RUBE GOLDBERG™: THE WORLD OF HILARIOUS INVENTION!

Overcomplicated, overengineered, over-the-top nationally acclaimed exhibit makes Houston premiere at Children’s Museum Houston!
Opens Saturday, Sept. 27

Sponsored by Oxy and The William Stamps Farish Fund

HOUSTON, TX (Sept. 8, 2025) – Why do something the easy way when you can do it the hilarious way? Children’s Museum Houston is putting the fun in “fundamentally overengineered” with the opening of Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention!, an all-new exhibit inspired by the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and inventor whose wacky contraptions turned the ordinary into the extraordinary. Opening Saturday, Sept. 27, this laugh-out-loud, hands-on experience invites you to step into Rube’s world of wild machines, chain reactions, and over-the-top imagination!

Created by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh in partnership with the Heirs of Rube Goldberg, this nationally touring exhibition brings Rube’s iconic illustrations to life with3D, life-sized machines and interactive activities that celebrate the comedy of complication. These experiences provide insight into the legacy of Rube Goldberg and how classic engineering principles can be reimagined as entry points for deeper exploration of STEAM concepts for 21st century learning. Kids (and grown-ups who never quite grew up) will discover:

• How failure can be funny.
• How creativity can spark from chaos.
• How engineering can be downright entertaining.

“Rube Goldberg showed us that problem-solving doesn’t have to be practical—it can be playful, too,” said Jacob Breier, director of exhibit development at Children’s Museum Houston.  “This exhibit is all about laughing at the unexpected, celebrating imagination, and letting kids see that mistakes can turn into masterpieces.”

Activate and create crazy chain-reaction contraptions that use everyday objects to complete simple tasks in the most overcomplicated, inefficient and hilarious ways possible! Rube Goldberg machines are many things, but they aren’t perfect. Find the fun in failure as you step into the role of illustrator, storyteller and inventor. Get ready to giggle and tinker as you:

• Trigger wacky chain reactions in Wall Machines by moving ramps and balls, then resetting them to see how everything connects.
• Doodle your own cartoon invention in the Art Studio and spin it silly in the Revolvometer.
• Pull ropes and crank levers to set off musical mayhem in the giant Music Machine.
• Suit up in Rube’s famous “Self-Operating Napkin”® for a photo-op that’s anything but nap-time.

Rube Goldberg™: The World of Hilarious Invention! will be on display through Jan. 11, 2026 at Children’s Museum Houston. The exhibit is included with general admission.

ABOUT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM HOUSTON

Winner of2024 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, winner of Good Housekeeping’s “Best Family Travel Award” three years in a row (2023 to 2025),voted “Houston’s Best Museum” in Houston Chronicle’s Best of the Best Awards two years in a row (2023 and 2024), winner of Tripadvisor “2024 Travelers’ Choice Awards,” only American continent finalist in 2023 Hands On! Children in Museums International Award, listed among Forbes, LA Times and USA Today’s “Best Children’s Museums in the U.S.,” The Culture Trip’s “Top Museum and Landmark to Visit in Houston” and one of “Houston’s Must-See Museums” by Travel Channel, Children’s Museum Houston is a Playground for Your Mind™.  It is dedicated to transforming communities through innovative, child-centered learning that improves the trajectories of all children.  Founded in 1980 and housed in a whimsical building designed by internationally acclaimed architect Robert Venturi, Children’s Museum Houston offers a multitude of innovative exhibits and bilingual learning programs for kids ages birth to 12 years. Celebrating 45years of play, the Museum is a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, visit www.cmhouston.org or call (713) 522-1138.  Can your mind come out to play?™

ABOUT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF PITTSBURGH

Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is a place that provides innovative and inclusive museum experiences that inspire kindness, joy, creativity and curiosity for all learners. Our imaginative, open-ended exhibits and programs give families the opportunity to explore topics like art, making and social-emotional learning in ways that are authentic, meaningful, and most of all, fun!  

ABOUT RUBE GOLDBERG, INC.
Rube Goldberg, Inc. is dedicated to keeping laughter and invention alive through the legacy of its namesake. Annual competitions, image licensing, merchandising, and museum and entertainment opportunities continue to grow and enhance the brand. At the helm is Rube’s granddaughter, Jennifer George, whose best-selling book on her grandfather, The Art of Rube Goldberg, is now in its fourth printing. RGI is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 dedicated to promoting STEM &STEAM education for students of all ages.

ABOUT RUBE GOLDBERG
Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist best known for his zany invention cartoons. He was born in San Francisco on the 4th of July, 1883 – and graduated from U. Cal Berkeley with a degree in engineering. His first job at the San Francisco Chronicle led to early success, but it wasn’t until he moved to NYC and began working for Hearst publications that he became a household name. Rube Goldberg is the only person ever to be listed in the Merriam Webster Dictionary as an adjective. It’s estimated that he did a staggering 50,000 cartoons in his lifetime.