Lancaster Science Factory is a hands-on science center for children. There are many interactive exhibits that cover a wide-range of STEM activities.
The Science Factory is located at 454 New Holland Avenue in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It’s located beside the Cork Factory Hotel, which is in the northeast side of the city. The entrance is on the side of the building.
Lancaster Science Factory Parking
Free parking while visiting the Science Factory is located across the street from the Science Center. The parking lot is fairly large, but could fill if it’s a particularly busy day. A few yards down the street from the parking lot is a crosswalk to cross the street to access Science Factory.
Major Exhibits
The Science Factory caters to kids in Kindergarten through 8th grade. There are over 75 exhibits throughout the building. All of the exhibits are on one floor.
The main categories of exhibits include: light and vision, electricity and magnetism, mechanics and motion, structural engineering, acoustics and sound, fluid dynamics, and puzzles, math and logic.
There’s a large maker space inside the Science Factory that has certain hours for creating and experimenting.
The favorite exhibits tend to include the water lab, which shows children how dams, valves, and other water movement works. There are raincoats available for children playing in this area, as kids can get a bit wet! Boats and interactive dam creation make it a fun learning experience with water.
Another fun, hands-on activity is creating paper airplanes and using airplane launchers to try to make it through the hoops. It’s a fun game to see if an airplane can fly far enough to make it through the farthest target. Redesign the airplane to see if it can go farther!
Throughout the Science Factory, there’s plenty to build and experience. Kids can sit at tables and follow along with the design activities or be creative!
A newer addition to the Lancaster Science Factory is the sky bridge. It’s located at the front of the museum, and is open to all ages. Shoes can be kept on for climbing, and there’s two entrance / exit ramps that are fairly low to the ground.
Another favorite area of the science factory is the bubble zone. In this area, there’s a circular system for creating a bubble around you! There’s also a bubble play area with many large circles to make large bubbles, and a long bubble area that makes a wall of bubbles!
Science Factory Policies
Tickets can now be reserved in advance. Food is not allowed in the Science Factory, but there are many dining options in the city of Lancaster. For more information about their current policies, visit the Lancaster Science Factory’s website.
Looking for more fun activities for kids in Lancaster?
Check out this post with a full list of things to do with kids in Lancaster:
20 Things to Do in Lancaster with Kids
