Childrens Museum of Atlanta (CMA)

Children's Museum of Atlanta (cma) operates as an institution of informal learning for young children, their parents, caregivers, and teachers. Through interactive exhibits, programs, workshops, and extensive outreach. The Museum offers opportunities to address subjects and issues that are important and relevant to schools, families, and The community. The total number of Museum visitors and children who have visited The Museum has surpassed 3,500,000 since opening in 2003. The exhibits and programs below were presented throughout The fiscal year. Virtual programming continued to ensure access and equity to cma programs. The Museum changed in-person requirements to align with The center for disease control's guidance and provide guests access to in-person programming.exhibits & programming: presented The following feature exhibits: -wild kratz: creature power (june september 2022) this adventurous exhibit was based on The popular pbs kids series which focused on cultivating stem skills in children ages 3 to 9. Kids and families were asked to explore animal habitats from around The globe, discover incredible creature powers and go on a mission to foil The villains' nefarious plans. Kids and families got The chance to learn about and try out various creature powers such as: sneaking through The forest using The stealth of a jaguar, swinging through The trees like a spider monkey, testing their hops against a kangaroo, and much more; -paw patrol: adventure play (september 2022 january 2023) The main idea behind this special exhibit is how The puppy heroes of paw patrol inspire us to team up to overcome challenges, take heroic action, and help others. Children will learn about: helping others in big and small ways to strengthen friendships, communities, and our world; self-confidence and a can-do attitude to empower them to take positive action; and how they can combine their unique skills and resources to make a plan and overcome challenges. Children and their families will visit adventure bay with a group of eight rescue pups. Each pup is inspired by a real-world job, families work together to save The day, and kids learn about different jobs within a community and how those real-life professionals coordinate to keep people safe and happy. The hands-on, immersive paw patrol: adventure play exhibit is a fun way for The whole family to learn bravery and heroism, with exciting stories. Families will learn how to combine their skills to problem-solve together and save The day; and-splash and bubbles: dive in, lend a fin! (january- april 2023) this exhibit is based on The popular pbs kids tv show, splash and bubbles, a hit animated series that encourages children to explore ocean science and marine biology through character-driven comedy. The series is co-produced by The jim henson company and herschend entertainment studios. The new exhibition builds on kids' connections to The characters and their habitats, immersing them in a larger-than-life marine environment and introducing them to The incredible world of ocean exploration. While exploring The early childhood stem based exhibit, children will be encouraged to build both scientific inquiry and social-emotional skills as they learn how to protect The ocean and its ecosystems. Ocean conservation is a key message within The exhibit, encouraging families to understand that they can create "a small ripple to help our big ocean." Ongoing partnerships - with community leaders, artists, experts, and cultural institutions enable us to provide innovative and relevant exhibits and programs that address a full range of topics and issues. Over 200 individuals from our community participate on a variety of committees each year, which ensures depth, accuracy and targeted messages and focus. Cma presents science, health, literacy, diversity, arts, social studies, and safety programs through:-innovation station - ongoing hands-on stem based experiences with an emphasis on The engineering design process-science bar - ongoing hands-on exploration of science experiments and experiences facilitated by staff scientist-multi-cultural holiday programming throughout The year to highlight The many cultures that call Atlanta home.-black history month celebrations-explore The Museum program for children on The autism spectrum and their families. Community outreach:-free and reduced-price admission provided through grants from foundations-family free day: a sponsored full day each quarter that is themed and open to The public free of charge. Partnerships with area arts and culture organizations bring specific themed experiences to life. 5,409 guests reserved. Tickets. Survey results indicated: o 97% of survey respondents agree that after visiting The Museum, they better understand that play is important in helping children learn o 100% of survey respondents agree that The exhibits and programs foundations at The Museum were educational and fun for their child/children o 87% of survey respondents agree that their child learned something new at The Museum o 93% of survey respondents agree that after visiting The Museum, they are more interested in using The Museum as an educational resource for their family o 95% of survey respondents rate their visit to The Museum as excellent-connected learning/connected communities - continues to provide weekly programming in seven of Atlanta's most underserved neighborhoods. Over 4,450 students participated in The program and highlights include: o 90% of surveyed educators agree that students learned something new during clcc programming that increased student knowledge of gelds or gps objectives, and The program supported and reinforced The gelds or gps objectives. O 100% of surveyed educators attending professional development classes at cma agree that they increased their understanding of brain development, health, and nutrition and will implement these results in their classrooms. O "The Children's Museum programs support our learning goal and targets. We had just finished a project based learning activity for our steam showcase. The program really cemented our scholarly understanding of The world around us. The book that was read perfectly supported our social and emotional learning unit of The week. "-spread The word - an outreach program focused on bringing family-based vocabulary-building programming for underserved neighborhoods has been incorporated seamlessly into our community outreach programming, resulting in impactful programs for families with children from birth through 3rd grade. 51 caregivers participated in spread The word.-mobile learning - using The Museum's van, we are bringing pre-kenrichment and educational programming directly to neighborhoods which are lacking resources for The very young and to prepare them for success when entering kindergarten. 1,328 children and caregivers were served at 14 locations in clayton, cobb, douglas, and fulton counties.-distance learning across communities leveraging technology cma staff, in partnership with Georgia state university, are researching The effectiveness of play-based virtual learning opportunities focused on rural counties. With The support of The institutue for Museum and library services, cma's research will be distributed to museums and other institutions leveraging technology to create access in future years. 2,896 students in 30 classrooms were served across The state.