Night at the Museum 2025 from ClickBid Mobile Bidding

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Event Details

Night at the Museum is a fun and fabulous adult-only evening of socializing with friends, old and new, at Explore Children’s Museum where adults have fun playing, too! This year’s theme is “Adventure Awaits”. The evening will feature a VIP hour, a silent auction(with LOTS of adventures!), a paddle raise, heavy hors d'oeuvres from Buck ‘n Honey’s, beer, wine and a specialty cocktail - an Aperol Spritz!

This will be Explore Children's Museum's 3rd annual Night at the Museum event and it is our largest fundraising event of the year! Explore Children's Museum serves children, their caregivers and our community through the amazing power of play. 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. With your support we can continue to provide meaningful opportunities, inspire participation in purposeful play, and promote lifelong learning.

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Explore Children’s Museum’s funding is community based and visitor supported. We depend on donations, sponsorships, events and operating revenue to offer our play based educational experiences. Every dollar spent at our events and museum goes directly towards our operation and maintenance costs, ensuring that we can provide the best experience possible for families in our community.

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.