South Dakota Is Home To A Giant Children’s Museum And It’s Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen Before
South Dakota is loaded with fabulous museums to explore, but this one in particular is catered to children, and it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before. From Creativity Labs that allow visitors to experiment with lights and shadows, to Prairie Galleries that encourage children to role play the way of life many years ago, there’s hands-on educational fun at nearly every glance. Visit this fantastic and memorable museum with your children, and they will certainly remember it forever, and you’ll have a ball feeling like a kid again.
An adventurous experience awaits at the Children’s Museum of South Dakota! You’ll find South Dakota’s first broad-based, cross-discipline children’s museum at 521 4th St, Brookings, SD 57006.
Since its inception in 2010, this non-profit organization’s mission has been to promote learning for children of all abilities and ages through interactive hands-on demonstrations and exhibits
Visitors can explore the wide open prairie galleries that invite them to role-play the daily tasks of living on the prairie many years ago. This includes feeding the animals in the prairie barn, working together growing vegetables, practicing teamwork and cooperation in moving food from the farm to the market, and more.
Visitors can also spend time experimenting with colors, shapes, textures and patterns in the museum’s Creativity Lab that has various activities for children of all ages. From experimenting with lights and shadows to gathering and sorting items according to their kind, children are encouraged to exercise their problem solving skills and use their imagination.
The KidStreet area is inspired by the community’s values such as hard work in building a better future, becoming independent, contributing to society and more. Children can put together sandwiches in the café, make a trip to the grocery store, produce their own play or newscast, create a newspaper for the public square, and so much more.
The Splash Gallery is another fantastic place to explore! Its various exhibits encourage children to be persistent, make choices, and learn all about the natural element of water. Younger children can engage in water play to learn about the properties of water by filling buckets, floating balls, and getting wet, while older children embark on experiments and find solutions to problems.
Visitors can unearth dinosaur bones in an outdoor exhibit and marvel at the life-sized animatronic T. rex. Other outdoor activities include building a beaver dam to see what it does to the water and stepping on stones in the stream to practice one’s ability to estimate distance, speed and balance.
Don’t forget to stop for a meal at the museum’s restaurant called Café Coteau. Located in the glorious atrium, this café is known for serving up satisfying breakfasts and lunches for both children and adults.
Note: Visitors are welcome to bring their own snacks and meals to eat in the Museum’s pavilion or outside on the picnic tables.
There are so many hands on experiences to be had at this unique and fascinating museum, that this article barely scratches the surface. It’s no wonder they have won numerous awards and accolades.
For a full list of all of the exhibits along with all the possible activities for every age group, feel to visit their website!
The museum is $7.50 per person, and it requires a 1 to 5 adult to child ratio. They are closed on Mondays, but you can and your children can visit Tues-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun 12-5pm.
Have you ever been to the Children’s Museum of South Dakota? If not, are you planning on spending the day here with your children soon? Let us know in the comment section below!
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