Skip to main content

Explorations V Children’s Museum expanding and relocating to Bonnet Springs Park

News
explorations v childrens museum

Explorations V Children’s Museum has unveiled its second major expansion as it prepares to relocate to Bonnet Springs Park in 2021.

Almost 300 people, including community leaders, members, families and partners, shared their vision for a new children’s museum, helping to shape the vision for beyond 2020.

The attraction aims to open the doors of a children’s museum that redefines informal learning, and to provide a community resource for families.

Explorations V Children’s Museum will also conduct research that advances its understanding of how children learn, and wants to engage “a community of curious explorers”.

New galleries at Explorations V Children’s Museum

Watermelon Seeds

For the museum’s youngest visitors, this gallery will highlight the importance of farming and where food comes from. Inside Watermelon Seeds will be the new home of Family Fundamentals, a United Way of Central Florida initiative to provide free early learning opportunities to low-income families.

Watermelon Seeds will have 15 times the amount of space currently on offer for children under the age of five at the museum.

Design Park

High tech and low tech will come together with open-ended, child-designed building projects at Design Park. From cardboard to kinnex, a variety of materials will be available for children to design with.

The Front Yard

This 7,000-square-foot outdoor, enclosed gallery will invite children to travel through time to dig up marine fossils and learn about Central Florida’s iconic alligator. The Front Yard will include a 100 foot long, 23 foot wide climbable alligator with calming sensory swings, a slide on the tail, and a xylophone plank tongue.

City Play

City Play will feature local storefronts for children to explore, introducing children to the world of dramatic play. Almost 80% of the brain develops before the age of six, and pretend play directly influences each of those neural synapses or brain connections.

Blackbox Theatre

This mixed used space will include performance art, traveling exhibits, special events, and rentals. It features sprung wood floor for dance performances and an AV room for professional controls, and will be used for everything from children’s theatre to professional development trainings.

Creative

The sixth gallery space will be co-designed with the exhibit firm in order to bring something creative and customised to the community.

Meanwhile, Futuropolis, a city of the future imagined for and by children, has opened at Futuroscope. The mini city allows children to play out their grown-up dreams.

Image: Explorations V Children’s Museum

Share this

Bea Mitchell

Bea is a journalist specialising in entertainment, attractions and tech with 10 years' experience. She has written and edited for publications including CNET, BuzzFeed, Digital Spy, Evening Standard and BBC. Bea graduated from King's College London and has an MA in journalism.

More from this author

More from this author

Related content

Your web browser is out of date. Update your browser for more security, speed and the best experience on this site.

Find out how to update