The Iowa Children's Museum

The Iowa Children's Museum has established five educational initiatives for all programs and exhibits that include "science, technology, engineering & math" (stem), financial literacy, school readiness, healthy kids and arts & culture. The active learning experiences that are associated with these initiatives embody best practices of informal education and advance 21st century skills. In fy23, The Museum continued to rebound from The pandemic, rebuilding its business model and membership base and serving more than 160,000 visitors over The course of The year. Some of The Museum's specific community-based programs and accomplishments are as follows:family sanctuary renovation: The Museum's family sanctuary was dramatically updated and improved this fiscal year, becoming a true place of respite for children and families, especially those with sensory and other special needs. In addition to substantial lighting and flooring upgrades, The Museum was able to invest in more comfortable and welcoming furniture, add a number of books to enhance The Museum's focus on literacy, and provide a number of sensory activities to help enhance our visitors' experience. Last but not least, substantial grant funding allowed us to purchase and install a universal, size-inclusive changing table in a nearby family restroom. Storytime stem: The icm continued into a second year of partnership with The bayer fund, completing high-impact stem-based coding programs with hundreds of students in rural school districts surrounding The Museum. This was offered free of charge to The districts and completed via a curricular program called storytime stem, which focuses on building both literacy and computer skills for students in kindergarten through 2nd grade. The icm also took steps to secure funding for extending this program to high-need elementary schools in cedar rapids. This program will continue into The 2023-24 school year. Stem smart programs: stem smart encourages literacy and healthy development by providing programs that allow children to apply understanding of how The world works within The areas of science, technology, engineering and math. This work is accomplished through various programs, including family free nights and community outreach programs. The Museum's "stem in The community" initiative continued to allow icm educators The chance to work with children and families in their own neighborhoods, furthering Museum accessibility objectives. The new "power of nature" series offered some great insight into renewable energy for our young visitors and their families. Icm2go: this program connects icm's "play to learn" model with children and families on-site throughout The eastern Iowa corridor. During The pandemic, this program allowed The organization to maximize its community impact in a time of great need, but that work has continued in earnest over The past two years, reaching out even more broadly throughout The area. A notable success this year was The addition of a minivan to allow The Museum The opportunity to participate in more events and have added flexible in how icm educators are serving The community. Icm for everyone: this program continued to evolve in fy23 as The Museum fully embraced The national museums for all program, lowering The bar to Museum access even further. Families simply need to indicate that they are enrolled in one of The approved state or federal aid programs, making admission free each and every time they visit, without The need to complete membership paperwork. In fy23 alone, roughly 9,300 visitors gained access to The Museum through this phenomenal program. Museum officials continue to spread The word about this program, reaching more and more delighted new visitors on a weekly basis. Move it! Dig it! Do it! And jack splat: these two large-scale, free, outdoor community events continue to provide The icm a tremendous opportunity to connect with The community. For The second straight year, jack splat was held in a downtown Iowa city park as a means of increasing access. The icm and various partners invite community members to bring their compostable jack-o-lanterns to The park, where they are dropped from The fourth floor of a local parking ramp for everyone's enjoyment. Move it! Dig it! Do it! Continued its great run of success in fy23 with roughly 4,000 people gathering in The mall parking lot for a one-of-a-kind opportunity for learning and family fun.