Explorium Denton Children's Museum

This North Texas Giving Day please consider Explorium Denton Children's Museum for a donation. Your contribution will help us continue our mission of providing learnign through play opportunities for children and their families.  We provide hands-on, informal interactive exhibits and activities for children of all ages and their families. Keeping up with desires of our fast-growing community to have a wide variety of exhibits and activities to choose from for families to spend quality time, bond, and make memories together is a priority for us but we need partners like you to conitnue our mission.

Why invenst in play opportunities for children?

American psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison that suggests “play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” We agree 100%! Play fuels curiosity, play encourages physical development, creativity, play supports a healthy life, play forms strong relationships, and inspires a lifelong love of learning. Children who play lay the foundations for a happier, healthier life tomorrow. 

1. It is no coincidence that early childhood education use play in many of their learning techniques. Play encourages children to engage in their learning, and during play children learn without even realising they are doing it. Problem solving, imaginative thinking and logic are all enhanced, and children will become better learners because of it.
2. Play is how young children learn and make sense of the world around them but the power of play extends beyond early learning: it also plays a key role in building a child’s mental health and of his family members. 
3. Play is critical for young children to develop various skills that they’ll utilize through
   out their lives.  Engaging in unstructured play allows children to explore and develop numerous abilities such as problem-solving, decision making and self-expression.
4. Research has also shown that making time for play even protects children from the negative impacts of prolonged exposure to stress. Long periods of stressful situations can affect a child’s physical and mental health. Play and positive, supportive relationships with adults can help buffer these effects.
5. Play gives them a way to express things they are struggling with that they don’t yet have the words to fully explain.  Giving children space to play allows them to work through feelings such as pain, fear or loss while being able to still act like a child. Play helps children process difficult emotions. 

Our Needs

Our biggest challenge is keeping up with maintenance costs, regular upkeep of exhibits, and materials for out STEM based activities so we can continue to provide our monthly Free Fun Friday and yearly membersships for our Outreach program participants who are underserved and underresourced families. Unfortunately for most children, opportunities to play outside of their home and with others does not take priority. Children of low income families and low resources don't always have the chance to just play. Play should not be a luxury it is essential for all families. Financial burden should not be a barrier for a child to play in an environment created to foster their natural ability to learn through play. We need your support in providing these play opportunities for underserved and unresourced North Texas children.

Our outreach program provides a free membership that is shared by families who utilize services from the Serve Denton partner agencies like Tarrant County MHMR/ECI. Some of these families are having their play therapy sessions at Explorium, while others are using Explorium as an escape from trauma. We are thankful for this wonderful partnership, and that through fundraising efforts and donations in, we have been able to give 305 family memberships totaling $36,295 to these children since 2019. We look forward to continuing this program through the funds raised on North Texas Giving Day. This partnership has allowed therapists to have the perfect safe space to continue their crucial developmental services to children continue practicing their skill in a social environment while playing!