Our mission at Explore & More – The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Children’s Museum is to provide the best-in-class play experiences where all children, families and the community can explore, learn, and grow together.
As we celebrate our first birthday at Canalside, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we realize how important play is – now more than ever. We wanted to provide an opportunity to celebrate with our community and vice versa – since so many of us have missed being able to celebrate important milestones together during these unprecedented times.
While we were closed for several months for in-person play, our team of educators worked to re-imagine the intersectin fun and education. We created our Sanity Savers program which provides step by step instructions for families to do at home activities. We also enlisted the help of various members in our community to read children’s books for our Storytime series, for all ages and languages.
Explore & More has been open since early July for in-person play, it has taken on a different form. We are limited to roughly 20% capacity and have heightened safety measures throughout the museum including plexiglass shields, masks for visitors and employees and hand sanitizing stations.
Your support at a time like this means that we can continue to play, through whatever the future might hold.
your donation helps support:
- Au-Some Evenings, a monthly event, which is dedicated to families with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and traumatic brain injury
- Family Fun Fridays at Canalside – we were one of the first to offer free programming down at Canalside and we are still committed to offering these wonderful, engaging and free activities for families throughout the summer
- Touch A Truck, a free event that brought visitors down to Canalside, letting little one ooh, ahhh, touch and climb over 40 emergency, utility and construction trucks
- Honk for Heroes, a first-time event showcasing military and first responder vehicles and personnel.
- Through the support of many local businesses, foundations and individuals, Explore & More brings in several hundred Title 1 school children to visit at no cost.
- Enhanced costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated safety enhancements
