Community for All, Because of You

Every child deserves a place to play, explore and belong—and every family deserves a community that supports them along the way. In a world that feels busier and more disconnected than ever, Minnesota Children’s Museum provides a joyful space where families come together to learn, grow and create memories through play.

Thank you!

Museum Memories Go Viral

How many Minnesota Children’s Museum experiences do you remember?

That was the question posed on the museum’s social media platforms, along with a photo carousel of exhibits over the years. In no time, comments started pouring in:

“When I was younger this place felt never-ending and timeless”

“Oh I was clocking IN at that little grocery store”

“I miss this with my whole heart, what a formative time of my life, thank you”

People delighted in the nostalgia, sharing memories of favorite exhibits like the anthill and grocery store. Playing at Minnesota Children’s Museum has stuck with them for decades.

For almost 44 years, we’ve dedicated our work to creating opportunities for interactive, open-ended play. Play that builds brains and nurtures the skills children need to thrive. Because we all deserve childhood memories full of joy and wonder.

Boosting Resiliency in Kids Thanks to Record-Breaking Grant

In March, the Lilly Endowment awarded a $2.5 million grant to Minnesota Children’s Museum, the largest private grant in museum history! The money will fund new experiences and programs that will cultivate courage, resiliency, empathy and other essential character traits children need to thrive.

Kids are suffering from increased anxiety and caregivers are struggling to understand how to best support them. Through our work, we know that children with a growth mindset have courage to keep moving forward after setbacks, building resilience that helps them to meet the next challenge.

The project will span five years and include five components:

• • Community Engagement
  • Home-Based Resources

Investing in New Experiences

There’s always something new to discover during a visit to Minnesota Children’s Museum, and last year was no exception. Over the past year, visitors delighted in many new museum experiences filled with imagination, creativity and lots of playful learning opportunities.

Even More Play with Pop-Up Programming

We’re always finding new ways to spark deeper learning and more joyful moments during every museum visit. We recently introduced new pop-up programs that bring exhibits to life in fresh, exciting ways.

Our facilitation team worked hard to create these unique play opportunities, even training with a local improv actor in order to sharpen their skills and make these experiences truly engaging.

Here’s a look at a few of the new pop-up programs we’ve introduced:

• • Rainbow Carwash: In Forces at Play, visitors mix color into shaving cream and experiment by using their mixture in the carwash. One day, children started working together to create an entire mural on the back of the car in the carwash!
  • Epic Adventure: In Imaginopolis, facilitators use existing props to work together and tell a story. Visitors roll oversized dice to select a prop, then discuss all the different things the prop could be in their story. Maybe the giant worm is actually a snake! Or a rope! Or even a giant breadstick.
  • Signed, Sealed and Delivered: In Our World, visitors are invited to write a letter, draw on a postcard or create their own stamp. They can then send their mail through the pretend post office exhibit or take it home to actually mail it. We see children often writing letters and drawing pictures for loved ones, especially parents and grandparents.

Sparking Play All Day Long

Each year, we send our members a survey to learn more about their experience at the museum. And every year, we end up with an incredible batch stories of how our museum creates fun, playful learning moments for their families.

Welcome Back, Volunteers!

Last December, we welcomed volunteers back into the museum for the first time since the pandemic. These volunteers, called Play Guides, assist floor staff by managing high traffic areas like the laser maze, engage in activities with visitors in The Studio and help complete various behind-the-scenes tasks.

These volunteers are a huge help on busy days, creating a more engaging and personal experience for our visitors. Play Guides contributed 1,200 volunteer hours between December 2024 and June 2025!

Interested in volunteering? Check out more info here.

Monsters Teach Social-Emotional Learning

Regulating emotions, developing self-awareness and relationship skills are elements of social-emotional learning. These skills are vital to cope with life’s hard moments at all ages -whether it’s sharing a favorite toy, trying out a new sport or dealing with a flat tire.

Unfortunately, the pandemic caused major delays in social-emotional growth for kids as families dealt with stress and isolation. Most kids missed out on opportunities for peer interactions, where social-emotional learning blooms.

Thankfully, kids are resilient and their brains are primed for growth. And the best way for them to learn? Through play! Play creates space for kids to express themselves and experience a range of emotions. So where do the monsters come in?

Monsters can produce plenty of different emotions like fear, courage and silliness. In the Monsters on Summer Vacation exhibit that ran over the summer, visitors were prompted to think and talk about their emotions while bravely navigating an obstacle course, working together to feed a giant monster and letting loose on a light-up dance floor. Signs around the space gave grown-ups some background on social-emotional learning and why it’s important.

We’re proud to have the resources to showcase the power of play and keep our visitors gaining important skills.

Creating Connection with Supportive Staff

“The staff is so incredibly supportive. My daughter was having a meltdown and hurt herself and a staff member approached me to see if I needed help. It was so awesome to feel like people wanted to help me and that I wasn’t alone.”

“My AuDHD son was having a meltdown and instead of walking away, an employee walked up and told me about the quiet room on the lower level and it makes me feel so seen every time I think about it. Great staff.”

-Recent museum visitors

Parenting young children can feel isolating and incredibly challenging. Our staff works hard to make all visitors feel acknowledged and supported, especially during those tricky times of transition. We see it every day at the museum – a moment of connection and empathy can change a person’s day.

Creating a Space for Everyone

Our commitment to accessibility and inclusion drives us to create a space where all families—no matter their background or circumstances—feel welcome, supported and seen.

• • Our Play for All access programs provided free and discounted admission and memberships to income-qualified families. The program also includes Securian Financial Free First Sundays, which offers free admission one day per month. In all, the access programs served nearly 100,000 visitors in the past year, or 26% of the museum’s attendance.
  • We partnered with community organizations to host 10 free family night events, offering more than 2,200 children and adults the chance to experience the joy of play together.
  • To better serve our diverse community, we now provide museum information in four languages—English, Hmong, Somali and Spanish—including accessible info sheets and videos with voiceovers.

By removing barriers and celebrating diversity, we’re building a place where every child can discover their potential and every family feels they belong.