The Works is an educational hands-on kids museum located about 45 minutes east of Columbus in Newark, Ohio. We had a blast building cars to race, learning about the old Ohio canals, watching a glass blowing artist create a vase, and playing on the interurben railway car (popular mode of transportation in Ohio from 1900 – 1930). The staff was friendly and knowledgeable, the museum had exhibits to keep kids busy all day long, and we didn’t have to pack a lunch because their grill had great lunch options. My three-year old loved playing; and the five to eight year olds in our group were engaged learners as we took a tour through the Licking County Museum on the second floor.
It was an easy drive, but when you get into the town watch the street signs closely because they are small. The street we turned on to get to The
Works resembled an alley. Once we found it there was plenty of free parking and a very short walk to the entrance, and our COSI membership got us in for free. The first thing we did was build cars and race them. There was a huge table filled with various pieces and parts to build little toy cars or motorcycles, and instructions if your imagination doesn’t work in a mathematical way (I built a number of cars that didn’t quite roll). Then the kids took them to a small track and raced them down an incline.
Our children bounced from exhibit to exhibit learning about making proper food choices, how the body works, learning about exercise, electricity, and then to a little pretend play area that resembled a farm. Once we experienced the fun on the main floor, we headed back in time to the Licking County Museum. On display were a ton of historical items, such as: the Mastedon skeleton they found in ’89, a Civil War uniform and drum, small scale replica of the canals and railroad systems in Ohio, and much more. The condition of the stuff on display and the information they listed was 
incredible! I wanted to spend more time just reading through everything, but the kiddies were hungry.
We headed down to the The Grill at The Works for lunch. Plenty of seating and cafeteria-style service with kid and adult choices made lunch easy and fun. We even received 10% off because we were visiting the museum. After lunch we toured the interurban, or electric trolley car, and headed to the glass blowing studio for a demonstration. We had a great day!
The Works
55 S. First Street
Newark, OH 43058
(740) 349-9277
www.attheworks.org
A few tips:
- If you have a COSI membership admission is free. If not, check out their rates here: Hours and Rates.
- They have a courtyard where you can eat a packed lunch or snack, but if you don’t feel like packing The Grill is yummy.
- Strollers would be hard to maneuver. Consider carrying/wearing baby.
- Watch their site or sign up for their newsletter for upcoming events.
- There is a place to hang coats, but no lockers.
