NANO – Wissenschaft begreifen - Top 10 Indoor Activities for Children

Potsdam's hands-on museum, known as Extavium until April 2024, features over 80 interactive exhibits from physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Children can dock at the ISS, watch chocolate kisses expand in a vacuum, and build mouse mazes. Experiment courses are available for ages 5 and up. For indoor activities with children, the short trip from Berlin to Potsdam is well worth it.

NANO – Understanding Science: Where Children Become Real Researchers

The NANO in Potsdam has only been called that since April 2024. Before that, the hands-on museum was called Extavium, founded in 2004 by seven parents from Potsdam, then still as Exploratorium. The renaming brought a new pedagogical orientation. The principle has remained: over 80 interactive exhibits from physics, mathematics, biology, ecology, chemistry, and computer science, all for touching and trying out. Children can dock a spaceship at the ISS, watch chocolate kisses grow in a vacuum, build mazes for mice, or photograph themselves at a thermal imaging wall. There is no guided tour; the house focuses on free exploration, but tutors are available throughout.

Experiment Courses, Show Experiments, and Children’s Birthday Parties

If you want more than just the exhibition, book an experiment course: 45 minutes, 7.50 Euros per person. Options include making slime for five- to twelve-year-olds, building wobbly robots for six- to twelve-year-olds, and experiments with the slime mold Blob for nine- to fifteen-year-olds. In addition, there are live demonstration experiments and changing thematic focuses, making a second visit worthwhile. Admission for ages 4 and up is a uniform 14 Euros for both children and adults; one adult with a child pays 26 Euros together; a group ticket for five people is 55 Euros. Children up to 3 years old are admitted free of charge. About two hours are planned for school groups, and children’s birthday parties start at 350 Euros for up to ten people.