Thinkery’s Health and Safety Guidelines
Thinkery’s health and safety policies utilize the most current scientific guidance from the Centers for Disease Control(CDC) and Austin Public Health(APH) to ensure our museum remains a safe, clean, and healthy place to play and learn.
The CDC has introduced new Community Levels—low, medium, and high—with corresponding recommendations for masking. Community Levels are determined by the rates of new COVID-19 cases, rates of hospital admissions, and the number of available inpatient beds. The county-level ratings are updated every Thursday at 7pm CT.
Our mask policy will be updated weekly to correspond to the latest Community Levels rating for Travis County.
By aligning our masking policy with the weekly CDC guidance, we hope to be more flexible and responsive based on current conditions in our local community.
Don’t live in Travis County? Getting ready to travel? You can find the current Community Levels rating for any county in the U.S. using the widget below.
Additional COVID-19 Resources
Austin Public Health provides a variety of resources to answer your questions about COVID-19 and how to protect yourself and your family.
How will the masking policy change at the different Community Levels?
By basing our masking policy on the most current Community Levels guidance, weekly CDC guidance, we hope to be more flexible and responsive to the conditions in our local community.
- At LOW Community Levels, masking is recommended for those who are unvaccinated or at high risk of serious disease…or anyone who feels more comfortable wearing one!
- At MEDIUM Community Levels, masking will be recommended for everyone ages 2 and up
- At HIGH Community Levels, masking will be required for everyone ages 2 and up
We will continue to support our staff, students, and guests who choose to wear masks while at Thinkery.
The CDC updates county-level ratings every Thursday at 7pm CT. If the Thursday update changes the Travis County rating (from green to yellow, for example), Thinkery will move to the corresponding masking policy on Friday morning.
Please extended kindness to other guests and staff !
Guests who are unable or unwilling to follow the posted weekly guidelines will be asked to reschedule their visit for a later date when those measures are no longer in place.
We need your help to keep Thinkery a safe, fun place to play and learn!
We’re doing our part to keep our community healthy and safe from COVID-19 and other illnesses. There are additional steps that YOU can take to help prevent the spread of germs and viruses.
If someone in your group is sick, please visit us some other time
For the health and safety of all our guests, we ask that any child or adult with an elevated temperature or an illness that may be contagious (such as pink eye, a cold, or the flu) not visit Thinkery until they are fully recovered.
A good rule of thumb: if you’re too sick to go to school (or work), you should plan to visit Thinkery another time.
Be proactive! Take simple steps to protect your child.
- Wash your hands with soap and water frequently. It takes 15-20 seconds to get them clean enough.
- Avoid touching a person who is obviously sick.
- Avoid touching your own eyes and face (viruses can transmit from our hands into our bodies).
- Please cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough. Remember to cough and sneeze into your elbow (the “vampire sneeze“) or into a tissue, not into your hand.
- Get your flu vaccine every year.
Thinkery strongly supports the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation that all children receive vaccinations. We request—but do not require—that Thinkery guests are vaccinated for MMR and other transmittable diseases, including COVID-19 (as available); proof of vaccination is not needed to gain entry.
Thinkery does all we can to prevent illness and to maintain a clean, safe learning environment. This includes an ongoing, thorough cleaning of museum and gallery components.
Museum Cleaning Procedures
Increased cleaning and sanitation protocols that meet or exceed the recommendations set out by the State of Texas and CDC, including the use of disinfectants specifically for use against the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) viruses.
- A professional cleaning team is on-site during Thinkery operating hours to sanitize and clean the restrooms and common areas.
- Deep cleaning takes place when the museum is closed. The floors are mopped and vacuumed, restrooms are cleaned, and surfaces are sanitized.
- The air in the building is always circulated with fresh air to maintain clean, healthy air.
- Hand sanitizer stations are located on each floor, throughout galleries and near all restrooms.
- Staff are required to consistently wash their hands.
- All surfaces that hands touch are cleaned daily to eliminate the spread of germs.
- Visitors are welcome to notify Thinkery staff if an area or object needs attention.
Gallery Cleaning Procedures
- The Guest Services Team sanitizes all exhibits daily, including loose parts such as play foods, blocks, balls, and acrylic light pegs.
- Water exhibits utilize filtration systems and UV sterilization on a constant basis. They are treated daily with bromine, which is like chlorine, but milder. They are “shocked” weekly with a non-chlorine, potassium monopersulfate.
- It is developmentally appropriate when babies and toddlers put things in their mouths. Thinkery provides bins for these props and objects to be placed for disinfecting before being cycled back out for play. Dirty props and loose parts are constantly replaced with clean ones throughout the day.
There is no 100% effective way to prevent illnesses, but we can all take steps to minimize risk and spreading germs. If you see an area or object that requires cleaning or attention, please notify Thinkery staff.