LEARNING & DISCOVERY
The Children’s Museum of the Brazos Valley
By MOLLY MCINTIRE
W
alking into The Children’s Museum
of the Brazos Valley, guests may
think they’ve entered a children’s
paradise instead of a children’s museum.
Bright, colorful displays stretch from
wall to wall while huge, interactive
exhibits fill the open-concept building.
The Children’s Museum, which
opened April 1998, aims to provide a
child-centered, hands-on, interactive
environment for learning and discovery.
What sets the Children’s Museum apart
from other museums is that The Children’s
Museum encourages learning through
a hands-on approach, says Marketing
Director Ashley Kortis.
“We offer a way for children to learn
in unique, unexpected, and fun ways,”
says Kortis. “Our kids come in and they
think that they are playing. They think
it’s a giant playground, but they are also
learning something at the same time.”
Some of these learning features
include: Our Little Free Library, where
children or families can take home a
book or two; the HEB grocery store,
stocked with fruits and vegetables,
which allows children to learn about
budgeting and which foods are healthy
for them; and the family pet center,
which instructs families on the proper
care and feeding of pets and focuses on a
different animal each month.
“We’ve really seen that there was
a need in this community that wasn’t
being met,” says Kortis. “There’s a
lack of a resources for early childhood
education, specifically for ages 0 to 3.
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INSITE May/June 2017
The Museum
welcomes all ages,
but exhibits are
created with younger
children in mind
We see ourselves as being a resource for
early childhood development. We have
an opportunity to engage children and
their parents.”
The Children’s Museum hasn’t always
straddled the Bryan College Station
dividing line, as they moved to their East
29th Street location in January 2015. Prior
to the move, The Children’s Museum was
located in Downtown Bryan for 16 years.
Unlike other children’s museums in Texas,
the Children’s Museum does not have a
large, single benefactor such as a family or
corporation who donates to the museum
or finances exhibits.
“We’ve really seen an increase in
the 77845 zipcode. That has grown
exponentially since moving here,” says
Kortis. “We feel like maybe our location is
now more accessible.”
Since the move from Bryan, the
Children’s Museum has added five new
exhibits. Kortis estimates that they add
two new exhibits per year.
“We are about to debut our newest
exhibit for this year … and then later
this summer we will debut another new
exhibit,” says Kortis.
“We always say we are fun from birth to
99 years of age because parents come and
grandparents come and have fun with their
kids as well, but most of our exhibits are
geared for 0 to 10 years old,” says Kortis.
The open-concept museum is ideal for
parents who have children of different
ages who are prone to running free or who
might want to visit different exhibits, as
parents can still keep an eye on them.
The Children’s Museum is open
Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5
p.m., and is closed Sunday and Monday.
Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for children,
$5 for senior citizens, and children under
one year of age get in free.
Clapping Hands Memberships and
Standing Ovation Memberships are
available for purchase. Clapping Hands
Members enjoy unlimited admission
all year, invitations to members-only
events, and priority notification and
registration for all the museum’s events.
Standing Ovation Memberships receive
all of the aforementioned perks, as well
as discounts on: planned party events;
summer, winter, and spring break camps;
and participating network museums
and area businesses. Standing Ovation
Members also receive recognition on The
Children’s Museum Website.
To learn more about the Children’s
Museum, make a donation, or see
upcoming events, visit cmbv.org. i