EdVenture, Children's museum in Columbia, United States

EdVenture is a children's museum in Columbia, South Carolina, spread across several floors with hands-on exhibits covering science, technology, arts, and math for children up to around age 12. Every exhibit is designed for direct participation, so children touch, build, and try things rather than just look at them.

EdVenture opened in 2003 on the campus of the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, at 211 Gervais Street. The two institutions share the site but are not affiliated. The museum occupies about 92,000 square feet, with roughly 40,000 square feet of galleries, labs and visitor facilities and some 350 interactive exhibits.

Eddie is a giant model of the human body that children can walk through to see organs and body systems up close. This kind of hands-on interaction is central to how the museum works and what draws families back.

The museum is open most days of the week and tends to be busiest on weekends and during school breaks. Arriving early in the morning gives families more room to move through the exhibits comfortably.

EdVenture shares its campus with the South Carolina State Museum, but the two institutions are not affiliated despite standing side by side. The museum opened in 2003 and holds about 350 individual interactive exhibits, with roughly 40,000 square feet given over to galleries, labs and visitor facilities. Look for the black "EdVenture" letters mounted across the lower glass curtain wall of the entrance.