

KneeHiSci

Experiments for our youngest visitors.

Arts and Crafts Workshop / Taller de artes manuales y artesanías

Work with recycled materials for making anything you can imagine. Can you make an object that is physically or visually balanced? Can you make something that doesn’t look like anything else?

Experiment Bar / Barra de experimentación

Microscopes, Pigments, Chromatography… You never know what you’ll encounter in our Experiment Bar. Activities change throughout the month, and are available for visitors to drop in and explore during their visit.

Curious Bubbles / Burbujas curiosas

Blow, pop, dip, float, and swirl while you investigate all the amazing properties of bubbles in our bubble exhibit space. We have big bubbles and micro bubbles and everything in between with our exhibits built right here at Explora!

Riding the High Wire Bike two stories high / Montando la bicicleta de cuerda floja a dos pisos de altura

For safety reasons you must meet these requirements:

Height: Taller than 56 inches, but shorter than 6 feet 5 inches

Weight: Less than 225 pounds

Paradox Café / Café de las paradojas

Explore your perception. Are your eyes or your brain telling you the truth? How can our eyes be misled? How do black, white, shades of grey, and shadow affect our brains’ interpretations?

Rotary Pavilion

How would you build something you can sit inside? What can you transport using a wheelbarrow, a basket, or a 20-foot conveyor belt? In our “Working Together to Build a Village” exhibit area, tabletop and large-scale materials invite experimentation with architecture design, engineering, and construction. Families can build together, while enjoying a view of the Sandia Mountains.

Sketch Theater!

Imagine, sketch, and release your very own animated character into the digital world. Watch as it comes to life in teamLab’s interactive installation from Japan. Explora will alternate the Sketch Aquarium with Sketch Town.