Creative Discovery Museum

Programs: The museum hosted 237,085 visitors in 2016 including 25,459 students in school and youth groups. An additional 46,385 students participated in school outreach lessons and family nights. Over four million people have visited the museum since it opened in 1995. The museum is dedicated to being as accessible as possible to families throughout the greater chattanooga area. 31,093 children and families took advantage of free admission programs in 2016. The museum provides free admission on the second thursday evening of each month and two community free days in december. It distributes free tickets to various social service agencies and provides discounted admissions to students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. The museum launched a new initiative in 2015 which enables all ebt cardholders to pay an admission fee of 2. 00 per person. In 2016, 5,985 visitors took advantage of this program.

the museums main facility houses its permanent and temporary exhibition program. These exhibits provide interactive, age appropriate activities in the arts and sciences. The exhibits are multi-sensory and address the different learning styles of children using a wide variety of media and objects. The museum develops and maintains the following core exhibit areas riverplay, featuring a climbing structure and a water stream table the little yellow house designed for children 4 years and under arts alley which explores the visual and performing arts excavation station where children dig for dinosaur bones and discover life underground make it space where children can use a variety of tools including hammers, saws, and sewing machines to make creations of their own rooftop fun factory, an outdoor exhibit with simple machines buzz alley which features a working beehive, videos, and a bee dance floor discovery library, a reading and storytime area corner clinic, which introduces children to a doctors office and human biology. The museum presented three major temporary exhi

the museum offers a wide array of education programs that complement and enhance the core and traveling exhibits. These programs include art lessons in the artists studio, artists in residence, pre-school adventure days, cooking lessons in the culinary corner, craft activities at creation station, science demonstrations in the science theater, and story times in the discovery library. These programs are free with museum admission. The museum also offers fee based programs including workshops, an early childhood playgym program, camps, birthday parties, and overnight programs. The museum features special events throughout the year ranging from a honey harvest festival in the summer to a new years at noon celebration on december 31. For school audiences the museum offers highlight tours, science theater demonstrations and workshops, preschool tours designed for ages 3-ktailored visits that meet the teachers specific needs professional development workshops for teachers, distance learning, school outreach lessons and family nights.