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Our Mission:

Ignite the natural curiosity of every child through the power of play in a dynamic, awe-inspiring environment

PLAY. It's what we do.

MUSEUM HOURS

Daily Admission: $12/person

Sunday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday Closed
Tuesday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

ADMISSION: $12/PERSON over 12 months

A membership to the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota includes unlimited access to the Museum’s galleries during regular business hours, special discounts in the Museum gift shop, and invitations to exclusive members-only events for less than $12 a month! The Museum offers a variety of membership packages to suit the needs of individuals, families, and groups.

Browse the Museum’s membership packages to find an option that works best for you. Contact Museum staff for further details.

Become a member of Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota and enjoy unlimited family time!
Presented by the glen a. taylor foundation

Taylor Farm | Open for Play

Southern Minnesota is renowned for its vast fields of corn and soybeans that captivate us from car windows and school buses, now, get ready for an up-close and awe-inspiring encounter with farming like never before. This immersive experience revolves around four key elements: the AGCO – Fendt Tractor, Pigs on Wheels, the Barn, and a Corn Field.

This inviting space allows its visitors to engage in a hands-on, life like agriculture exhibit. Walk a few miles in a farmers shoes as you tend to the corn field then hop in the AGCO Fendt tractor to work the land. The Tot Spot is a great place for the youngest of learners to enjoy with their caregivers while those a little more sure footed move pigs through the pens using sorting boards. Children and caregivers can work together to tend to the pigs, scoot them across the floor to new pen areas and create new friendships!

SING-A-THON OF CELEBRATED SONGS

View our video Book - may there always be...

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 2023

Baby Play

Join us on the Infant and Toddler Play Porch! With a goal to support first-time parents or those who are caring for an infant, the Museum staff – who have a background in and a passion for early childhood development, will offer content specific to our birth to two age range.  Although topics such as …

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26 Sep
10:00 am - 11:30 am
STEAM Explorers weekly activity for kids at the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota

STEAM Explorers

Join us in the loft for a hands-on STEAM activity facilitated by a CMSM Play professional! Each week, we will explore a different area of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, or Math that will stimulate innovation, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving in young minds. ...
26 Sep
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Art Explorers in Cecils Imagineering Loft at the Childrens Museum of Southern Minnesota in Mankato

Art Explorers in Cecil’s Imagineering Loft

Join us in Cecil’s Imagineering Loft for a make-and-take art experience. We will explore and create with different art mediums each month: 2023 Monthly Themes: JANUARY: Clay and Playdough FEBRUARY: Paper Collage MARCH: Exploring Pencils and Shading APRIL: Finger Painting MAY: Mosaics JUNE:  Gross Motor Art JULY:  Collaborative Art AUGUST:  Wall Tapestries SEPTEMBER:  Open Studio (Closed …

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26 Sep
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Molding-Play-Doh-in-the-Kato-Enginerring-Explorers-Lab-Makers-Space-Childrens-Museum-Mankato

Young Explorers

Young Explorers is a weekly program open to all guests but specifically geared toward 2-5 year old toddlers and preschoolers. Children and their grown-ups will explore learning new skills through play in a multi-sensory Museum experience which will be a child-led learning time. We will be exploring different areas of our awe-inspiring environment each week.  …

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27 Sep
9:30 am - 11:00 am
Toddler Maze during Harvest Fest Festival at the Childrens Museum of Southern Minnesota Mankato

Outdoor Explorers

This program is for all age groups that are visiting the Museum. “Join us outside to play as we explore the wonders of nature every Wednesday afternoon! Activities facilitated by a CMSM Play Professional.” September Theme: Harvest Wednesday, 1pm – 3pm *outside September 20: Living Earth Center Join the Living Earth Center to try some …

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27 Sep
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
North Mankato Taylor Library Bookmobile

Bookmobile

The North Mankato Taylor Library Bookmobile makes weekly stops at the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota on Wednesday afternoons from 2-3pm. Join us for story time on the Lauri Kuch Memorial Stage each week! ...
27 Sep
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Art Explorers in Cecils Imagineering Loft at the Childrens Museum of Southern Minnesota in Mankato

