Children’s Museum of Richmond

Richmond Times-Dispatch Archives

Published: August 30, 2008

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See highlights of the Children’s Museum of Richmond

Children’s Museum of Richmond: An interactive, hands-on museum with age-appropriate activities for newborns to children age 8. Permanent participatory exhibits include: How it Works, the Feeling Good Neighborhood, the Art Studio, Our Great Outdoors, James River WaterPlay and The Backyard.

In September 2008, the museum will see its largest renovation since it opened in 2000 to make room for its new exhibit: Town Square. Elements of the new play area will include an auto garage, TV station, a new school house, grocery store and cafe, shadow play, bank, and a hospital with an ambulance.  The museum will be closed the four days after the Labor Day for cleaning and renovation preparation and plan to open the new 3,000 square foot exhibit Saturday, Oct. 4.

The exhibit will be developed in the area to the left of the museum and will require the museum to move several exhibits, including the DinoZone. Thee older exhibits will not come back.

“The goal is to promote pretend play—its a big part of children’s development,“ said Karen Coltrane, president and CEO of the museum. Exhibits are designed to foster creative, unstructured play and discovery.

The CMOR Backyard opened in summer 2007 and is an invitation for kids to get drenched. Filled with sprinklers, waterspouts, a water wall and a miniature version of the James River, it’s a good reason to bring extra clothes (and sunscreen) for the little ones.

The 6,000-square-foot backyard is directly outside the museum’s back door and has a back porch, a reading corner with a shade tree, sandboxes and buckets of toys, plastic shovels and rakes.

“The sand is a magnet to the kids,“ said Coltrane. “The whole premise is built on essential elements—sand, water, grass, sticks, sun.

“These are fundamental experiences that most kids have, we hope, but not everyone. Some have not experienced sand and water and art in the same place. That’s a special world for a child.“

The backyard has several open green spaces for rolling and playing. A music area offers Tonga drums and a instrument on which children can step and dance that plays bells.

Every winter, the Childrens Museum of Richmond holds its Kids’ Carniball fundraiser to benefit the museum’s educational programs. In the months leading up to Carniball, the museum’s volunteer guild team makes certain that local preschools are equipped with special teaching materials and guides that culminate in art projects created for display at the museum.

The museum is also the home of Legendary Santa each holiday season. Kids may come and get their picture made with Santa Claus and visit the museum while they are there.

HISTORY
In 1981, well-respected civic and community volunteer Sara Farber Markham founded the Richmond Children’s Museum on the site of the former Navy Hill School on North Sixth Street. Her vision was to create a museum for children that would encourage them to become engaged in the arts through interactive exhibits and participatory activities. In 1997, the museum changed its name to the Children’s Museum of Richmond. In 2000, having outgrown the site at Navy Hill, the Children’s Museum of Richmond relocated to its new 48,000 square foot location on Broad Street adjacent to the Science Museum of Virginia. Since that time, CMoR has been visited by over one million visitors.

IF YOU GO TO CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF RICHMOND
Getting there: 2626 West Broad Street (next door to the Science Museum of Virginia).

Hours: Memorial Day through Labor Day, Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m. Winter hours, Tuesday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m.

Cost: $7 ($4 after 4:00 p.m.)

Details: 474-CMOR or http://www.c-mor.org