Since I am a percussionist I enjoyed seeing the history of drums and sound. This is also a great place for children to learn and there are many enter active stations and an area where they can play different drums and experience being a drummer. Many types of drums to view and on Saturday mornings they have a drum circle for everyone. You will see how drums are used in different cultures and their beginnings on up to modern age.

We visited on a Friday morning and we had the place to ourselves. My 2 year old had a blast hitting the bongo drums while my 5 year old thought he was a rock star on the full drum set. We will return when my nephews are in town. Such a great learning environment for all ages.

We went with a 5 yr old, a 6 yr old, and a 9 yr old. They all had a great time (although the 5 year old lost interest before the others.) It's a nice mix of hands-on opportunities and educational displays. Since it's a percussion experience, it's loud, and unfortunately you can hear all the other exhibit areas throughout the facility. It makes it a little hard for a child to really experience the sounds they are creating when it's mixing with everything else that others in the museum are doing. I don't know that there's much to be done about that without having really elaborate soundproof exhibit rooms. Still, the kids had fun and made lots of good music! One poor design factor is that the 'don't touch' exhibits are delineated either by being roped off, or being up on "platforms." For a young child, being up on a low platform does not translate to 'hands off'. Ropes they understand, but exhibits on platforms right next to the drums they could play was really hard to understand. The exhibits on platforms looked just as inviting as the instruments on the floor in front of our next to them. That made for some real battles and resulting disappointment. All in all, though, a great exhibit. Glad we went!

I went to this with my two daughters because they love drums and music. We had a great afternoon together learning, listening, and making music. In fact we went to lunch (there is a Panera Bread right up the escalator) and came back for more. The center is not huge but it is packed with lots to see and do. There are areas for small children to explore as well as more mature displays explaining the history of percussion. My 5 year old loved playing the "real" drum set. I will definitely be going back with my family next time we are in Indianapolis.