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.