The magnetic building tiles that cover half the living room floors in South Florida are getting their own museum exhibit, and Fort Lauderdale built it. The Original MAGNA-TILES Experience, created by the Museum of Discovery and Science, opens Friday, Oct. 9, at the museum on SW Second Street and runs through Jan. 4, 2027. After that, it leaves on a national tour, starting with Chicago's Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in spring 2027.

That order matters. Plenty of traveling exhibits arrive here after years on the road. This one starts in Broward, made by a Broward museum, and every other city gets it after us.

How MODS got here

The Museum of Discovery and Science has been building with Magna-Tiles for a while. Its permanent MAGNA-TILES Studio, a rainbow-colored play space stocked with more than 10,000 magnetic shapes, opened in 2024 and quickly became one of the most loved rooms in the building. In 2025, the museum and the brand announced they would turn that idea into the first traveling museum exhibit created through their partnership, designed to visit children's museums and science centers well beyond Florida.

The new exhibit is that traveling version, and its first run is at home.

Three zones to build in

The exhibit covers 2,500 square feet, divided into three areas:

  • Build + Dream, for imaginative play, with climbing environments built into the space
  • Build + Create, where the translucent tiles meet light and color
  • Build + Test, with collaborative engineering challenges and experiments with magnetism

The goal is the same thing parents notice at home: kids who start out stacking squares end up thinking about balance, symmetry, forces and why one tower stands while another falls. The museum frames it as early engineering, and it is also simply a great place to spend a morning.

October weekends at MODS

To go with the opening, every October weekend at the museum is a Dream, Create & Test Weekend, with new build challenges and hands-on experiments with magnetic force. They run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

The museum's fall season also includes I AM WILD: A Charley Harper Exhibit, an immersive walk through six habitats inspired by the artist's bold, geometric wildlife art, on view through Jan. 11, 2027. Inside, kids can make their own Harper-inspired artwork in The Art Studio, play with multisensory versions of his posters at the Interactive Habitat Poster Kiosk and hunt for animals in The Woodland Ball Run. It is presented by Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, Brightline and Florida Prepaid College Savings Plans, and it pairs neatly with the Magna-Tiles galleries for a full day. Adults have their own night on Friday, Oct. 23, when MODS holds its 30th annual Wine, Spirits & Culinary Celebration, which supports the museum's STEMobile outreach program. On Halloween, the museum hosts Baby's First Halloween.

Tickets and timing

MODS is at 401 SW Second Street on the Riverwalk in downtown Fort Lauderdale, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The museum's Discovery Pass covers its exhibitions, live science demonstrations, one HoloTheater experience and one IMAX documentary. South Florida residents pay $26.50 for adults, $20 for children 1 to 12 and $24.50 for seniors 65 and up when buying online. Non-resident online prices are $29.50, $24 and $27.50. Buying online saves a couple of dollars over the walk-up price.

With a run of just under three months before it heads north, the exhibit will be busiest on weekends and over the winter holidays. A weekday morning in October or November is the sweet spot for toddlers and preschoolers. Plan for a second visit: this is the kind of room kids ask to go back to.