Eureka! Halifax

Two floors of fun and educational games, designed for children up to the age of 12. The ground floor houses a mini-television studio and music room, a town square, with a scaled-down branch of Marks & Spencer, post office, bank, roadworks section and garage - changing wheels on the cars is a very popular activity. Eureka's 'house' covers both floors, with a see-through lavatory to learn how plumbing works, a kitchen and bedroom. The largest section is Me and My Body with giant tongues and eyeballs to touch and a Jaggeresque mouth to play inside - complete with wobbly tooth. Younger children have their own space with musical flowers and a ball pool.

Eureka is open seven days a week (except 24-26 December) 10am-5pm. Children aged three-12, £4.75, adults and children over 12, £5.75. Free admission for children under three. Discovery Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX1 2NE. (01422 330012/www.eureka.org.uk)

Science Museum, London

In a museum generally strong on buttons to push and levers to pull, Launch Pad goes to enjoyable extremes. Children can play with a two-way mirror, check out electrical currents and walk along a suspension bridge that sways just a little less than the Millennium Bridge. The two most popular exhibits are the grain depot - a series of cogs and wheels that needs teamwork to move grain around a circuit - and giant sound dishes that beam voices across the gallery. From 3 July, Launch Pad will be part of the Science Museum's Wellcome Wing, incorporating Pattern Pod for the under-eights.

The Science Museum is open seven days a week, 10am-6pm. Adults £6.95 before 4.30pm, free after that time, children 16 and under free at all times. Closed 27 June, 24-26 December. Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2DD. (0870 870 4868/www.nmsi.ac.uk). The Wellcome Wing opens to the public on 3 July.

Brooklyn Children's Museum

A sustaining chunk of the Big Apple - visitors can check out the Yankee Stadium, jump rope and make pizza at this venerable children's museum, founded in 1899. Other exhibits include nature trails and the chance to play musical instruments from around the world. This summer sees a major exhibition based on the Sesame Street characters.

145 Brooklyn Avenue. (00 1 718 735 4400/ ny.com/museums/brooklyn.children.museum). Open Saturday, Sunday and most school holidays 10am-5pm; Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 2pm-5pm. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. $4 (£2.47).

The Children's Museum, Boston

Aiming to get younger children in the museum habit, the Children's Museum in Boston will be opening Playspace this summer - an area aimed at those aged up to three and fitted out with (skill-enhancing) toys. Older children can learn about the big outdoors by camping inside the newly enlarged museum, play on a giant desktop, take to the stage, find out how Japanese families live and learn the importance of blowing bubbles in the Science Centre.

300 Congress Street, Boston (00 1 617 426 8855/www.bostonkids.org). Open daily 10am-5pm, (9pm on Fridays). Adults $7 (£4.33), children $6 (£3.71), one-year-olds $2 (£1.24), under-ones free. Admission $1 (62p) on Fridays between 5-9pm.

Chicago Children's Museum

Pint-sized fans of ER can play in their own mini-hospital in this staggeringly well-equipped children's museum at Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. Other options include watching the forest come alive in the Treehouse Trails, getting lost in the Playmaze and becoming very wet building a dam in the Waterways section. Kids on the Fly is a branch of the museum at O'Hare Airport.

700 East Grand Avenue at Navy Pier, Chicago. (00 1 312 527 1000/www.chichildrens.museum.org) Open daily 10am-5pm (Thursday until 8pm), $6.50 (£4.02). Admission free on Thursdays from 5-8pm. Children under one admitted free.

Port Discovery, the Kid-Powered Museum, Baltimore

Further blurring the line drawn between theme parks and children's museums, this highly rated activity centre was put together with help from Disney Imagineering. Exhibits include Adventure Exploration - where children follow hieroglyphic clues to find a pharaoh's tomb and Miss Perception's Mystery House. There's also a three-storey climbing frame. For children under six there's the Sensation Station - with scaled-down climbing and crawling frames, books and toys.

35 Market Place, Baltimore, MD 21202. Tuesday to Sunday 10am-5:30pm (00 1 410 727 8120) (Closed Mondays, except for special school holidays) Open daily 29 May - 6 September. Adults $10 (£6.18), three-12 years $7.50 (£4.64), younger children free.

Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia

Particularly good for younger children - most of the activities and exhibits are geared towards those aged between one and seven. Exhibits include a miniature television studio, supermarket, tiny planes, trains and automobiles but the highlight is probably the play area based on Maurice Sendak's books - including oversized props based on his famous Where the Wild Things Are .

210 North 21st Street (21st and Race Streets). (00 1 215 963 0666/www.pleasetouchmuseum.org) Open daily 9am-4:30pm, 6pm summer. $6.95 (£4.30), children under one free.

Children's Discovery Museum of San José

Widely considered to be the best children's museum on the US West Coast, it offers an innovative child-centred presentation of past and present, from a turn-of-the-century house and porch with household implements and furnishings of the period, to a banking system and Jesse's Clubhouse - a multi-level tower with a video effects system which allows images and perspectives to be changed.

180 Woz Way, San José, California (001 408 298 5437/www.cdm.org) Open Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday noon-5pm $6 (£3.71) , children aged under one free.

newMetropolis, Amsterdam

From the ashes of the now-closed Technologie museum has risen a brand new children's museum. With an eye to the future, exhibits include computer games where players trade information, money and places, while the energy section juggles lifestyle and the environment. Younger children have their own area to play, dress up as scientists or doctors, then watch themselves on television afterwards. 'Hosts' are on hand to help with language difficulties.

Oosterdok 2, Amsterdam. (00 31 20 5313233/www.newmet.nl). Open during school holidays 10am-6pm. Otherwise Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday to Sunday 10am-6pm Adults Dfl20 (£5.46), children aged between four-16 Dfl15 (£4.09), children aged three and under free.

Experimentarium, Copenhagen

Housed on the site of a former beer factory, older children can get drunk on fun with water, create their own perfume from a range of scents or use a simulator to see if they have the makings of a championship goalkeeper. Smaller children are catered for in the Kid's Pavilion, where they can dance through the poppy wood, play with mirrors and build a house with a crane.

Tuborg Havnevej 7, Hellerup. (00 45 3927 3333/www.experimentarium.dk) Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9am-5pm, Tuesday 9am-9pm. Weekends and bank holidays 11am-5pm. Adults DKK79 (£6.38), children aged between three-14 DKK57 (£4.60), children two and under free.

Citie des Enfants, Paris

Part of the Citie des Sciences complex just outside Paris. Younger visitors get to build a house using cranes and polystyrene bricks, while older children learn about machines, the body and communication. Adults are kept in their place, allowed to observe rather than encouraged to participate with their children. More structured than most - but impressive.

Citie des Sciences et de l'Industrie, 30 av Corentin-Cariou, 19th (00 33 1 40 05 8000/www.cite-sciences.sgip.fr). Open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday (reservations advised to join the sessions). Day pass to Citie des Sciences 50F (£4.59), children aged under 16 F35 (£3.21). Sessions at Citie des Enfants cost F25.

Tokyo Metropolitan Children's Museum

With lessons in making origami and a pottery studio, there's an obvious reason for creative children to visit. For the less dextrous, there's a library of the stylised and collectable Manga cartoon comics and English language books as well as several play areas, including computers, a space area and an old Japanese farmhouse to explore. At night, the hall becomes the preferred place in Tokyo for teenagers to try out their hip-hop skills.

1-18-24 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku (Tel: 00 81 3 3409 6361). Open daily 9am-5pm (6pm in July and August) but closed two Mondays a month. Free.