Building Block(s) Party – Breaking Ground and Building Community

On Saturday, October 7th over 1,000 people from all over Central Minnesota came together to celebrate a historic milestone for Great River Children’s Museum, breaking ground. This spectacular turnout shows the enthusiasm Central Minnesota has for GRCM and a space our community can enjoy for generations to come. 

But what does building community look like? At Great River Children’s Museum, access and inclusion are at our core. We want to provide a space for children and families of all backgrounds with opportunities to play, follow their curiosity, and discover their potential.

At our Building Block(s) Party, 300+ children and their caring adults toured our future museum space. The future museum will be over 31,000 sq ft and will be home to eight exhibit areas, program spaces, teaching kitchen, community room, rooftop deck, and more! 

Children and families also explored a host of construction themed activities like Touch-a-Construction Truck, building their own children’s museum with Marshmallow Engineering, exploring physics with our Cement Station (oobleck!), and other activities full of digging, building, and most importantly, playing! 

What does it take to build a community event like this? It took 64 volunteers over 177 hours to help us build this event from the ground up. 

It also took…

300 pounds of cornstarch to make 147 gallons of oobleck.

2,000 pounds of sand for our Digging Station.

20 cases of marshmallows for Marshmallow Engineering.

300 water balloons for our Wrecking Ball Balloon station where kids got the opportunity to “knock down” the museum walls, making for a true groundbreaking!

Over 40 gallons of ice cream at our Make-your-Own Dirt Cake Station.

240 kids construction hats.

And endless smiles!

We are truly grateful for all of our volunteers and sponsors who came together to make our Building Block(s) Party possible, we couldn’t have asked for a better turn out. We are thrilled to embark on this exciting journey toward our grand opening date of late 2024!

As we mark the start of construction we reflect how Great River Children’s Museum will be more than a building. Our dynamic, interactive environments and experiences are a gateway to the world and its people for children and families of all backgrounds and will include:

  • Curriculum complementary field trips rooted in play and exploration.
  • Outreach activities to bring museum programming to parks, festivals, schools, and other community venues.
  • Spaces to bring people together for co-learning, group gatherings, birthdays, corporate outings, and more!

We need your support to make this happen. You can help us Chart the Course by supporting program development and providing funding for interactive loose parts to supplement all the fun! Donate today at: https://campaign.greatrivercm.org/

Leveraging our voices: Uplifting our shared mission at InterActivity

At the end of April, the Great River Children’s Museum team traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana for the 2023 Association of Children’s Museums InterActivity Conference. Executive Director Cassie Miles, Program and Outreach Manager Kylie Conover, and Board and Committee Member Vincent Mies represented the museum and participated in three days of conversations, panels, and information sessions. And, of course, there was time for play throughout as well! The Louisiana Children’s Museum in New Orleans hosted 700+ ACM InterActivity attendees in their new space which sits on over 8 acres of park land.

InterActivity attendees come from children’s museums that span the globe, from South Korea and Singapore, to the island of Curaçoa.

For this and many other reasons, attending the ACM InterActivity Conference is a great way to make connections to other children’s museum professionals, access resources to support programming and operations, and to discuss opportunities for the advancement of our shared mission. These connections are extremely valuable to our team now and in the future when we are open to the public.

Program & Outreach Manager, Kylie was able to give some insight on building meaningful connections with communities as a presenter this year at ACM alongside Beth Housewert from Golisano Children’s Museum. 

The focus of the session that Kylie took part in was on community engagement during the emerging stages of a museum’s life. Kylie and Beth posed 4 different questions to consider before starting a program to a room of emerging museum professionals. Kylie spoke specifically about our Play Explore and Learn Labs, Camp Beyond, work alongside Yes Network, and our fantastic Pop-Up Museum Experiences in partnership with Great River Regional Library. In each case we are able to take what we’re learning from communities throughout Central Minnesota and incorporate feedback into future program plans. The work that we are doing now will set us up for success when we open our doors. Listening to the needs of our community is the best metric for our program planning.

Executive Director, Cassie Miles, participated in leadership roundtable discussions and sessions focused on guiding the vision forward, building a network of invested community members, and supporting children and families through the world’s ever evolving technological changes. Panel sessions provoked thoughtful discussions about integrating expertise from other sectors, connecting with community leaders, financial forecasting, and leveraging the voices of children’s museums in support of lifelong playful learning. No matter the topic, access to play and the power of play to empower children’s creativity and curiosity is at the core of what we do.

In the words of Dr. Calvin Mackie, keynote speaker at the opening day of the event, “The highest form of wealth does not come from making money, it comes from making a difference” and there may be no better way to summarize how we feel after meeting an incredible group of people at InterActivity 2023.

Not your everyday PLAY: Our adventures at ACM and AAM

Last week, museum staff ventured out to attend the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) conferences as a way to connect with other museums and gain more insight about the ever-changing industry.

Program and Outreach Manager, Kylie headed off to St. Louis, Missouri for InterActivity 2022 ACM annual conference. This year’s theme, PLAY The Long Game, explored how to adjust to today’s dynamics, while also preparing for the future of serving the many generations of children and families ahead. It was held at the St. Louis Children’s Museum, also known as “The Magic House.” The conference included an emerging museums track, which was especially beneficial to us in our pre-construction state.

Kylie teamed up with Exhibit Designer, Betsy Loring, of expLoring exhibits & engagement and Game and Experience Designer, Greg Trefry, of Gigantic Mechanic to host a session on Role Play Games (RPG) in museum settings and how it can help to spark children’s creativity and encourage collaboration. Kylie shared ideas around how RPGs can expand programming for older children (and even adults!) in a children’s museum setting. Since there are many other benefits to RPGs like imaginative learning and communication skills, they can be adjusted to use for a variety of audiences. 

