Nashville families can spend Halloween doing science in costume this year. On Saturday, October 31, 2026, the Adventure Science Center turns its galleries into an all-day trick-or-treating adventure, with candy throughout the center and a line-up of hands-on activities designed for curious kids, included in general admission from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Young visitors can decorate their own treat bag, craft a bat with googly eyes, hold floating Boo Bubbles, squish their way through playful slime worms, and even try playing a theremin, the wonderfully spooky instrument you play without touching it. From 9 a.m. to noon there is a real-world science bonus: Lipscomb’s College of Health Sciences brings a real cardiovascular perfusion machine, so families can see up close the kind of technology that helps keep a heart going.
Because the celebration runs during regular hours and is included in general admission, it makes an easy, weather-proof Halloween plan in Nashville, with no worrying about rain or dark streets. The center simply asks that costumes leave faces visible: no full-face costumes or toy weapons, please, so everyone can see and be seen.
The Adventure Science Center, at 800 Fort Negley Blvd., has been igniting curiosity in Middle Tennessee for generations, pairing its planetarium and exhibitions with exactly this kind of joyful, learn-by-doing day. Put on a costume, grab a treat bag and let Halloween teach a little science this year.
Photo: Adventure Science Center
