This one is especially fun if you take along an uncle (like we did)...
Discovery Gateway
444 West 100 South
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
Cost: $8.50 for everyone over 1
You get a bracelet and can come and go, so you can leave to shop or get lunch.
www.childmuseum.org
This used to be the Children's Museum. I remember going there when I was a kid and it was awesome. The old one had an airplane simulation, photo shadow room (you posed against the walls and a flash imprinted your shadow for a few minutes), grocery store, and archeological dig. It closed a few years ago, and Discovery Gateway replaced it.
The new one is at the Gateway Mall. My little guy (age 2) loved it. He had more fun on the first level than the second level (which was geared for kids around 6 and up).
He particularly loved the "beehive," which was a little area where you moved balls all around the "nest" using tubes. One tube worked like the tube at the bank drive thru. You opened a little hatch, put a ball in the tube, and it sucked it up and around a maze over your head. Here he is getting a little blast of air as he opened the hatch:
The first level also has a water area, grocery store, farm, and construction area. The second level has a story area, a media area (to be a tv reporter or radio dj), and the "studio" (kind of like 20 little stations with different puzzles and games). The second level also has a patio outside with a full size helicopter the kids can play in. Here's my little guy pretending to fly:
I give it an A-. The minus is because they should give you a discount on parent admissions. 8.50 x 2 is a lot just to follow your kids around.
