Great River Children’s Museum Celebrates Grand Opening with Weekend of Family Fun and Activities

(KNSI) – The Great River Children’s Museum is celebrating its grand opening with special activities all weekend long.

Jake Judd/KNSI News

The museum’s 31,000-square-foot space celebrates the rich natural elements, resources and cultures of central Minnesota, with a mission to shine a bright light on the power of play to spark children’s learning, strengthen families, and build community connections.

GRCM Vice President of Development Kelly Doss breaks down some unique things to do between Friday, June 20th, and Sunday, June 22nd, for KNSI News. “We’ll have a chalk artist all three days. And some of it will be outlines, where the kids can come and chalk in color, kind of like a coloring book. And some of it will be interactive canvas as well. So, they’ll get to see the artist actually make some drawings and things like that.”

All three days will also feature rooftop activities like fun with the blue building blocks and origami boat making. Doss stated kids will have a chance to leave their mark on the museum. “We’ll do some rock painting. So hopefully that can be part of our landscaping in the future, to use what the kids make, and make it part of the museum.”

Jake Judd/KNSI News

Adding to the festivities, each day offers special treats: on Friday, the first 250 guests get a free cookie; on Saturday, their ticket is also good for a free scoop of Jupiter Moon Ice Cream, and on Sunday, the museum will give away free freeze pops. Food trucks and cottage caterers will serve food options outside the museum.

For families planning to attend, tickets for the grand opening, or anytime, can be purchased in advance and are good for certain times of the day. The cost of individual tickets is $14, with kids one year and younger free. Reduced-price tickets of $5 each are available for families receiving SNAP or WIC benefits through the Museums for All program.

Yearly memberships are also available at $150 and are good for two people. Families can add members for $50 each.

Doss explained why the GRCM tickets have time slots. “We want it to be an enjoyable experience. Enough, so that there’s interaction with everybody’s friends, making new friends here, playing with other kids. So, we want that experience. But of course, we don’t want it to be overcrowded as well.”

The museum tries to limit its guest list to no more than 400 people at a time. People can walk in and buy tickets, but they will be turned away if the place is at maximum capacity.

Jake Judd/KNSI News

GRCM is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday through Sunday and is closed on Monday. They’re open late on Thursday by letting the little tykes play until 7:00 at night.

The museum’s space also provides venues for meetings, events, and programming beyond regular visits.

To get your tickets or learn more about the museum, click here.

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