The Sensory Suite at Target Field: In 2022, the Twins teamed up with leading healthcare experts to launch an innovative experience for neuroatypical guests of all ages and abilities—the UnitedHealthcare Sensory Suite. The calming and welcoming escape is available for all ticket-holding fans who may need a break from the rowdy exuberance of the game and is comprised of several spaces specifically designed to meet the varied needs of both children and adults with sensory processing differences. Features include private spaces with adjustable colored lighting, beanbag chairs, sensory-friendly toys, and a controlled, outdoor area overlooking the field to ease the transition back to the game. Additionally, baseball fans at Twins games will now be able to check out sensory kits, free of charge, at Guest Services stations throughout Target Field.

The Sensory Room at U.S. Bank Stadium: Guests with autism and sensory processing differences are welcome to enjoy Minnesota Vikings games with sensory-inclusive bags available at Guest Services. In addition, guests can take a break from the action (think loud music and crowds) when needed, thanks to the sensory inclusive room inside U.S. Bank Stadium. The sound-protected room features toys, low lighting, bean bag chairs, a single-use bathroom, and sensory kits to help overstimulated guests feel welcome and enjoy their experience at the game. To make the space even more welcoming, the room is staffed by two licensed behavioral specialists at every Vikings home game, and a social narrative is available to help prepare for gameday.

Visit the Minnesota Children's Museum: Located in St. Paul, the museum offers a variety of interactive exhibits that are designed to be accessible to children with sensory sensitivities, as well as resources for guests with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and sensory processing differences. Head to the box office to check out noise-reducing headphones, visual timers, and universal cuffs. For a quieter visit, check out the less-stimulating Sprouts, Tip Top Terrace, and reading areas, or check out the private break rooms with low levels of visual stimulation.

Sensory Friendly Visits to the Bell Museum: Bell Museum, Minnesota’s official natural history museum and planetarium, is invested in making its engaging exhibits and activities more inclusive for guests with sensory processing differences. Located on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus in Saint Paul, the museum offers quiet spaces, a social narrative to prepare for the visit, and sensory packs including hearing protection, visual timers, and weighted lap pads available for rent. Stop in for the once-a-month Sensory Friendly Saturday with lowered lighting, quieter sounds, and fewer visitors. If you can’t make it on specific sensory-friendly days, the museum recommends visiting on weekdays in the late afternoon (after 2 pm) when the space is quieter and less crowded.

Visit the Science Museum of Minnesota: The Science Museum consulted with the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) to offer tailored Sensory Friendly days on the first Sunday of the month, where individuals and families can enjoy a quieter, less sensory-stimulating museum experience. The museum also offers quiet spaces and sensory kits with sound-dampening headphones, timers, fidgets, gloves, and sunglasses. Further resources to prepare for your visit include a Sensory Friendly Visitor Guide, Science Museum Social Narrative, and Omnitheater Social Narrative.

Sensory Friendly Sundays at the Walker Art Center: Sensory Friendly Sundays offer a monthly opportunity—on the second Sunday of each month—for kids, teens, and adults with sensory processing differences, autism spectrum disorder, or developmental disabilities to enjoy the galleries. This offers visitors a chance to enjoy the museum in a calm environment, and take advantage of quiet spaces and sensory-friendly tools like fidgets and sunglasses. To prepare for your visit, check out this Walker Art Center Social Narrative.

Sensory-Friendly Performances at the Children’s Theatre Company: Located just south of downtown Minneapolis, Children’s Theatre Compay offers sensory-friendly programming to meet the unique needs of theatergoers with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, anxiety, and other sensory, social, and cognitive disabilities. At designated sensory-friendly performances, audience lights are left on low, the volume of the production is reduced, strobe effects are eliminated, and actor-audience interaction is modified. In addition, quiet rooms and “take-a-break” spaces are available with a variety of fidgets, weighted blankets, and other sensory supports, and production-specific sensory guides and social narratives are available online a week before the show.

Sensory-Friendly Concerts at Orchestra Hall: The Minnesota Orchestra offers special concerts and events for music lovers with autism or sensory sensitivities in a relaxed environment, typically in the open space of Target Atrium at Orchestra Hall. This opportunity allows guests to move around, engage with the musicians before and after the show, enjoy smaller music ensembles, sit apart from the crowd or on the floor, and otherwise feel welcome to come and enjoy the orchestra in a truly accessible way. Quiet spaces, pre-visit narratives, and noise-canceling headphones for children and adults are also available from the Audience Services Desk or directly from ushers.

Relaxed Performances at the Guthrie Theatre: A relaxed performance is a burgeoning theater offering intended to be judgment-free, low-key, and welcoming to audience members who may benefit from a more relaxed environment. Relaxed performances feature modified lighting, sound, and permission to move and make sounds in the audience, plus quiet spaces, sensory-friendly activities, detailed social narratives, sensory building maps, and extra staff on hand to make sure every show is accessible and safe. While they are designed for guests with sensory and vestibular sensitivities, anxiety, dementia, autism spectrum disorders, learning differences, or other challenges attending the theater, these relaxed performances are open to all.

Sensory-Friendly Movie Screenings at AMC: Several Twin Cities-area AMC Theatres (including AMC Eden Prairie Mall 18 and AMC Rosedale 14) offer sensory-friendly movie screenings on a regular basis. The lights are turned up and the sound is turned down, and audience interaction and electronic device usage are allowed, creating a more comfortable environment for those with sensory sensitivities.

