EVENT DETAILS
Night at the Museum is a fun and fabulous adults-only evening at Explore Children’s Museum, where grown-ups get to rediscover the joy of play! Now in its 4th annual year, this signature fundraiser invites guests to mix, mingle, and play after hours in the museum. This year’s theme, “The Magic of Play,” celebrates imagination, creativity, and the meaningful moments that spark learning at every age.
The evening will feature a VIP hour complete with a special tasting event from a local distillery, an exciting silent auction, a paddle raise, and heavy hors d’oeuvres from Buck ‘n Honey’s, along with beer, wine, and a specialty cocktail.
EVENT SCHEDULE
5pm | VIP cocktail hour, up-close magic shows, exclusive tasting event
6pm | General Admission cocktail hour, browse the silent auction, heavy appetizers, explore the magic of the museum
7:30pm | Brief program highlighting the impact of Explore Children’s Museum, followed by a paddle raise to support purposeful play and lifelong learning
9pm | Event concludes
Night at the Museum is Explore Children’s Museum’s largest fundraising event of the year. The museum serves children, caregivers, and the broader community through the incredible power of play. Every child deserves access to opportunities that help them grow, learn, and thrive. By investing early in childhood, we strengthen not only individual families but our entire community. Your support helps us inspire purposeful play, foster creativity, and promote lifelong learning.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Explore Children’s Museum is community-funded and visitor-supported. Donations, sponsorships, events, and operating revenue make it possible for us to offer high-quality, play-based educational experiences. Every dollar raised directly supports museum operations and maintenance, ensuring we can continue providing a welcoming, enriching space for families throughout our community.
Night at the Museum - The Magic of Play is presented by
About Explore Children's Museum
Explore Children's Museum serves children, their caregivers and our community. Our mission is to provide meaningful opportunities, inspire participation in purposeful play, and promote lifelong learning. To accomplish our mission we create opportunities for children to take an active role in learning environments that inspire creativity, exploration, engagement, shared learning, collaboration, communication, critical thinking skills and fun.
“The first five years have so much to do with how the next 80 turn out,” said Bill Gates. Early educational opportunities are critical in shaping outcomes for our children. Federal, state and local governments invest so little in early childhood education, so the nonprofit sector tries to fill the gap. Explore Children’s Museum was created to do just that. Intended for children under 9 years old, a crucial window in childhood development, our space offers 15 permanent and rotating interactive exhibits that cover a wide range of interests and skill sets. Each exhibit helps children develop executive function, problem solving, collaboration, creativity, self confidence, independence, and self-regulation. These skills are critical for lifelong success and must be intentionally developed.
Accessibility is a priority. We welcome all visitors. We use a need-based fee system for daily admission and membership for visitors facing financial constraints. We have a quiet room to support visitors that experience sensory overload, an adult-sized changing table in the bathroom, and Accommodation Kits with headphones and sensory tools for visitors who need support to enjoy the museum.
Explore Children's Museum charges $8/person for admission, but spends $11/person to operate. As a nonprofit organization created to fill a gap, we hesitate to raise rates on our earned income from admissions, membership fees, parties, field trips and programming to fully support our operating expenses. Raised rates would put undue pressure on families and groups who rely on access to the museum. We were developed and remain fully committed to the principle that early childhood education is critical for academic readiness and success, physical and mental health, and the development of children into adults who are prepared to meet the challenges they will face.
All children should have access to opportunities to thrive. Our children are our collective future and we serve them, and our communities, best when we invest in them early in childhood.