Mankato— August 18, 2022— The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota was recently awarded a Walmart Community Grant of $3,500. CEO Louise Dickmeyer says the Museum will use the funds to help the Gateway to Play Initiative. The Gateway to Play Initiative provides opportunities for families, nonprofits and schools to access the Museum, who otherwise face
A mixed seed packet. Really strong winds. The bottom of someone’s shoe. A bird passing overhead at just the right moment. These are the ways a rogue seed might make its way into a garden patch where it wasn’t intentionally planted. The circumstances might be all wrong for the seed, but it gets plopped down
Our spaces at the Museum are designed with ages 0-9 at the forefront, but that doesn’t mean they’re not fun for everyone! We recently shared the valuable ways play is good for people of any age, and we want to follow up with ways families can play together both in our spaces and in your
Mankato— August 5, 2022—As the Museum continues to grow, a fun, educational instrument will be added to the Mayo Clinic Health System Courtyard in the coming weeks. Called the Cadence Marimba, it features 13 deep and vibrant notes and is made with a recycled, reinforced plastic resonated base. Kim Kleven, Vice President, Education and Learning
The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota is targeted for children ages 0-10, which means parents or caregivers are always present. We are not a drop-off facility. One of the fun things Museum playworkers and other families get to observe is how those parents and caregivers interact with the exhibits as well. We have found there
Mankato— July 29, 2022—The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota recently established a new community partnership with Feeding Our Community Partners (FOCP) through their Summer Pack Food Program. The Museum worked with FOCP and provided a One-Day Family Free Pass for each of the 1000 food packages distributed in June. Kim Kleven, Vice President of Education and
You may have heard about the Museum’s big expansion news or more recently have seen the preliminary plans for the space in the newspaper. While there are lots of exciting things going on in the plans for the new space, one thing is clear: we will be increasing our outdoor nature play adventuring opportunities. Exploration
While we are all super excited for the big changes we have coming at the Museum, we also continue to experience smaller growth and development all the time! Right now we’re excited for the upcoming installation of the first outdoor musical instrument in our music garden. When the grassy area was added to our Mayo
The excitement hasn’t stopped on the Dotson Back 40 since we opened the Mud Kitchen (and even celebrated International Mud Day!) and encouraged kids of all ages to get messy. Parents can feel at ease when we let our kids explore and get mucky and grubby at the Museum instead of at home. Don’t worry,
Most people have a memory of a favorite pet from childhood. If they didn’t have one of their own, they might conjure up thoughts of a grandparent’s, neighbor’s, or friend’s pet they loved at some point in their lives. We think of how cute they are when we look at them, how soft they might
The Butterfly House at the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota is opening for the season on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. The timing couldn’t be better – it coincides with National Pollinator Week! History of the Butterfly House CMSM has long supported Monarch butterflies in outdoor spaces, particularly the Prairie’s Edge Exploration Area. It was all
What is Process Art? I am Rachel Gemlo, a Program Facilitator here at the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota. My background is in early childhood education and studio arts. I recently gave a presentation on process art at the FACS to the Max conference at Minnesota State University, Mankato. While preparing my presentation, I discovered