"Monsters on Vacation” Opens May 23 at Minnesota Children’s Museum

New special exhibit focuses on building social-emotional learning skills with help of friendly monsters

Friendly monsters are taking their beach vacation at Minnesota Children’s Museum. “Monsters on Vacation,” an all-new special exhibit, opens June 23 at Minnesota Children’s Museum. Making its world debut in St. Paul, the exhibit was designed and developed by Minnesota Children’s Museum.

In this hands-on exhibit, visitors encounter monster characters and monster-themed activities that help strengthen social and emotional skills in playful, interactive ways. Maneuver through the monster obstacle course, show off your best dance moves at the underwater disco, feed the giant tree monsters, patch up monster-sized boo-boos at the lifeguard station and more.

Exhibit highlights include:

• Feed the Tree Monsters – Fill the hungry monsters’ bellies by sending foam fruit up a chute into the canopy. But look out—once they’ve had enough, the fruit comes raining back down.
• Monster Obstacle Course – Step inside a monster fish jaw and navigate obstacles like a wavy tongue and roller squeeze through the monster’s belly.
• Lifeguard Station – Take care of little monsters with bumps and scrapes by giving a quick checkup at the exam table and reviewing monster x-rays on a light box.
• Underwater Dance Floor – Visitors will unleash their inner monsters on the LED dance floor as they mix and match monster costume pieces and move and groove to the music.
• The Scream Booth – This sound-reduced booth invites visitors to come in and have a good scream—monster style!
• Octo-Tot Spot – Nestled in the arms of a tentacled monster, this area is for little monsters under 3 years old to crawl, climb and build coordination skills in a space made just for them.

“We’re delighted to bring this playful and engaging new exhibit to museum visitors this summer and fall,” said Dianne Krizan, president of Minnesota Children’s Museum. “Visitors will discover countless opportunities for play, connection and meaningful conversations about feelings and emotions.”

Supporting Social-Emotional Learning

Research shows that young children have experienced a decline in the development of important social-emotional learning skills. In “Monsters on Vacation,” each component has been carefully developed to create an environment where visitors practice naming and processing their emotions and feelings without fear of judgement.

“Social-emotional development is closely tied to learning and helps children build skills that will support them throughout life. As we developed the exhibit, we knew we wanted to create experiences that supported that by teaching and encouraging children to identify, express and manage their emotions,” said Mary Weiland, senior exhibit developer at Minnesota Children’s Museum and lead developer for “Monsters on Vacation.”

Even More Monster Play

In addition to the “Monsters on Vacation” special exhibit, visitors will find other monster-themed fun throughout the museum. Beginning in early June, the museum’s maker space will become the “Monster Puppet Studio,” where visitors can create their own monster puppet using a variety of art materials, then practice storytelling by putting on their own puppet show. And The Landing on the museum’s fourth floor will transform into “Monster Playground,” an engineering-focused experience where visitors use PVC pipes, connectors, swings and other pieces to design and build a play structure for mini monsters.

The museum is also hosting a handful of monster-themed events in June and July including a Monster Party on June 6, a Monster Spa Day on July 18 and Monster Yoga on select Friday mornings. All monster events are free with museum admission or membership. Learn more about these special events at https://mcm.org/monster-events.

Visitor Information

“Monsters on Vacation” is open for play at Minnesota Children’s Museum from May 23 through Jan. 10, 2027. The exhibit is presented by United Healthcare, with additional support from Candyland. Admission to the exhibit is included with general admission. Museum admission starts at $17.95 per person for ages 1 to 101. Museum members get in free. Tickets are available at https://mcm.org/tickets.