Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

Ask Palo Alto parents where to take a toddler on a gray morning and most will name the JMZ. The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo is a city-run science museum and small zoo on Middlefield Road, built for children who are still learning to walk up to kids in early elementary school. It is compact, hands-on and gentle in scale. A visit takes two hours at most, which is about as long as small children last anyway.

The JMZ reopened in 2021 in a completely rebuilt facility, so if you remember the old low buildings, expect something very different. This guide covers its history, what is inside, how the timed tickets work and some tips for a smooth visit.

History since 1934

The JMZ began in 1934, when Josephine O'Hara started a small children's museum in the basement of a local elementary school. Its supporters describe it as the first children's museum west of the Mississippi. It later moved to a permanent home beside Rinconada Park and parts of the old buildings there dated to 1941.

Community volunteers formed the Associates of the Palo Alto Junior Museum in 1962. In 1969 the museum added a zoo, which at first showed mostly native California wildlife. The Associates reorganized in 1990 as the Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, a nonprofit that still raises money for the museum. In 1999 the Friends started a science outreach program for elementary schools in the Ravenswood City School District and they have helped fund it ever since.

The rebuilt museum and zoo

By the 2010s the old buildings needed major repairs. Planning for a new JMZ started in 2012 with CAW Architects and Portico Design Group. In December 2017 the Palo Alto City Council unanimously approved a reconstruction budgeted at about $25 million and the Friends completed a capital campaign that raised more than $25 million. Construction began in 2018 and the new JMZ opened to the public in 2021.

According to the JMZ, usable space grew from about 19,000 to 34,000 square feet. The museum hall is larger and there are new classrooms for its education programs. The facility has 27 exhibits built on universal design principles, meaning they work for children and adults with a wide range of abilities. Since the reopening, the Friends have kept adding pieces: the California Dinosaur Garden opened in 2023 and the Rainbow Tunnel arrived in 2026.

The zoo and its animals

The zoo is the part most children remember. It sits under a protective netted roof, so birds fly overhead while visitors walk among the exhibits. A tree house runs through the middle with rope bridges, ladders, net tubes and platforms and it is wheelchair accessible. The JMZ counts about 400 animals of 60 species.

Here are some of the residents listed on the JMZ's wildlife pages:

• Birds: American flamingos, scarlet ibises, a bald eagle, a red-tailed hawk, green-winged macaws, a hamerkop, a violet turaco and a Von der Decken's hornbill.
• Mammals: slender-tailed meerkats, ring-tailed lemurs, raccoons and domestic rabbits.
• Reptiles and amphibians: an African spurred tortoise, a pig-nosed turtle, a veiled chameleon, uromastyx lizards and yellow-banded poison dart frogs.
• Fish and insects: Lake Malawi cichlids and Madagascar hissing cockroaches.

Look for the crawl-in log inside the museum that lets small children pop up inside the meerkat exhibit. The Animal Ambassador Adventure program offers closer encounters and the JMZ posts details on its site.

Museum exhibits

Indoors, the museum leans toward play-based science. Highlights include:

• Ball Machine area, one of the busiest corners on a weekend morning for hands-on physics play.
• California Dinosaur Garden, an outdoor space with a tree house and Bruno the snapping turtle's exhibit.
• Baby area and a block building zone for the youngest visitors.
• A collections exhibit drawn from the museum's own holdings.
• Sensory nooks and a sensory room for children who need a quiet break.

A few exhibits sit outside the ticketed area and are free to enjoy whenever the JMZ is open. These include the Rainbow Tunnel, a boulder hop in the bioswale, a nature play area, an outdoor model of the solar system built at a scale of one to ten billion and Sway, a pendulum artwork by Charles Sowers.

Tickets and hours

Book ahead. The JMZ sells timed tickets online and says it cannot guarantee entry without an advance reservation. Entry windows start at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. You can arrive any time after your window opens and stay as long as you like. Tickets are non-refundable.

Reduced tickets are for income-eligible families or families with a member who has a disability. Bring proof of participation in a qualifying program such as EBT, WIC, Medicaid or free and reduced-price school lunch. Members must reserve free tickets online and show ID at the door. Prices can change, so confirm on the JMZ tickets page.

The JMZ is open Tuesday through Sunday and closed on Mondays. It has opened at 10 a.m. and closed at 5 p.m., but the JMZ says that from November 1, 2026 it will close at 4:30 p.m. It closes fully on Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, Christmas and New Year's Day and it closes early on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. See the visit page for the current schedule.

The Rinconada Park setting

The JMZ sits at the edge of Rinconada Park, one of the city's large community parks. That matters for families. The park has a renovated playground, a picnic area, outdoor exercise equipment and open lawns, so you can stretch a short museum visit into a whole morning. Food and drinks other than water are not allowed inside the museum, zoo or courtyard, but you can eat in the park or in front of the building and get a hand stamp to go back in.

The Palo Alto Art Center and Rinconada Library sit right next to the park. The Art Center runs free Family Days a few times a year. Gamble Garden is a short drive or stroll away for a quieter walk afterward. In winter the Winter Lodge ice rink, farther south on Middlefield Road, makes a good second stop for older kids.

Tips for families

1. Take the 10 a.m. slot. Toddlers are freshest in the morning and an early start leaves time for the park afterward.
2. Leave the stroller. Stroller parking is limited and the JMZ suggests leaving strollers at home. A carrier works better for babies.
3. Pack a picnic. Only water is allowed inside, so bring food to eat in Rinconada Park.
4. Stay home if anyone is sick. The JMZ asks sick visitors to skip their visit to protect its birds from avian flu.
5. Use the accessibility tools. Tactile maps, braille and easy-to-read signs, assisted listening devices and downloadable audio tours are available and labels are in English and Spanish.
6. Leave pets at home. Service animals are welcome on a leash or harness, but pets and emotional support animals are not allowed.

Parking is free in the JMZ lot and on nearby streets and there are free bike racks out front. The museum is about a mile from downtown, so biking is easy for local families. Our getting around guide has more on bikes and buses.

For a full day of kid-friendly ideas around town, including the Baylands and the Magical Bridge Playground, read our Palo Alto with kids guide. Visiting from out of town with family? Browse vacation rentals with room for everyone, or compare family hotels in Palo Alto.

Frequently asked questions