Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention

Little Sparks
2025-07-19 10:15 - 11:00, 2025-07-20 10:15 - 11:00, 2025-07-24 10:15 - 11:00, 2025-07-26 10:15 - 11:00, 2025-07-27 10:15 - 11:00, 2025-07-31 10:15 - 11:00, 2025-08-02 10:15 - 11:00, 2025-08-03 10:15 - 11:00 (America/New_York) and 14 more dates
A fun and interactive program that introduces littles (ages 0-5) to science concepts through music, dancing, crafting, stories, and more.
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Included in the cost of admission, no pre-registration required.

Summer Camps: Cade Astronaut Academy (Half Day)
2025-07-21 09:00 - 2025-07-25 13:00 | The Cade Museum, 811 South Main Street, Gainesville, FL, 32601, United States
Do you have what it takes to graduate from the Cade Astronaut Academy? Gear up and put on your space boots to train like a true Star Lord. Discover the special clothes astronauts wear to stay safe in space, how they travel, and what it’s like to call outer space home sweet home!
Dates: July 21–25, 2025
Grades: Rising 1st-3rd
Price: $199 per student
Register for our half day camp (9:00–1:00pm) here.
Registration closes on July 16, 2025.
For information about camp scholarships, click here.

Summer Camps: Inside Out Adventure (Full Day)
2025-07-21 09:00 - 2025-07-25 16:00 | The Cade Museum, 811 South Main Street, Gainesville, FL, 32601, United States
Do you have what it takes to graduate from the Cade Astronaut Academy? Gear up and put on your space boots to train like a true Star Lord. Discover the special clothes astronauts wear to stay safe in space, how they travel, and what it’s like to call outer space home sweet home!
Dates: July 21–25, 2025
Grades: Rising 1st-3rd
Price: $349 per student
Register for our full day camp (9:00–4:00pm) here.
Registration closes on July 16, 2025.
For information about camp scholarships, click here.

Summer Camps: Mission to Mars (Full Day)
2025-07-21 09:00 - 2025-07-25 16:00 | The Cade Museum, 811 South Main Street, Gainesville, FL, 32601, United States
Houston, we have a problem. Can you help save the mission to Mars? Become a regular Han Solo as you train to travel the galaxies and channel your inner explorer. Learn what it takes to become a NASA astronaut and get ready to embark on an intergalactic voyage.
Dates: July 21–25, 2025
Grades: Rising 4th-6th
Price: $349 per student
Register for our full day camp (9:00–4:00pm) here.
Registration closes on July 16, 2025.
For information about camp scholarships, click here.

Design + Doodle Lab: A Summer Art Pop-Up
2025-07-25 10:00 - 16:00, 2025-08-01 10:00 - 16:00, 2025-08-08 10:00 - 16:00
Unleash your creativity with a drop-in art experience for all ages. Throughout the day, we’ll offer a variety of pop-up art projects designed to inspire imagination and hands-on exploration. Prefer to follow your own muse? Head to our open art station, where you’ll find a wide range of materials and art supplies ready to become whatever masterpiece you dream up.

SparkSeekers: Homeschool Adventures | What's the Matter? Exploring the States of Matter
2025-09-04 13:00 - 15:00
The SparkSeekers program is designed to empower homeschooled students (ages 7–11) by immersing them in the captivating intersection of science and imagination through hands-on observation and experimentation. Participants will develop the skills to inquire and problem-solve, drawing inspiration from the ingenious minds of history’s greatest inventors. With an exciting new theme each month, there’s always a fresh opportunity for imaginative exploration and learning.

Price: $15 per student (ages 7–11)
Registration: Register online here or in-person at the front desk
This is a student drop-off program. Adults and children not participating in the program must purchase separate museum admission if they wish to explore the museum with the participant at the end of the program.

Exhibit Closing | Mindbender Mansion
2025-09-07 10:00 - 16:00
Enter the wonderfully puzzling world of Mindbender Mansion, a quirky place full of puzzles, brainteasers, and interactive challenges guaranteed to test the brain power and problem solving skills of even the most experienced puzzlers.
Guests to this fun and quirky mansion are invited to join the Mindbender Society by gathering hidden clues and secret passwords scattered throughout the various thematic rooms of the house. The clues and passwords are revealed by solving select brainteasers and group challenges.
Visitors are encouraged to think outside the box and collaborate with their fellow mansion guests to meet individual and group challenges, which include manipulating a tilt table, keeping up with trays on a conveyer belt, and disco hopscotch spelling.
Mindbender Mansion was produced and is toured by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Oregon, and is sponsored locally by Visit Gainesville, Alachua County.
