Studies suggest that mixing education with playtime is the second most effective method of learning for children, after books-on-tape read by Rupert Murdoch. Help your youngsters digest knowledge with today's Groupon. For $6, you get a general admission ticket (for anyone age 2 and up) to the Port Discovery Children's Museum near the Inner Harbor (a $12.95 value).

Named one of the top five children’s museums in the nation by Child magazine, Port Discovery features a profusion of exhibits and programs designed to entertain and engage children ages 2 through 10 (though all ages are welcome). Like earthworm petting zoos, the museum’s three floors of kid-focused fun are rooted in interactivity, with various permanent exhibits giving kids the chance to go shopping, erect structures, create artwork, solve mysteries, and more. The Wonders of Water exhibit introduces human tadpoles to water chimes, a stream table, a bubble hoop, and other vital imports from Atlantis, while KidWorks, a three-story urban tree house, gives them a chance to practice for the predominantly arboreal architecture of the future. Through January 2, 2011, Bob the Builder - Project: Build It! transports kids as though via enchanted monorail to Sunflower Valley, where they can bolster positive attitudes as they play with tools and work on projects that may directly lead to a cure for melty hands.

Port Discovery Children's Museum features stroller parking areas and allows guests to bring in bag lunches or suitcase dinners, though it offers no place to store food. The museum is open Labor Day, but it is closed Monday through Thursday during September, as well as Mondays from October through May, and Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

Expires Dec. 19, 2010. Not valid towards birthday parties. Not valid on Nov. 26 and Dec. 5.

Reviews

Parents.com rates the Port Discovery Children's Museum one of the Top Ten Children's Museums in the country. Yahoo! Travelers give it a 4.5-star average, Yelpers give it a 3.5-star average, and lilaguide parents give the museum a four-star average.

• We took a group of about 8 2-year olds from my playgroup and we had a BLAST! We all would wander together or separate and catch up somehow. There was soooo much to see and do that we didn't get to do everything the first visit there. – JillShari, lilaguide
• My kids LOVED this place. And my husband and I had a great time here acting like kids too!! It's a great place to just let your kids be kids and have a good time as a family. – Tamie, Yahoo! Traveler