by Dennis Dalman
Get ready, get set, PLAY!
The brand new regional Great River Children’s Museum in downtown St. Cloud will host a sneak preview day Tuesday, June 10 so children, parents or guardians can play and learn and have lots of fun together.
A Grand Opening of the museum will take place 10 days later, on Friday, June 20. The GRCM is located at 110 Eighth Ave. S., just a block south of St. Germain Street, which is the main east-west street in downtown St. Cloud.
To guarantee entry into the museum and help ensure a joy-filled play experience for everyone, get timed-entry tickets online. Tickets are limited to nine per reservation. To choose time of visit and to purchase tickets, visit the GRCM website at greatrivercm.org/news. Then click on “Plan Your Visit” and open “Get Tickets Now.” The museum on that day will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tickets are $14 for each adult and each child, but children under 12 months are admitted free. And parents, children or guardians who are on food-assistance programs will be able to get discounted tickets.
The underlying concept of the GRCM is children learn best through hands-on experiences that involve all the senses: sight, touch, taste, hearing, smell. That is why many of the exhibits in the museum will be interactive ones so children can explore through contact, play and fun.
One of the exhibits already designed is called “Climber to the Clouds.” Located in the heart of the museum, Climber to the Clouds is intended to awe visitors as they enter the museum’s vast atrium. Children will be able to climb higher and higher, above cityscapes and rivers, exploring and interacting to learn about weather systems and even create their own rain, thunder, wind and rainbows.
Another interactive exhibit is called “Headwaters,” based on the inspiring outdoors of Minnesota, complete with the call of loons, a crackling campfire, leaves rustling in a breeze and other sights and sounds of the great outdoors.
Yet another option is the Tinker Shop where children can build a new invention.
Following its June 20 Grand Opening, the GRCM will become a venue for birthdays, group gatherings and corporate events.
The museum staff will also make available workshops, performances and field trips and will bring many fun educational activities to parks, festivals, schools and other events.
GRCM background
The Great River Children’s Museum was a long, long time coming. The idea for it started in 1983 when Glen Palm and Jane Ellison had lunch together, during which they envisioned a regional children’s museum in St. Cloud. At that time, Palm was a professor of Child and Family Studies at St. Cloud State University, and Ellison is an Early Childhood Mental Health specialist. Those two shared their vision with others, and that is when the dream, the possibility began to grow.
Throughout the years, many people began intensive, intricate planning and fundraising. They visited other children’s museums elsewhere to soak up ideas. A downtown St. Cloud businessman donated a building and lot for the future museum. An executive director, Cassie Miles, was hired and a board of directors was formed.
A generous Minnesota State grant and many donations helped ensure the success of the project, making the long-time dream become a reality. It is the second largest children’s museum in Minnesota.
Images of real children are superimposed on this artist’s conception of one of the activity rooms in the Great River Children’s Museum, which will host its Grand Opening Friday, June 20.
