Discovery Lab – Tulsa, OK

Discovery Lab has been igniting the curiosity of children since 2007, initially as a museum without walls. In May 2013, Discovery Lab opened their first walls in the Owen Park Recreation Center--seeing over 130,000 children and families each year including nearly 30,000 through outreach. In early 2022, the museum opened a 57,000-square-foot world-class facility in Gathering Place park that will be transformative for Tulsa’s children and families and will respond to a compelling educational need in the community.  The museum projects to impact over 300,000 children and families each year at the new site.

Inspired by best practices in informal learning, Discovery Lab offers an environment where fun and education meet hands-on. Multidisciplinary experiences and exhibits are designed to encourage process skill development and support current classroom curricula with Science,  Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) content.

Discovery Lab is an educational resource for Tulsa providing outreach museum classes to area schools and organizations, and as a field trip destination. Exhibits and programming encourage the development of executive function and process skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, creativity, and innovation. Educational content focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM), health and wellness, and complements and supplements the current school curriculum. Studies show that hands-on, informal learning experiences, like those delivered by Discovery Lab, impact reading readiness and school success.

Discovery Lab is a community hub that appeals to families regardless of income, education, or ethnicity, and impacts underserved children in many of Tulsa’s Title I schools. More than 25 percent of the students that visit on field trips and 40 percent of outreach programming are delivered at a free or reduced rate. Accessible Discovery, Discovery Lab’s financial aid program, targets children and families in need through partnerships with area school districts, the Department of Human Services, Tulsa Housing Authority, YMCA of Greater Tulsa, and Family and Children’s Services of Tulsa.

Discovery Lab inspires children, connects families, and builds community through exploration, exhibits, programming, and play. Discovery Lab's new museum at 31st and Riverside is open to the public Monday, January 24th.

Birthday Parties

Your scientist will discover their birthday in The Lab Birthday parties take place in one of our private party rooms with a birthday coordinator to assist you. You bring the cake, refreshments, and supplies and we handle the clean-up. Additional food for your party can be arranged through the Bean Sprouts Café. And, best of all, your party comes with admission to the museum for all of your guests to play at Discovery Lab before and after the party.

Accessible Discovery Program

Discovery Lab is a community hub that strives to impact families regardless of income, education, or ethnicity. The Accessible Discovery (AD) program was developed to reach that goal and increase the access and participation of underserved students and families in informal learning opportunities.

The school-based program provides financial aid for schools to plan field trips, museum classes, and outreach classes to increase the participation of underserved students at schools with a high free and reduced lunch population. The program includes three impact points for the entire school: A field trip with museum class and outreach classes back at the school site.