Great Explorations Children's Museum
Encyclopedia
Great Explorations Children's Museum (formerly Great Explorations - The Hands-On Museum) is a children's museum
, program center, and pre-school in St Petersburg, Florida, USA. It was founded in 1986 by The Junior League of St. Petersburg and Hands-On, Inc.
Great Explorations - The Hands-On Museum was formerly housed in a warehouse type location in Downtown St. Petersburg with similar building architecture to the Salvador Dalí Museum
and P. Buckley Moss Museum
. It's parking lot featured a to-scale replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex made entirely out of recycled scrap metal. Inside, the exhibits were divided into large, themed rooms with individual rooms being devoted to sight, sound, or touch exhibits. The touch room featured one of the more unique exhibits, the "Touch Tunnel". This 90 feet (27.4 m), completely blacked out tunnel encouraged children to navigate the fun house-like path using only their sense of touch. The original museum also had a small branch located in a hallway of the St. Petersburg Pier
that included smaller versions of some of the museum's popular exhibits.
Eventually, the museum was taken over by new management and was moved to its current location adjacent to the re-opened and refurbished Sunken Gardens
. At this time, the name was also changed to Great Explorations Children's Museum dropping the "Hands-On" title. Designs for the new museum included more offices and school rooms as the museum intended to expand out their staffing and education capabilities. The museum also petitioned for and was given a grant from AmeriCorps
and had Americorps members on staff for several years until the last of them graduated the program in September 2010
The museum also includes the Great Stuff Store, a museum gift shop at the front of the museum selling commemorative items as well as education tools related to the science shows and exhibits in the museum, as well as building and learning toys.
Great Ex - Field Trips
Great Ex - Summer Camps
Great Ex - Early Explorations Preschool
Children's museum
Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feature interactive exhibits that are designed to be...
, program center, and pre-school in St Petersburg, Florida, USA. It was founded in 1986 by The Junior League of St. Petersburg and Hands-On, Inc.
Great Explorations - The Hands-On Museum was formerly housed in a warehouse type location in Downtown St. Petersburg with similar building architecture to the Salvador Dalí Museum
Salvador Dalí Museum
The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, houses the largest collection outside Europe of the works of the artist Salvador Dalí and is located on the Downtown St. Petersburg waterfront.-History:...
and P. Buckley Moss Museum
P. Buckley Moss
P. Buckley Moss was born on May 20, 1933 on Staten Island in New York City. She attended Washington Irving High School for the Fine Arts in Manhattan. In what turned out to be quite ironic in light of her later career, she was voted "Least Likely to Succeed" by the students of her high school. She...
. It's parking lot featured a to-scale replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex made entirely out of recycled scrap metal. Inside, the exhibits were divided into large, themed rooms with individual rooms being devoted to sight, sound, or touch exhibits. The touch room featured one of the more unique exhibits, the "Touch Tunnel". This 90 feet (27.4 m), completely blacked out tunnel encouraged children to navigate the fun house-like path using only their sense of touch. The original museum also had a small branch located in a hallway of the St. Petersburg Pier
St. Petersburg Pier
The St. Petersburg Pier, simply called The Pier by locals, is a landmark and major tourist destination in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. Some of the activities and sights it encompasses include fishing, boat rentals, weekly festivals, and the Pier Aquarium...
that included smaller versions of some of the museum's popular exhibits.
Eventually, the museum was taken over by new management and was moved to its current location adjacent to the re-opened and refurbished Sunken Gardens
Sunken Gardens (Florida)
The Sunken Gardens are 4 acres of well-established botanical gardens located at 1825 4th Street North, in the center of St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. The Gardens were a commercial tourist attraction for many years, but are now operated by the city and maintained with the help of volunteers...
. At this time, the name was also changed to Great Explorations Children's Museum dropping the "Hands-On" title. Designs for the new museum included more offices and school rooms as the museum intended to expand out their staffing and education capabilities. The museum also petitioned for and was given a grant from AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps is a U.S. federal government program that was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 and later expanded by 50 percent under President George W. Bush...
and had Americorps members on staff for several years until the last of them graduated the program in September 2010
Museum Exhibits
- Fit4AllkidsVille: Sponsored by All Children's HospitalAll Children's HospitalAll Children's Hospital is a Pediatric hospital located in St. Petersburg, FloridaIt is the only freestanding children’s hospital on the state's Gulf coast. It has consistently ranked among America’s top 25 children’s hospitals in comparative studies done by Child Magazine, which rated All...
. Fit4AllkidsVille is an interactive wing of the museum with hands-on activities to educate children about nutrition, exercise, fitness, and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.
- I Can Construct: Sponsored by JMC Communities. I Can Construct is a life-sized tree house located at the center of the museum. Children can assume the roles of carpenter, engineer, or designer in a hands-on building and role playing environment.
- Child-Sized Market: Sponsored by Publix Super Markets. The kid-sized market is designed to put children in a real life super market environment, teaching them to make choices about what kinds of food they buy and the healthy eating decisions they can make. The super market includes a full stock of empty Publix branded grocery product cases and cans and two real working cash registers for checking out.
- Engine Company 15. This exhibit is designed to promote fire safety and education and includes a fire engine, fire pole, gear locker, and interactive learning station.
- The Veterinary Office: Sponsored by Northeast Animal Hospital. This exhibit is designed to promoted animal safety and health by teaching children the basics of veterinary medicine. Kids can play with toy medical equipment and stethoscopes and view actual x-rays of parasites and ticks on live animals.
- Great Beginnings. This children's play area, designed to look like a giant ship at sea, is built for children aged 6 and younger. It is a safe, secure play environment with many nautical themed costumes, props, and activities.
- Other smaller exhibits include: A laser harp, a gear and motion exhibit, musical pipes, kid-sized pizza kitchen, climbing wall, robot lab, sound lab, and a computer animation station.
The museum also includes the Great Stuff Store, a museum gift shop at the front of the museum selling commemorative items as well as education tools related to the science shows and exhibits in the museum, as well as building and learning toys.
Programs
Great Explorations Children's Museum offers many educational and entertaining programs designed for multiple age brackets of kids.- Summer Camps are offered during summers, mostly from June to August. Camps are offered on a weekly (Mon-Fir) schedule, a full schedule of camps and registration are avaiable on greatex.org under camps.
- Field Trips and Work Shops are offered periodically throughout the year and may include sessions on storytelling, performing arts, natures, sound, electricity, chemistry, motion, and standardized test preparation.
- Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts of America programs are often held or sponsored by the museum.
- Birthday Parties may also be hosted at the museum.
Pre-School and Early Childhood Education
The Early Learning Institute at Great Explorations offers daily courses to children ages 2–5. The institute operates its classrooms out of the museum building thus allowing the students the ability to blend their daily schooling and museum activities together. The institute also offers voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) classes.See also
Great Explorations WebsiteGreat Ex - Field Trips
Great Ex - Summer Camps
Great Ex - Early Explorations Preschool