Te Papa Wellington

Room for discovery

What can you explore?

• Two Discovery Centres feature hands-on educational exhibits, games, books, Pacific creativity, and te ao Māori-focused puzzles and taonga.
• StoryPlace offers preschoolers and caregivers museum-themed play, games, storytelling, and song in hosted 45-minute sessions.
• The museum combines Māori and Pacific taonga, a colossal squid, natural-history exhibitions, and the national art collection.

Suggested interest ages

Suggested interests: ages 3–17

Editorial age guidance

Editorial planning range only—not an admission rule or a claim of guaranteed suitability. The broad 3–17 range reflects the museum’s mix of exhibitions and family-oriented discovery spaces; the youngest age is a planning estimate for children likely to engage with exhibits, not a provider cutoff. Te Papa describes Discovery Centres as for children up to 12 accompanied by an adult, and StoryPlace as exclusively for preschoolers and caregivers (its listed preschool ticket category is 1–5, with babies under one also accommodated). These sub-attraction descriptions do not establish a whole-museum minimum or maximum age.

Visitor planning notes

The museum is open daily 10am–6pm except Christmas Day at 55 Cable Street. New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand enter the museum free; international visitors aged 16 and older pay NZ$35, under-16 international visitors are free, and paid exhibitions/experiences can cost extra. Parents’ rooms with nappy-changing facilities and breastfeeding chairs are on Levels 1, 2, and 5. Strollers/pushchairs are not permitted inside StoryPlace; a free stroller park is just outside. Confirm current prices and accessibility needs with the provider.