Take a Walk in the Lyndale Park Peace Garden: Located near Lake Harriet, the Peace Garden is a quiet, uncrowded, and accessible space to enjoy alpine plants, dwarf conifers, and bronze sculptures of origami peace cranes by local artist Caprice Glaser. A walking path weaves through the tranquil rock garden, featuring a zig-zag granite and copper bridge, and a series of plaques showing how to make a peace crane yourself. You can also learn about the geology of local Oneonta dolomite rocks in the garden online.

Visit the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory: The Como Park Zoo and Conservatory is a great spot to explore the natural world, and a regularly updated sensory-friendly map allows visitors to plan a visit with reduced sensory stimulation (including notations of areas with strong smells and quiet spaces). Guests on the autism spectrum and their families are also invited to access the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory an hour before other guests on designated Autism Friendly Early Entry days (advance registration required).

Design Your Ideal Sensory-Friendly Zoo Experience at the Minnesota Zoo: Animal lovers with autism and sensory-processing disorders are invited to prepare for their zoo visit with the free MNZoo4All app. The app features social guides that explain the Zoo experience, visual schedules, communication tools, sensory-friendly maps, tips to plan your sensory-friendly visit, and more. When you arrive at the zoo, fidgets, disposable ear plugs, and child-size earmuff hearing protectors are available at the Guest Services desk.

The Local on Nicollet Mall is famous for its "snugs"—private, wooden-walled booths with their own doors. These spaces act as a private fortress, completely cutting off the visual bustle of the bar while dampening the roar of the main room. If you call ahead to reserve a snug, you guarantee a contained, controllable environment before you even arrive.

For a more casual option, The Lowry and Red Rabbit are excellent choices. Both offer high-backed booths (request these when booking), which act as a buffer to block sightlines and muffle the noise of the open dining room.

Volstead’s Emporium in Uptown is a speakeasy tucked away from the street, you don't get the chaotic foot traffic or window glare of standard restaurants. The lighting is consistently low (no strobe effects), and the velvet-curtained booths offer a high degree of separation and acoustic dampening. Also in Uptown, Lake & Irving specializes in elevated comfort classics—think buttermilk chicken sandwiches and high-quality burgers. For sensory-sensitive diners who rely on safe foods, having a menu that is predictable yet delicious is a huge plus. The vibe is unpretentious and family-friendly, making it a low-stress option for a meal out. With its focus on calm consistency, Amazing Thailand is a favorite among neurodivergent diners for good reason. Unlike loud, open-concept halls, the restaurant is compartmentalized into smaller, separate spaces with plenty of high-backed booths. The lighting is kept low and soothing, and the background music is consistently calm, creating a steady environment where you can relax and focus on the meal.

For a sophisticated setting that manages noise naturally, the Nicollet Island Inn is hard to beat. While modern restaurants often rely on echo-prone concrete and tile, this historic spot utilizes heavy drapes, plush carpeting, and tablecloths. These soft surfaces naturally absorb sound, creating a hushed atmosphere where you don't have to strain to hear your partner.

For a neighborhood feel, St. Genevieve in Lynnhurst offers a refined, slower-paced experience. Large windows provide natural light during the day—perfect for those who find artificial lighting triggering—and the space dims to a warm, steady glow at night.

Tiny Diner in the Powderhorn neighborhood is another standout. Their outdoor patio sits under a solar array and is surrounded by permaculture gardens and pollinator habitats. It creates a nature break environment where you can watch butterflies and plants rather than staring at screens, providing a gentle, organic distraction.

Tucked away in the quiet Bryn Mawr neighborhood, Pizza Biga inside Turtle Bread Company is naturally lower-stimulation simply because of its size and location. It is intimate and removed from major traffic noise. Pizza is often a reliable safe food for neurodivergent diners, and the wood-fired options here are consistent, high-quality, and served in a space that feels like a calm retreat.

Sometimes the best way to manage sensory input is to have an escape route. Agra Culture Kitchen, located inside the Minneapolis Institute of Art, is a secret weapon for this. Museums naturally enforce a "library voice" social contract, keeping volume low. If the café environment becomes overwhelming, you are mere steps away from silent, spacious galleries where you can immediately decompress. Cardamom at the Walker Art Center offers a similar advantage with a bonus connection to nature, as the restaurant features a large patio that opens onto the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, allowing for a breezy, open-air meal away from confined spaces.

The Howe Daily Kitchen & Bar also offers a year-round patio (heated in winter). While it can be busier, it is dog-friendly. For many diners, the presence of dogs provides a grounding, positive distraction, and the casual vibe reduces the anxiety of needing to stay perfectly still.

Mall of America’s Nickelodeon Universe: Believe it or not, this massive attraction known for drawing crowds from around the world was actually Minnesota’s first Certified Autism Center, and aims to create a welcoming environment for visitors who are autistic or have sensory needs. Public-facing staff undergoes autism sensitivity training, quiet areas are available, and Nickelodeon Universe offers noise-canceling headphones and a sensory rating guide to help guests plan which rides and attractions will be most enjoyable. Guests can also visit the park on designated Sensory Friendly nights with brighter overhead lighting, dimmer ride lights, and lower music throughout the park.

Check Out the Calendar of Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) Events: For specific sensory-friendly events and shows, be sure to follow the AuSM calendar!