Delaware Museum of Nature and Science

The museum grew from the passion of a du Pont family member who was a serious naturalist and collector, particularly of birds and shells. What began as a private scientific collection became the foundation of a public museum dedicated to natural history, opened in the region in the mid twentieth century.

Over the decades it built a reputation not just as a place to see displays but as a genuine research institution, its collections used by scientists studying the natural world. A major redesign in recent years reinvented the visitor experience around hands-on discovery, giving the old collection a fresh, interactive life while keeping its scientific heart.

For most young visitors, the dinosaurs are the main event. Life-sized reconstructions and real fossils bring the ancient past into the room, and exhibits explain how scientists read bones and rock to reconstruct creatures that vanished millions of years ago.

Around the dinosaurs, the museum tells the larger story of deep time and evolution, how life on earth has changed across vast stretches of history. Interactive stations let children play the part of paleontologist, digging, sorting, and puzzling out what the evidence means, so the wonder comes with real understanding.

One of the museum's greatest treasures is its shell collection, among the largest and most significant in North America. Assembled over many years, it holds an astonishing range of mollusk shells from around the world, from tiny jewels to great conches, and it serves both as a public display and as a scientific resource studied by researchers.

For visitors, the shells are a reminder of the diversity and beauty of life in the sea, an endless variety of form and color produced by living creatures. The collection connects the museum to the wider ocean and to the science of understanding it, far beyond the landlocked Brandywine Valley where it sits.

What sets the modern museum apart is how much of it invites touching, doing, and experimenting. Interactive galleries let children explore ecosystems, handle specimens, and test ideas, turning a museum visit into active play rather than quiet looking.

Programs, camps, and rotating exhibitions extend that spirit through the year, and the museum works hard to make science feel accessible and fun. For families in the Wilmington area or passing through the Brandywine Valley, it offers an outing that entertains and teaches in equal measure.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.