Category: Children’s Museum

The Great River Children’s Exploratorium has been a member of the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) at the level of an emerging museum for several years. This membership gives our board and planning group access to educational opportunities at minimal cost. The infographic shown here was released as part of the most recent research into the economic impact of children’s museums. As you can see, the investment in a children’s museum has an immense ripple effect on other areas of the local and regional economy. Children’s museums provide jobs and drive growth in other industries. We appreciate the ACM gathering the data to support what we know intuitively. This information supports the work we are doing to bring a children’s museum to Central Minnesota. Learn more about the Association of Children’s Museums at childrensmuseums.org.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all the hurt in the world? We are constantly bombarded from countless media sources by all the bad news of poverty, natural disaster, political disaster, and suffering of every shape and size. Do you ask yourself why you should give to a children’s museum with so many needs to be addressed? This is an excellent question!

The answer is that you should give for all of those reasons and more. Children’s museums bring communities together, create jobs, and bring change to communities. Having a museum in our community creates opportunities for children who might never have this rich learning experience. Visiting the museum together will bring area families closer to each other by giving them high quality, hands-on play that builds relationships. The museum will be a place for children to learn creativity, collaboration and other skills necessary for success in a future we cannot yet fathom.

In order to make our world and community better, we need to address challenges that are happening here and now. We need to repair the hurts of the past. But the real key is to create solutions that will prevent problems before they occur. Our community has a unique opportunity with this project to create a wonderful resource that will improve the lives of everyone in the St. Cloud area for generations to come. We hope you will join us by donating today and helping spread the word about this project.

There is something magical about children at play. Adults often reminisce about childhoods spent roaming the neighborhood, playing with other children, not an adult in sight, told to come back when it got dark. Some communities even sounded a horn to tell the kids it was time to head home.

When Jacob Wetterling was abducted, reality changed for generations of children in central Minnesota. Adults no longer feel safe letting kids venture distances unsupervised. Children’s free time is now filled with scheduled “play dates” and structured activities. Parents are busier working to pay for kids’ activities, planning, driving and juggling schedules.

Government initiatives like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have put the spotlight on schools’ test scores. Learning has become less about developing a natural curiosity and drive to discover and more about benchmarks and test taking skills. Experienced educators know that it’s skills like resiliency, emotional intelligence and self-control that determine success in life and these are skills best learned through the free play that is getting pressed out of school days and busy lives.

Play is a basic need of young children and adults alike. It is the way human brains are wired to learn. It is crucial for stress relief and mental health. One of modern society’s greatest challenges has become finding ways to get back to our roots of play. Play includes those creative experiences that happen when we carve out the space and time for free exploration, trial and error, and creating with others.

The Great River Children’s Exploratorium will be a place where parents can sit back, relax and delight in their children’s play. A place they can be confident that their children are safe to explore and learn. A safe haven, away from the noise of daily life, where adult caregivers can play and rediscover their inner child. While geared toward children from birth to ten, it will meet a need deep inside all of us.

A children’s museum is a place where kids can be kids. It’s a safe place to explore their world. The name “Exploratorium” reflects this purpose. Rather than a museum where we carefully preserve the old, children’s museums allow kids to:

• Play as grown ups in environments just their size.

• Create with a variety of materials from giant blue blocks to paint and clay.

• Experiment with water or electricity.

• Use their imaginations in limitless ways.

You can experience how many other Minnesota cities have accomplished this in St. Paul, Duluth, Rochester, Mankato, Hutchinson and Grand Rapids. We look forward to adding St. Cloud to this list!

Welcome to the Great River Children’s Exploratorium blog! We will share news and updates about the progress of the museum, profile an important person involved in the project, and give you some background about the value of children’s museums. Thank you for checking us out.