Art Explorers in Cecil’s Imagineering Loft

Join us in Cecil’s Imagineering Loft for a make-and-take art experience. We will explore and create with different art mediums each month: 2023 Monthly Themes: JANUARY: Clay and Playdough FEBRUARY: Paper Collage MARCH: Exploring Pencils and Shading APRIL: Finger Painting MAY: Mosaics JUNE:  Gross Motor Art JULY:  Collaborative Art AUGUST:  Wall Tapestries SEPTEMBER:  Open Studio (Closed …

Home Read More »

...
28 Sep
9:00 am - 11:00 am
STEAM Explorers weekly activity for kids at the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota

STEAM Explorers

Join us in the loft for a hands-on STEAM activity facilitated by a CMSM Play professional! Each week, we will explore a different area of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, or Math that will stimulate innovation, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving in young minds. ...
28 Sep
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
October 2023

Baby Play

Join us on the Infant and Toddler Play Porch! With a goal to support first-time parents or those who are caring for an infant, the Museum staff – who have a background in and a passion for early childhood development, will offer content specific to our birth to two age range.  Although topics such as …

Home Read More »

...
03 Oct
10:00 am - 11:30 am
Art Explorers in Cecils Imagineering Loft at the Childrens Museum of Southern Minnesota in Mankato

Art Explorers in Cecil’s Imagineering Loft

Join us in Cecil’s Imagineering Loft for a make-and-take art experience. We will explore and create with different art mediums each month: 2023 Monthly Themes: JANUARY: Clay and Playdough FEBRUARY: Paper Collage MARCH: Exploring Pencils and Shading APRIL: Finger Painting MAY: Mosaics JUNE:  Gross Motor Art JULY:  Collaborative Art AUGUST:  Wall Tapestries SEPTEMBER:  Open Studio (Closed …

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03 Oct
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
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Exhibits

At the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota, each exhibit is intentionally designed as a robust educational resource that contributes to the well-being of children and the community. Our exhibits are created with an understanding of children’s development and based on local settings and landmarks with play potential for children, their parents, grandparents, caregivers, and teachers to explore, think, discover, learn, and enjoy.

Explore

Children learn best through hands-on play.

Discover

The Museum environment captivates children with a wide variety of interactive exhibits.

Think

Young minds need challenges and experiences to grow!

Learn

Exhibits are thoughtfully designed to spark curiosity and imagination.

Enjoy

Not only is play an incredible source of fun, but it is also crucial to children’s well-being.

Explore Exhibits Mankato Clinic Tree of Forts cargo nets climber treehouse Childrens Museum of Southern Minnesota

Impact Stories

“”“”

"A Place for Everyone"

“The Children’s Museum is a place where everyone can and be welcome and find some thing that they’re interested in. If you’ve never been here, I’d say get down here right away!”

“”“”

"I can’t explain how grateful I am for the Children's Museum"

“I love that my kids can come to the Children’s Museum, be creative and imaginative and make friends in the process. We visit weekly and every time we leave each of my four kids has made a new friend.”

What people are saying about CMSM

THE LATEST FROM THE CMSM Blog

Sandbox in the Dotson Back 40 at the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota in Mankato

Warm Weather Sensory Activities

Sensory play is beneficial to children all year, and in the cold months of winter, making messes indoors feels worth it on some of the longer days. But summer provides the perfect opportunity to engage in sensory play with children, because you can take the messes outside! Sensory play not only captivates their imagination but

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Kitchen Science with Kids

Summer Cooking with Kids!

At the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota, we have three kitchens: the mud kitchen, the Cabin kitchen, and the play kitchen in the farm-to-table Grow It Gallery. These exhibits are always popular, because children love this kind of pretend play. Play kitchens are a particularly popular resource for pretend play, as it benefits children and

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Grow healthy and strong with the 5-2-1-0 steps

Grow Healthy and Strong With the 5-2-1-0 steps

By Michelle McDonough, M.D., family medicine physician in Mankato, Minnesota. Like a tablet with a low battery, or a car running low on gas, your body can run out of energy without its fuel and energy source — food. Just as a tablet needs the right cord to charge and a car requires the correct

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