I’m a huge music nerd, so when I first heard about a musical play space in Durham called Notasium I KNEW I had to go. It was far from my house but worth the drive! I was even more excited when they opened a second Notasium location in Cary! It was closer and easier to get to and was even bigger than the Durham location!

Seating area for Parents

Notasium has seriously thought of EVERYTHING. When you enter you are greeted by tons of seating for parents and caregivers. It’s setup like a play cafe where you can sit and work or eat and still see the kids. I just wish they served food. I’d come here for lunch all of the time! (They do have a small snack selection available for purchase if your kids get hangry!)

The kids play area is fully enclosed with a half-wall and they even have childproof doorknob covers so your kids can’t escape. Although, why would they ever want to!?

Don’t forget Socks!

Socks are required for kids AND adults. I didn’t realize that the first time we went, but they do have socks available to purchase for $1 if you forget. They were actually cute little socks with musical notes on them, so I was excited to get them!

The Guitar Slide

The main attraction in the room is the giant guitar slide that plays music as you climb and as you slide down. I have a little bit of a love/hate relationship with this thing. It’s a little tricky to get up so kids that shouldn’t be climbing it usually can’t get up it anyway, which is great. But even if your kid CAN get up the main guitar string ladder just fine, they might have trouble with the musical note climbing wall.

After successfully going up the ladder many times, my 3 year old got brave and decided to try the climbing wall. Needless to say, it wasn’t pretty when I had to climb up there and rescue her. Luckily they have climbing shoes available for adults or there’s no way I would have made it. Those tiny steps are NOT made for adult-sized feet! I’m really glad my almost 2 year old couldn’t get up it or I would have been in trouble!

To the left of the guitar slide is a foot pedal organ for you to sit and play. It was fun to experiment with this thing! I had seen them played in church as a kid but never realized how hard it is to play with your feet!

Bouncy Houses

There’s also an inflatable bouncy house that plays like a drum. As the kids jump there’s a sensor that plays the drums, so they’re making music while they play!

Perform on the Stage

Surprisingly, my kids favorite thing to do is go up on the stage and play the piano. I don’t really know why this is their favorite thing since there are so many over fun things at Notasium, but they usually end up spending most of their time on the stage or the guitar slide.

Interactive Musical Exhibits

Scattered throughout the space are multiple interactive exhibits that teach the kids about music! Even the climbing structures play music once they’re stepped on.

One of the coolest things there are the Touch Notes walls, which play sounds as your child touches different parts of the wall. There’s a wall that goes over the loudness and softness of music, one that plays different instruments, and one that plays music from around the world. There are also two different stations that teach you how to play familiar songs like “twinkle twinkle little star”.

I also can’t forget to mention the giant foot piano, just like you may have seen in the movie Big! My husband and I had fun trying to play chopsticks together, but the kids usually just ran down the keys as fast as they could!

Two Story Playhouse

For the smaller ones, there’s a smaller slide and a playhouse with pots and pans to bang on. The playhouse has an upstairs area that has an electronic drum set so the kids can rock out to their heart’s content. My almost 2 year old was able to get up and down the stairs easily.

In the corner there’s a second bounce house that resembles a giant xylophone. There’s also an interactive projection xylophone that will play as you step on it. Kids loved running down it just like on the piano.

Karaoke Rooms

My kids and I had so much fun in the karaoke rooms. They are completely sound proof so we went in and blasted the music and sang and danced our hearts out! It helps that they have just about every song you can imagine, including “Let it Go” and The Greatest Showman Soundtrack. 😉 There are also colorful lights that make for a perfect dance party!

Music Lessons

In addition to open play, Notasium also offers music classes for all ages including general music for toddlers, guitar, ukulele, drums, and piano lessons. If you’re interested in trying out their music lessons, there’s currently a groupon available (*can end at any time)!

I peeked in on a toddler music class and they were all sitting quietly on the floor hitting their bells when the instructor pointed to their note. It looked like such a great class! And for most classes, you get to participate in open play for free the day you have your class.

Birthday Party Venue

Saturdays are reserved for Birthday parties so unfortunately there’s no open play that day. I haven’t been to a birthday party here, but it would be the perfect venue! It’s big and has tons of tables and seating.

Admission

Admission to Notasium is a little bit more expensive than some of the other play spaces in town, but you won’t have the same musical play experience anywhere else. There are memberships and punch passes available to lower the cost. Also, once you pay for the day you can leave and come back as much as you want! We usually go play in the morning, go home for lunch and naps, and then drive back out to play some more around dinner time. We’ve even packed a picnic dinner and ate there so we can stay and play longer!

Go see for yourself how awesome this place is! If you’re looking for other indoor play spaces, view our list here.