Minnesota Children's Museum

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Minnesota Children's Museum
Minnesota Children's Museum at night
The Minnesota Children's Museum
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Former name
Minnesota's AwareHouse
Established12 December 1981 (1981-12-12)
Location10 West 7th Street, Saint Paul, Minnesota, US
Coordinates44°56′52″N 93°5′49″W / 44.94778°N 93.09694°W / 44.94778; -93.09694Coordinates: 44°56′52″N 93°5′49″W / 44.94778°N 93.09694°W / 44.94778; -93.09694
TypeChildren's museum
Websitewww.mcm.org

The Minnesota Children's Museum is a children's museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1981 in Minneapolis, the museum moved to St. Paul in 1995.

The museum includes natural exhibits of Minnesota, developmental learning areas for small children, a creativity and problem- solving area, and national traveling exhibits .[1]

History[]

On December 12, 1981, the Minnesota's AwareHouse, the first children's museum, opened downtown Minneapolis. Attendance grew to 80,000, and the museum quickly outgrew the original space in downtown Minneapolis. In 1985, the museum moved to an old blacksmith's shop in Bandana Square, transforming dirt walls into 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) of galleries. By the early 1990s, the museum's visitors and exhibits again outgrew the space in Bandana Square.

In September 1995, the Minnesota Children's Museum opened in downtown Saint Paul opened with 65,000 square feet (6,000 m2) of gallery and program space. Three of the most popular exhibits moved from Bandana Square to the new museum: Habitot; the Crane (which moved to the World Works gallery), and the Maze (which moved to Earth World and became the giant anthill).

Today, more than 6 million children and their families have visited the Museum.[1] In September 2012, The Museum planned a $26 million expansion [2] and began renovations in late 2016.

On December 5, 2016, the Children's Museum closed until its $30 million renovation was completed. It would reveal a different layout and 10 new exhibits, along with a cafe and coffee bar, more bathrooms and elevators.[3] On June 7, 2017, the Museum reopened to the public.[4][5]

Galleries[]

  • Our World connects children to people and places in their community as they role play "grown–ups" in a child-size environment.
  • World Works encourages creativity and problem-solving through investigation and experimentation.
  • Earth World immerses children in lifelike Minnesota habitats to nurture an understanding of the natural world.
  • Habitot enables infants and toddlers to safely explore four developmentally designed learning landscapes.
  • Rooftop ArtPark brings nature and art together in an outdoor gallery on the museum's fourth-floor[6]
  • Two special galleries offer traveling exhibits from around the world.
  • Interactive programs, such as Story Time, Big Fun! and live animal programs happen daily.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "History & Mission of the Minnesota Children's Museum". Minnesota Children's Museum. Archived from the original on 2010-12-08.
  2. ^ "Children's Museum chooses design architect". Star Tribune. September 8, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  3. ^ "Minnesota Children's Museum closing Dec. 5 for renovations – Twin Cities". Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  4. ^ Ingrassia, Bob (2017-05-16). "Minnesota Children's Museum Celebrates Expansion and Renovation with "Sneak Peek Days" and Grand Opening Events". Minnesota Children's Museum. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  5. ^ Cox, Peter (2017-06-07). "Renovated Children's Museum reopens today, and the kids already love it". www.mprnews.org. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  6. ^ "Permanent Exhibits of the Minnesota Children's Museum". Minnesota Children's Museum. Archived from the original on 2010-12-08.

External links[]

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