Iowa Childrens Museum

Programs: The iowa children's museum has established five educational initiatives for all programs and exhibits that include "science, technology, engineering & math" (stem), financial literacy, school readiness, healthy kids, and arts & culture. The active learning experiences that are associated with these initiatives embody best practices of informal education and advance 21st century skills. Specific initiatives include:day campskids get the most out of no school days with day camps at the iowa children's museum! Whether it's one-day camps during the school year or a week-long camp during the summer, campers participate in engaging educational activities, exploring the museum's exceptional exhibits, and experiencing just how fun active learning can be! Each camp is designed to appeal to kids of diverse skill levels and a wide range of ages. Participants can choose between the am session, pm session, or all-day option, as well as extended care opportunities. Field tripsthe iowa children's museum is an exceptional place to bring a school classroom, child care center, or other organized group for field trips that stimulate learning, creativity, and fun! The museum has highly engaging exhibits that are aligned with the iowa core curriculum and national education standards challenging students to apply educational concepts in a context that promotes deep conceptual understanding. Inspiring students to develop creativity and problem solving skills, the museum is proud to offer educators field trip adventures directly linked to school curricula. Field trip enrichment experiences at the iowa children's museum add 28,000 square feet of active learning to the formal classroom! Fun-tivitiesfun-tivities are a great way to enrich your museum visit! Families are invited to join daily fun-tivities where diverse play experiences help children develop 21st century skills as they learn how the world around them works. Fun-tivities are educational, engaging, and unique learning experiences facilitated by our outstanding team of museum playologists. Kinder clubkinder club is a special school readiness program designed just for preschoolers ages 3-5 filled with enrichment opportunities that explore new themes every 4-week session through active learning experiences, music, and games that take place in our exhibit environments. Kinder club provides some special time for your preschoolers to work on important early childhood skills to prepare them for success when they begin kindergarten. Nature playexplore the wonder of nature while spending a playful afternoon outdoors with museum playologists in beautiful kent park. Stroll around the lake in search of bugs, plants, and more! Active learning geared to living things makes this program designed for the whole family. Outreach programsthe iowa children's museum travels around eastern iowa to schools, libraries, or other organizations to facilitate active learning that is serious fun! A wide array of outreach educational programs are available that support 21st century learning skill development. Scout enrichment programsyouth earn scout badges and pins in our unique hands-on, minds-on learning environment where every child is inspired to imagine, create, discover, and explore through the power of play! Each session completes all requirements for a specific badge or pin. Stem family free nightsvisit the iowa children's museum on the last friday of every month at no cost from 5:00 to 8:00 pm to experience stem active learning at its best! Each month features a different problem or challenge that's meaningful to children and their families. Our stem studio provides student-centered learning experiences that use science and math to better understand the problem or challenge and engineering and technology to create potential solutions. Diverse community groups join us monthly to provide real-world connections to the stem challenge. Play to readplay to read is an early literacy program that features play activities that nurture early literacy skill development. Designed especially for childcare providers in home childcare and preschool center environments, this program includes play to read literacy kits and professional development for childcare providers. Not a boxnot a box" parties are neighborhood events that encourage children to develop a love for reading by bringing books to life with active play experiences. These events are in partnership with local organizations that include the iowa city community school district, iowa city area chamber of commerce, pearson, united way, 4cs of johnson county, johnson county empowerment, local libraries, and the antelope lending library. Icm for everyonethe children's museum through this program provides annual museum memberships at no cost to economically disadvantaged families living in the area. The memberships are awarded through local social service organizations and if used by the recipient family at least six times each year can be renewed annually at no cost. Super hero nightthe last sunday of each month is open to families with children who have special needs that require the museum to be quiet and less crowded than during normal open hours. The museum opens its doors free of admission charge on super hero night to allow special play opportunities for kids who have unique needs. Outreach programsthe museum reaches out into the community to bring playing to learn activities to festivals, celebrations, school science nights, and much more! One of the museum's most popular outreach programs is our box parties! This program features a truckload of cardboard and lots of tape to allow kids to create structures of all sorts. Interactive exhibitsthe iowa children's museum is filled with 25,000 square feet of interactive exhibits! These exhibits create contextual active learning opportunities in five key educational focus areas: stem, literacy, health & fitness, school readiness, financial literacy, and arts & culture.