Exploration Station...a children's museum

A hands-on place for exploration and discovery!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




a facility of the Bourbonnais Township Park District

Exploration Station...a children's museum is closing at 2:00pm on Tuesday August 3rd for National Night Out
Help us celebrate our safe community and get to know your neighbors on Tuesday, August 3 from 4:30-8:30 p.m. at the Perry Farm Park. This is a free family event with performances by The Silhouettes at 7 p.m. There will be food, games and prizes for all ages. For more information check out the National Night Out Flier or visit the Bradley Police Department.

Free Day Changes: Free Tuesday and Thursday Afternoons
As of September 29, 2009, free afternoons will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays after 2:00 p.m. till 5:30 pm with additional free afternoons offered during the summer months. A printable calendar of the free afternoon times is now available our our web site.
Learn More

 

The first for kids who are going places.

Exploration Station ...a children's museum is a hands-on exploration and discovery museum for children and their families, teachers and care givers. At Exploration Station, children can climb inside the tower of a medieval castle, fly a jet plane, sail on a ship, become a soda shop clerk, drive a tractor and much more.

 
What's New:
blocks
   

Museum Shout Outs:
Children must be accompanied and supervised by an adult while at the Exploration Station...a children's museum. And, on the same note, adults must be accompanied and supervised by a child in order to visit the museum.

blocks

Help us Help Kids!
As we work to meet the needs of all of our visitors, we have to reach out to our members and frequent visitors. This project will take not only large amounts of time but funding as well. Exploration Station is in dire need of an Annual Fundraiser. This fundraiser will raise funds for new and future exhibits, as well as maintenance, repairs, and enrichment activities for some of our current ones. The Exploration Station and staff are looking to raise the bar. We want our visitors to leave here knowing their needs have been met, but wanting to come back for more. If you have experience with fundraising — or just want to help get an annual fundraiser started — please contact General Manager Sarah Winkel at 815-933-9905.

The New and Cool:
New Parent Resource Center
The Parent Resource Center is an area especially for parents. The focus of this resource center is information on child growth and development, child behavior, health issues, parent and child interaction, as so much more! If you have topics of interest you'd like to see in the resource center, please contact Tammy anderson, Outreach Coordinator, at 815-933-9905, Ext. 2.

Exploratown Exhibits Now Open!

Front Desk

The Front Lobby renovation is complete and Exploratown is now open at the children's museum. Exploratown features a soda shop & diner, invention center, market, auto shop, post office, safety center with fire truck and a kids sized house. The lobby renovations also included a new front desk that resembles a train with an engine and caboose kids can play in.
To view all of the new exhibit areas Click Here!

Grand Opening Invention Center


Parents Resources:
Web Page for Parents with Young Children

Check out the new Success by 6 "Parents Page" web site at  www.parentspage.org.  The Parents Page is written for parents of newborns through age 6, and includes many parenting tools produced by the United Way of America and the Ad Council.   The "Kankakee County Cares" button is a thorough resource of local services, ranging from parent support groups to early childhood education to child care resources.  Most of the parenting tools are available in both English and Spanish.
Learn More

blocks

The Green Scene:
Children's Museum is Raising Funds by Going Green !
Exploration Station...a children's museum is proud to announce it's participation in the Lights for Learning Program. Lights for Learning is an education-based outreach and fundraising program sponsored by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Com Ed. Through the program, Exploration Station will be selling energy-efficient Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) and LED holiday lights to raise funds for new recycling containers and related supplies.

 

blocks

Up-coming
Inter-Activity Stations:

Inter-Activity Stations are temporary exhibit activity centers for children to play in and explore. Inter-activities change regularly and can have games, craft projects or activities targeted for children ages 4-6 years.

Big Backyard
Be on the lookout for our new Interactivity coming this June! Big Backyard features giant backyard games like checkers, crochet, Tic Tac Toe, Big Chalk for Super Sized Hopscotch and More!

Summer Fun:
Exploration Station now has Donation Afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays

As of September 29, 2009, free afternoons will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays after 2:00 p.m. with additional free afternoons offered during the summer months.
A printable calendar of the free afternoon times is now available our our web site.

Learn More

Check Out Our New Membership Packages

Exploration Station ..a children's museum is now offering membership packages that include the Association of Children’s Museums Reciprocal Program that provides FREE admission to more than 130 museums around the country.
Learn More

Birthday Party With Bamboo Visit

New Birthday Party Prices and Times
We
have updated our birthday party packages and party times! We are also offering special deals for birthdays booked in the months of May, June and July. For more party details check out our Birthday Party Pages!
Learn More

New Overnight Packages
Overnights are a perfect way to explore the exhibits of the Exploration Station...a children's museum after hours. Choose from a variety of packages and overnights can feature programs that can be tailored to scouts to fulfill badge requirements! Check out our printable overnight flyer by clicking here or call (815) 933-9905 for more information!

Museum Hours:
September – March
Closed Mondays (except special holidays)
Tuesday & Thursday: 10:00a.m.–5:30p.m.
Wednesday, Friday & Saturday: 10:00a.m.–5:00
p.m.
Sunday: 1:00p.m.–5:00p.m.
Office Hours: 9:00a.m.–5:00p.m.
Closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas, The day after Christmas (Dec 26), New Years Eve, and New Years Day.

blocks

April – August
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
& Saturday: 10:00a.m –5:00p.m.
Tuesday Thursday: 10:00a.m.–5:30p.m.
Sunday: 1:00p.m.–5:00p.m.
Office Hours: 9:00a.m.–5:00p.m.
Closed on Easter Sunday, Memorial Day
, Independence Day and Annual Fall Shutdown.

Don't Forget about our Annual Shutdown: Each year the children;s museum closes for 2-4 weeks at the end of August and the beginning of September to update exhibits and work on major cleaning projects. 2010 shut down may be a few weeks longer for additional projects this year. Exact shut down dates will be available at the end of the summer. Thank you for your patience while we make improvements to our facility.

Shutdown dates are subject to change. Please call prior to your visit to verify facility hours.


blocks

Hmmm…so what are my kids really getting out of a children’s museum?

Do you ever wonder what your child gets out of his/her visits, or do you even know that there is so much more going on each and every time you come? Here is just some research information being collected on the importance of Children’s Museums:

Children’s museums encourage children to think for themselves, expand their problem-solving repertoire through creative exploration, and exercise both their bodies and their minds. Indoor and outdoor exhibits, programs, and workshops are designed to engage children in simple and complex forms of play that result in foundational learning. When children are at school or doing their homework, they report they are bored as much as 50% of the time. Children’s museums and other community learning environments give children experiences that keep the “fires of learning lit” by providing opportunities to learn through playing; children’s museums are redefining learning so that children are excited about what they learn not only for the future, but also for the present moment.

—Association of Children’s Museum, “The Case for Children’s Museums”


Bourbonnais Township Park District

©2010 Bourbonnais Township Park District
459 Kennedy Drive, Bourbonnais, IL 60914
815-933-9905

Free Counter

Exploration Station ... a children's museum is a facility of the