Executive Director, Cassie and Social Media Coordinator, Jessica attended the AAM annual MuseumExpo conference held in Boston this year. The focus was on organizational culture, innovation, museums in society, and financial wellness. Much like ACM, this convention is filled with museum professionals who have created solutions for some of the most challenging behind the scenes and public facing issues we face everyday on a much broader scale. 

Our very first session was held at the Boston Children’s Museum where we were tasked with designing a prototype exhibit themed around music and culture. The goal was to encourage connection and self-expression while keeping inclusion and accessibility at the forefront. This session was followed by some ‘research’ (aka playing) at the children’s museum and was a great way to start off the weekend! 

We were thrilled to attend an in-person (finally!) conference this year to hear stories and experiences from other museums. Here’s to a great year ahead and looking forward to attending, and maybe even presenting, again next year!

Monkey business underway at GRCM

David Mohs
David Mohs

By: David Mohs
GRCM Facilities Committee co-chair
Exhibits Committee member

On a daily basis for over two years, I have and continue to provide behind-the-scenes volunteer support to the emerging Great River Children’s Museum. My information technology background within a secondary education environment was a natural fit for the museum’s interim networking, computing, audio-visual, and security needs.

Though the pandemic has hampered in-person activities, persistent planning for the museum’s launch continues. Given that Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe,” imagine how many hours of preparation are required to convert a 25,000-square-foot, 100-room banking facility into a bustling children’s museum. Upon opening its doors, Great River Children’s Museum will open worlds of exploration, discovery and creativity in Downtown Saint Cloud.

In the meantime, while we at Great River Children’s Museum figuratively sharpen our axe, Minnesota Children’s Museum in Saint Paul has collaborated with us to bring a second small traveling exhibit to the future home of Great River Children’s Museum.

On a recent winter morning, Curious George™ swung out of a freight truck and into the museum’s preview space. Tugged behind him was a bit of countryside. He proceeded to set up an apartment within and is actively constructing a small city. Perhaps, if we have enough bananas, Curious George and his crew will restore our building to its original 16-foot ceiling height! Stay tuned to our Facebook page for pictures.

Like our first traveling exhibit, Storyland, this exhibit will be available for a limited time to limited audiences given pandemic conditions. We were able to welcome 40 small groups through Storyland. Our hope is to invite more than 100 small groups for Curious George.

Our museum team will be scheduling reservations with educational partners and childcare providers first because of their already established “pandemic bubbles.” Then, we will invite individual families to reserve time with the exhibit.

Between guests, the space will be disinfected. Our volunteers will be working hard.

Further details will be announced on our website, via our Facebook page and through our e-newsletter. You can sign up to receive the e-newsletter here.

Rest assured, Curious George’s presence in Saint Cloud will not interfere with his television stardom on tpt and other PBS Kids affiliates.

Curious George
Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H. A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLP. All rights reserved.

Family Fun Club

Register for a FREE LIVE Concert online
Saturday, June 20th at 10AM!
Paul Imholte will perform Old McDonald Had a Banjo
joined by drummers, lullabye singers and more!

When you become a member of the new Family Fun Club, you will receive a new activity in your inbox every Saturday all summer long!

Register now at https://greatrivercm.org/familyfunclub/ to guarantee your spot in the live Zoom concert. The concert will be recorded and made available to all!

This is the first of our weekly Family Fun Club activities created by our volunteer team. We will request feedback from participants to help us create quality programming and build a museum that will meet the needs of Central Minnesota families. Join us for fun surprises for the whole family all summer long!

Coronavirus Update

Message from the Board regarding COVID-19:
Great River Children’s Museum has decided to cancel all upcoming events – Roundtables and PEL Labs – for the month of March. We are also recommending that all committees meet by Zoom. We will reevaluate the situation at the end of March. Keep safe and be well!

If you would like information for how to talk with children about the virus, PBS Kids has a very nice resource at https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-coronavirus

African Cultural Festival

The Great River Children’s Museum had the opportunity to share play activities and information at the African Cultural Festival at Lake George on Sunday, September 15th. It was a beautiful day for the first annual outdoor event. Our volunteers were able to connect with a wide range of community members who shared their ideas about what they would like to see in a children’s museum serving Central Minnesota. They were also fortunate to be able to enjoy wonderful entertainment including African drumming, dance, poetry and song. Thanks to all who stopped by our booth and to the St. Cloud African Cultural Organization for inviting us!

History Museum Music Event

In collaboration with the Stearns History Museum, Great River Children’s Museum volunteers will offer the second in a series of family music events. The first featured Jane Ellison and Glen Palm and friends along with the Lullaby Singers who shared lullabies from various cultural backgrounds. It was a beautiful night for an outdoor concert!

On August 20th from 6:00 – 7:00pm at the Stearns History Museum, you can join board member Buddy King and his friends for interactive drumming. It is sure to be fun whether rain or shine!

Milestone Volunteer Event

We held our first Volunteer Discovery Event on March 4th in the meeting room of the future museum. Volunteers were able to get an overview of the project from start to future. They toured our building to better appreciate all the space available for us. Everyone was able to connect and brainstorm about the possibilities for the museum. It was a successful event that will definitely be repeated. As we are planning community outreach events and the work that needs to be done on the building, we would like to utilize all the community volunteers we can. We know that many of you are wanting to be part of this exciting project. Be sure to sign up on our website to get notified of our next volunteer engagement event.