Give the Gift of Curiosity
Science never goes out of style! Whatever your gift giving needs, we have something right for you.
Annual Membership
Free admission, travel benefits, and camp discounts
Flex Pass
Mix and match your guests
Gift Shop
Toys, puzzles, games
Gift Card
Let them choose!
Book Suggestions
From our staff!
Annual Memberships
Purchase a certificate for Annual Membership as a gift for someone else. We can mail a certificate to your or the giftee.
- Includes free admission to the MESS Hall, discounts on select programs and other offerings
- Reciprocal benefits, including free exhibit admission, at over 300 Science Centers and Museums worldwide (>90mi from the MESS Hall)
- A standard family membership costs $130 and includes upto two adults and all children in the same household. One nanny, grandparent, or other adult can be added for $20 more. (Note that only 2 adults will be eligible of reciprocal benefits.)
Flex Passes
Flex passes are great for a small family or to provide a opportunity to bring different people using the same pass. We can mail a certificate to your or the giftee.
- A 6 month pass good for general admission, good for total number of guests admitted per visit
- Up to 6 total people per card
- Name 1 or 2 adult cardholders per pass
- Cost $28 per person you wish to add to the card
Gift Shop
The MESS Hall gift shop has a variety of unique toys, games and puzzles, good for preschool through adults. Images below give a sample of the kinds of things that might be available. Gift shop is open during our operating hours, but admission to the museum is not required to visit the gift shop. Prices range from $3 to $35.
Gift Cards
Can’t decide? Give them a choice with a gift card. Available in any dollar amount. Stop by during our operating hours to purchase.
Book Suggestions
The MESS Hall staff love a good science book! If you are looking for an inspiring book for a reader, check out some of these suggestions. While there are always new books coming out, these are some that we refer to over and over. The books are not available in our gift shop.
Elementary
A Life Electric: The Story of Nikola Tesla
Azadeh Westergaard
A wonderful introduction for young readers to the life and groundbreaking work of Nikola Tesla.
Ada Twist, Scientist
Andrea Beaty
An aspiring scientist solves a challenge
Five Creatures
Emily Jenkins
The five “creatures” are members of a family, and compares and contrasts the members
Iggy Peck Architect
Andrea Beaty
An aspiring architect rescues his class
Jack and the Beanstalk: How a Small Fellow Solved a Big Problem
Joy Schleh
Jack uses simple machines in this retelling of the classic tale.
Little People, Big Dreams: Mary Anning
Maria Isabel Sanchez Vergara
The story of Mary Anning
Not A Box
Antoinette Portis
Cardboard is whatever you imagine it can be
One Grain of Rice
Demi
A classic mathematical folktale about the power of exponential growth.
One Tiny Turtle
Nicola Davies
The journey of an endangered loggerhead turtle
Over in the Ocean In a Coral Reef
Marianne Berkes
An oceanic counting book
Ricky, the Rock that Couldn’t Roll
Jay Miletsky
Uplifting story about a rock and his friends that also includes the names and properties of different rocks
Rosie Revere, Engineer
Andrea Beatty
This book is a reminder that failure is a first attempt in learning and to not give up.
Seeing Symmetry
Loreen Leedy
Explains symmetry in nature
Sky Color
Peter H. Reynolds
Is the sky blue? What other colors can it be?
The Dot
Peter H. Reynolds
A young girl discovers her artistic side.
The Great Paper Caper
Oliver Jeffers
The animals are trying to discover why the forest is disappearing. Paper airplanes are a clue.
The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London’s Poop Pollution Problem
Colleen Paeff
Discover how one plucky 19th-century engineer solved a foul situation in London’s Thames River. (Kids love anything to do with poop.)
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth
Kathryn Lasky
Biography of Eratosthenes, the Ancient Greek mathematician
The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe
Sandra Nickel
The Stuff Between the Stars tells the story of Vera Rubin’s love for space and the discoveries she made about the universe. Determination and grit helped Vera share her discoveries as she became an important figure in astronomy.
They All Saw A Cat
Brendan Wenzel
Each creature sees a cat differently, depending on its vision and relationship
Those Darn Squirrels
Adam Rubin
The scheming, engineering squirrels continue to find a way to the bird feeder.
Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes
Nicola Davies
Teaches kids about microbes with pretty illustrations
Weslandia
Paul Fleischman
The story of a boy who creates his own civilization from the cultivation of a single, special crop.
Zombie Makers
Rebecca L. Johnson
True stories of nature’s undead
Middle School and Up
Cosmos
Carl Sagan
This is the book that brought the wonder and complexity and beauty of the cosmos to life.
Flatland
Edwin Abbott
A social commentary that is also a great explanation of dimensions.
Murderous Maths Series
Kjartan Poskitt
A humorous series that introduces advanced math concepts in an approachable way.
The Number Devil
Hans Magnus Enzensberger
In twelve dreams, Robert learns the magic of numbers
High School and Up
Invention of Air
Steven Johnson
A story of the discovery of Joseph Priestly and his discovery of oxygen, set against the social issues of the time.
Rise of the Rocket Girls
Nathalia Holt
A book about the human computers–all women–who helped with rocket development in the 1940s and 1950s.
Seveneves
Neal Stephenson
Science, disaster, space, creative engineering, creative science, and revitalization of a fictional Earth. This book is a journey to read, and it keeps you thinking about how humanity deals with its challenges.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
As a scientist who once used the HeLA line of immortalized cells, I never once gave thought that these cells came from a person. The story of Henrietta Lacks is a book all scientists and aspiring scientists should read.
The Overstory
Richard Powers
A story of trees and humans.
The Emperor of All Maladies
Siddhartha Mukherjee
The history of cancer
Hidden Figures
Margot Lee Shetterly
The story of the black women who helped the US reach the moon. The hit movie is based on this book.
Admission & fees only cover a portion of the costs for our many programs, which include community outreach and serving thousands of learners in our area yearly. The Pensacola MESS Hall relies on the generosity of people like you to keep these affordable. Your donations, purchases and membership are critical support for our mission to inspire curiosity and creative problem solving through the exploration of math, engineering, science, and stuff.
