Kids in San Diego have a brand new and ultra-cool playground that just might beat the beach. After a $29 million reincarnation, the New Children’s Museum opened in May 2008, in the lively Marina district, housed in a spectacular three-story, glass and concrete structure built from recycled materials to limit its environmental impact. "Think, play, create" is the museum’s three-fold mission: part-exhibit and part-playground, the center commissioned 19 artists to design the interactive installations collectively known as Childsplay. Kids can climb a graffiti wall, jump on walls and floors covered with mattresses, move around on kinetic "scooter" art, dance in the Porta-Party disco booth, and create art in indoor and outdoor studios using recycled and sustainable materials. Toddlers can crawl through the fabric-enhanced Texture Forest, while older kids can hang out in the Teen Studio. Special programs include puppetry and dance performances in the 250-seat theater, and come summer, the museum offers a range of educational day camp programs for kids of all ages.

Open daily except Wednesday, entry $10.

Dublin’s funky Beacon South Quarter now has an eclectic, eco-friendly museum designed especially for children. Opened in 2007, the museum has three floors filled with colorful exhibits that help kids up to the age of 10 to grow with confidence, become more self perceptive, and engage the notion of sharing. The role-playing village helps their math skills (the bank), nutritional awareness (the market), vehicle safety (the garage), and health awareness (the doctor’s office). Little ones can dress up in hard hats and tool belts to wear at the Construction Company, or don costumes, props and face paints to create imaginative scenarios in the TV studio and theater. An artist-in-residence directs the action at the studio, where kids take a turn at costume design and pottery. The Nature in the City roof garden is a great spot for budding environmentalists. The museum is usually packed on weekends, so visit midweek if you can.

Open Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday, entry €8.

Dubai’s vast Children’s City in Creekside Park was launched in March 2002 and patroned by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the current Prime Minister and ruler of the United Arab Emirates. The first of its kind in the UAE, it’s geared to children aged between two and 15. The aptly named "city" has 220 exhibits, 120 computers, 30 touch screens, and maximizes the use of technology to engage children with 3D animation, audio visuals and a planetarium. Interactive exhibits help bring out the astronomer, anthropologist, ecologist and scientist in every child. Special performances and workhops are held in the theater, and there is a special section for kids under 5. Ideal for families on holiday in Dubai.

Open daily, family ticket $10.90 (two adults, two children).

Not strictly a children’s museum in the traditional sense, Norway’s International Museum of Children’s Art is instead a cultural institution that collates, conserves and markets a range of artwork created by children from around the world. Founded in 1988, the Barnekunst Museum, as it’s called in Norwegian, is one of the biggest of its kind and emphasizes the global disparity of children’s emotional, social and cultural awareness through drawings, paintings, ceramics, sculptures, textiles and handcrafts. Housed in an Olso homestead in a low-key residential area, the museum features works from 180 different countries—including pieces made by African children using recycled wire, paper, beads and boxes. Workshops are also available, such as music led by a team of staff musicians from Norway, Argentina, the Ivory Coast and Cuba.

Open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, entry €6.25 adults, €3.75 children.

The world’s largest museum dedicated entirely to children, boasting a planetarium, children’s theater and a rock climbing wall. Founded in 1926 and expanded and enhanced over time, the 400,000-square-foot facility is like an amusement park that collided with a natural history museum. Adopting a very hands-on approach, it offers activities that develop children’s learning capacity while keeping them fully entertained. There are a multitude of interactive exhibits to explore: the ocean, outer space, construction, robots, trains, ancient civilizations, science and food. Even Sesame Street, Bob the Builder and Curious George all have their own sections. Kids fascinated with dinosaurs will be in heaven at the huge Dinosphere, a collection of 65 million-year-old dinosaur fossils.Tip: try to get there as the museum opens; you can join the helpful introductory program that covers everything the museum has to offer.

Open daily March-September; otherwise Tuesday-Sunday, entry $13.50 adults, $8.50 children (free for families first Thursday of every month 4pm-8pm).

When Archimedes ran naked through the streets of ancient Greece yelling “Eureka!”, following his science-shattering discovery of density, little did he realise it would result in a major children’s museum named in his honor. Founded in 1992 by Dame Vivien Duffield, Director of Britain’s Clore Duffield Foundation, Eureka! has seven galleries filled with more than 400 "must-touch" exhibits and a collection of body and science-oriented programs that younger children in particular will love. Located in Halifax, West Yorkshire, about a four-hour drive north of London, this modern facility is housed in a Grade I heritage-listed building. Among its highlights are a Desert Discovery habitat for children under five, a SoundGarden with musical plants, and a Town Square with grocery store, bank and post office "role-playing" areas. If you’re driving from London, plan on taking an extra day to visit the historic and fascinating city of York (its iconic Minster and excellent Viking Museum are must-sees) or other delightful West Yorkshire attractions.

Open daily, entry £7.25 (half-price after 3pm Monday-Friday during school term).

It took royalty to dream up this fantastic museum. Open since May 2007, CMJ was developed by Jordan’s Queen Rania—a passionate supporter of children’s causes—and is the largest kids’ museum in the Middle East. CMJ promotes a free-thinking approach to learning through hands-on involvement with science, arts, history and the environment. This multi-colored realm of discovery is located in Amman’s northwest quarter and is home to more than 150 interactive exhibits: kids can construct earthquake-resistant structures in the Dynamic Planet exhibit, uncover tools and vases in the Ancient Times mock-archaeology dig, or learn how to recycle and preserve water in the Energy Lab. There’s also a gift shop, restaurant, birthday room, planetarium, pretend car garage (with a real pink-and-purple Corvette), a hard hat area where a crane shifts foam bricks, and a library that houses books in Arabic and English.

Open daily except Tuesday, entry $4.25.

The brainchild of Gigi Priebe, a Connecticut-based mother of three, Norwalk’s Stepping Stones Museum for Children took eight years of tireless campaigning, fundraising and planning to bring to fruition. It has proved a resounding success, winning several awards since its inception in March 2000 and attracting an average 200,000 visitors a year. Set in five acres of Mathews Park, the museum has four galleries with more than 100 interactive exhibits and educational programs. In The Works provides the chance to "manipulate" the laws of physics and experiment with energy in all its forms; Healthyville uses role-play to help children understand their bodies via a Good Foods Market, Healthyville Community Center, and WBOD—a clever TV network broadcasting inside the body. The Rainforest Adventure inspires kids to become conservationists, and Waterscape encourages future meteorologists with whirlpools, cascades, fog, mist and ice. There’s a Toddler Terrain for littlies, Family Fun Nights to encourage child literacy, and a seasonal outdoor exhibit delving into the science of giant bubbles. Be aware: although it claims kids as old as 10 will have fun here, it is more geared towards younger children.

Open daily except Monday, entry $9.