Dr Pepper Museum Homeschool Day: Is It Worth the Drive to Waco?

What Dr Pepper Homeschool Day Was Actually Like

Check-in was super easy. We were greeted warmly, given a Homeschool Day handout with educational information about recycling, and told where to find the special activities happening throughout the museum.

The first activity was a recycling race where the kids competed against each other to correctly sort different materials. They had to figure out where the paper, metal, glass and other materials belonged, which was simple but fun and worked well for my kids.

That was the only special Homeschool Day activity in the first building, so from there we started exploring the museum itself.

I will say, if you’re expecting Homeschool Day to mean a museum full of special classes, demonstrations and activities, that wasn’t our experience. There were two special activities during our visit, and I definitely would have enjoyed seeing a few more. The activities also seemed to lean more toward lower-to-middle elementary ages.

But the discounted admission combined with the museum itself still made the day worth it for us.

The Museum Was Much Better Than I Expected

For some reason, I expected the Dr Pepper Museum to be one of those places where you walk around, look at old bottles for 45 minutes, and then head to the gift shop.

I was wrong.

The first building alone is three stories, and we probably spent at least an hour exploring it. There were tons of Dr Pepper memorabilia, old advertisements, packaging, and pieces of the company's history. My husband and I had several “Oh, I remember that!” moments, which made it fun for us too.

There’s also a small theater area playing old Dr Pepper commercials, and my kids got a kick out of watching those. I don't think they were expecting old commercials to be part of their field trip entertainment, but here we are.

They also enjoyed seeing the old well and spending time in the architecture and design area where they could actually build with blocks. That was one thing I appreciated about the museum in general. There was enough interaction mixed in with the history to keep the kids interested.

We spent about two hours at the museum altogether, and by the time we left, we all felt like we had seen everything. Nobody was rushing to leave, but we also didn't feel like we needed another three hours. It was a really good amount of time for a field trip.

The Part I Really Wasn't Expecting

One of my favorite parts of the museum had nothing to do with soda.

I was pleasantly surprised by how intentionally Black history was woven into the story the museum told. And I say intentionally because it would have been very easy to put up an old group photo of Dr Pepper employees, have a few Black faces somewhere in the picture, and leave it at that.

They didn't. They took the time to tell stories and give context. The museum also didn't tell the story of Dr Pepper becoming more popular without acknowledging what was happening to Black Americans during those same periods of American history. It referenced segregation, the fight for basic civil rights, and the Green Book.

What I appreciated most was that none of it felt like something added to check a box. They created an actual moment for learning and reflection while still keeping it connected to the larger story the museum was telling.

As a homeschool mom, that gave us another completely unexpected layer to the field trip.

There Are A Lot of Homeschool Connections Here

Even without a ton of Homeschool Day-specific activities, there are plenty of directions you could take this visit educationally.

Advertising was probably the biggest one that stood out to me. There are decades of marketing materials throughout the museum, plus those old commercials, so kids can literally see how companies have changed the way they market products over time. You could easily use the visit as a jumping-off point for talking about advertising, branding or even having kids create their own vintage-inspired ad afterward.

There are also connections to manufacturing, business history, recycling and upcycling, architecture and design, and American social history.

The second Homeschool Day activity actually continued the recycling theme from the first building. Once we made our way to the second building, the kids were given materials they could upcycle and turn into dolls or whatever else they wanted to create.

So while I would have loved more Homeschool Day programming, I don't think you have to work very hard to find the learning here.

The Soda Fountain and Why We Skipped Make-A-Soda

The second building is also where you'll find the soda fountain and the Make-A-Soda experience, which we skipped.

It was $20 per person when we visited, and younger kids needed an adult with them, who also had to pay. For our family, that would have meant spending another $100 on that experience alone. In that moment, it just didn't feel worth adding $100 to our day.

I could see us coming back and doing it another time, especially if that was the main reason for our visit, but I was completely fine skipping it this time.

We did still have our Dr Pepper soda fountain moment. My husband and two of my kids got Dr Pepper floats and thoroughly enjoyed them. My daughter got regular ice cream because her orthodontist has temporarily ruined her soda dreams, and I sat this one out because I don't like Dr Pepper and didn't want ice cream that early in the day.

Yes, I went all the way to the Dr Pepper Museum without liking Dr Pepper. Thankfully, they still let me in.

Was Dr Pepper Homeschool Day Worth It?

For us, yes.

The biggest thing I would tell another homeschool family is to have the right expectation going in. I wouldn't make the drive because you're expecting hours of exclusive Homeschool Day programming. I would go because you want to visit the Dr Pepper Museum, don't mind a little drive, want to do something different, and Homeschool Day gives you a good opportunity to visit at a discounted price with a couple of extra educational activities thrown in.

Another huge plus for us was the crowd. It wasn't bad at all. I've seen videos online where the lines at the museum looked extremely long, but we didn't experience anything like that during our visit. We could explore, stop at exhibits and do the activities without feeling like we were fighting our way through a crowd.

The museum itself is also truly for all ages. My kids found things they enjoyed, my husband and I had the nostalgia factor, and there was enough history and substance to make it interesting for adults too. The Homeschool Day activities themselves skewed younger, so I think lower-to-middle elementary kids would probably get the most out of that portion.

Make It a Waco Homeschool Day

If you're coming from DFW, this is where I think the trip really makes sense: don't drive to Waco, spend two hours at the Dr Pepper Museum and immediately turn around.

Make a day of it.

After the Dr Pepper Museum, we also visited the Mayborn Museum and Waco Mammoth National Monument. That turned what could have been a fairly short field trip into a full day of exploring Waco and gave us three completely different experiences.

If the Dr Pepper Museum has been sitting on your list too, I think Homeschool Day is a great excuse to finally go. The special activities were a nice addition, the admission price was great, and the museum itself ended up being the part that impressed us most.

Sometimes you just need a random Homeschool Day announcement to finally get you to make the drive.