Let the Kids Play at the Children's Museum of Naples (C'MON)

By any measure, The Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples — C’MON! for short — is a spectacular place. Its whimsically colorful exterior beckons with a promise of fun. It looks like an overgrown playhouse — which it pretty much is.

Build it and learn, at The Golisano Children's Museum of Naples.

C’MON! is meant for children from birth to age 14. “No adults are allowed without a child and no children are allowed without an adult.

Inside the two-story, 30,000-square-foot space, the shapes and colors intensify. Thirteen different stations — from a nature house evoking the four seasons (including an artificial igloo) to the World Café (studying Papa New Guinea during our visit) — offer kids and their parents a stimulating array of activities. 

On a steamy late-August Thursday morning, with the museum’s AC a blessing, it was mostly toddlers bustling around. At 11:30, young staff members led a dance session to a children’s song. Some kids hugged close to their moms, while others jumped right in, and one little girl took to it with the commitment of a Broadway audition.

Children enjoy Interactive Learning at The Golisano Children's Museum of Naples.

Conveniently located inside North Collier Regional Park and near the Sun-N-Fun Lagoon waterpark, C’MON!, which opened in 2012, has become a significant tourism draw. The museum welcomes 150,000 visitors a year. During the winter months, more than half come from outside the Paradise Coast. Parents and kids from all 50 states and 39 countries have been enchanted by this remarkable facility.