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Capital Campaign info here! “Building Curiosity- Play a Part, Fund the Fun!”
The Curious Kids’ Museum (CKM) was founded by educators and parents to provide an environment that invites curiosity, allows exploration, celebrates childhood, and inspires learning! The museum is a space where people of any age or ability can play and learn. In the summer of 2022, fire damaged much of the Curious Kids’ Museum’s building and exhibits, resulting in the temporary closure of the museum. With an outpouring of community support, the museum’s leadership is using this as an opportunity to reimagine the museum experience. To explore new ideas while remaining a place where children and their adults can pursue their natural curiosity through creative, hands-on play. In order to bring that vision to life, we are relying on the generosity of the surrounding community as we raise funds for our “Building Curiosity-Play a Part, Fund the Fun!” capital campaign.
During our reimagining of what kind of museum we want to offer families for the next 35+ years, we realized our current location on Lake Boulevard is just too small to take us into the future the way we envision it. So, in the summer of 2025, we purchased the Heritage Museum at 601 Main Street! It has the exact amount of square footage we knew we needed and it maintains a prominent downtown location and able to offer downtown St. Joseph as a “must-do” destination for our local and visiting families. Construction will start Fall 2025 to begin to give a more “exhibit friendly” layout to our new building, with completion expected Winter 2027. Curious Kids’ Museum on Lake Blvd remains open while we make renovations to Curious Kids’ Museum on Main Street.
Exhibits
Meeting the diverse learning needs of children means creating exhibits that embrace multi-sensory learning (visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic). This allows children to learn and explore in a way that is most comfortable to them, while also promoting well-rounded development. All exhibits also need to be accessible. Exhibit content will include STEM based activities and some of the exhibits currently in the works are- The Big Dig (guests will become paleontologists in a blend of large motor play, problems solving challenges, and piecing together prehistoric puzzles); experimentation (Test Lab – an open-ended collection of exhibits with motion, speed, air, gravity and other forces); social-dramatic (Spotlight Theater – imaginative play takes center stage with backstage fun, costumes and props, and face paint – this space emphasizes early literacy practices); interactive experiences (On the Go – the area around CKM is a transportation hub – trains, barges and trucks are literally right outside our doors and kids can get behind the wheel of whatever vehicle they choose while learning about the area’s history and industry) and The New and Improved Farmer’s Market will add garden furrows, a tractor and other agriculture themed experiences; all new exhibits create opportunities for family engagement and cooperative play!
Programs
CKM is more than a museum! We have an Outreach program that takes mobile exhibits and activities to schools, local libraries, area festivals, county fairs, preschools, and daycares. We offer the subject matter specific hands-on learning component to teachers for their students on field trips. We provide opportunities for family time and the memories it creates (now for a second generation of guests and families). We have volunteer and employment opportunities for high school students interested in careers in education. We also partner with local non-profit organizations to support youth focused programs.
We have been fortunate to receive the support of area businesses, community leaders, and patrons of the Curious Kids’ Museum throughout the years, and hope that generosity will continue. Consider donating to our capital campaign “Building Curiosity- Play a Part, Fund the Fun!” and help expand the educational horizons of all children for generations to come.
Click here to “Play a Part, Fund the Fun!”
