The WonderTrek Approach
Play + Explore = Learn
Now Playing - Studio Explorations
WonderTrek Children's Museum takes pride in the strong connections built with children and their families across the region through WonderTrek’s Studio Explorations. By providing flexible, child-led programming in various settings, WonderTrek’s Studio Explorations have helped foster and maintain these connections. Using the WonderTrek Inquiry process, observations of children’s play can be used to inform design and development of future experiences, exhibits, and programming. WonderTrek’s Studio Explorations allow children to take the lead in their learning, as well as providing insight to how children play.
How does WonderTrek really make a difference in the lives of children and families? It starts by taking a lead role in valuing children, childhood, and play. As a children's museum, it is a place-based, informal learning setting that engages children 12 years and under, their parents, caregivers, and teachers in making connections between ideas and actions, across systems, and with others.
WonderTrek's focus on children and families exploring and learning together, its understanding of the value of play, and its attention to 21st century skills come together in dynamic environments and experiences that are richly layered, locally relevant, and open onto the wider world. Setting WonderTrek apart from other children’s museums is a dedication to play-based professional development training and supportive resources for teachers and caregivers to help bring out the value of play and interactive learning in the lives of children and our community at large.
Child, Parent, & Educator Centered
Franklin Arts Center Studio
At Play Lab: WonderTrek’s Center for Play and Interactive Learning, children, parents, and caregivers find a cozy space to explore, play, and learn together at their own pace. See our events page for upcoming dates and times. The Play Lab invites children to explore materials, to build, arrange, take apart, make connections, and follow their wonder. All the while, WonderTrek Children’s Museum is learning from and with children through Studio Explorations programming, a grant-funded evaluation process of observation, documentation, and reflection that will ultimately result in a wonder-filled children's museum that was designed for and with the region’s children.
WonderTrek on Wheels Programs
WonderTrek Children's Museum brings the fun and joy of play, exploration, and learning to children and families across North Central Minnesota. From community parks to classrooms, from community service organizations to summer festivals, WonderTrek meets families where they are with admission-free programming that launches imaginations and inspires a love of learning.
Engaging Children Where They Are!
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Across the Region
WonderTrek has engaged with more than 25,000 participants with hands-on programming through nearly 250 events across the region.
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Enriching at-home learning
WonderTrek Children’s Museum provided kids and families with engaging activities to do at home during Covid-19. Signing up for our monthly newsletter, families will be able to recreate some of our programming at home!
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Collaborating for Impact
To maximize impact through partnerships, WonderTrek is providing countless hours of museum programming in collaboration with school districts, Greater Minnesota Family Services, libraries, local businesses, service agencies, and nonprofits.
Play Lab: WonderTrek’s Center for Play and Interactive Learning
committed to changing the way the region values play in the lives of children
The Center for Play and Interactive Learning at WonderTrek Children’s Museum is an innovative resource for play, experience development, hands-on learning materials, and workshops that serve museum staff, volunteers, parents, caregivers, teachers, and education leaders. The Center enhances WonderTrek Children’s Museum’s material-rich environments, exhibits, and programs by exploring and deepening its understanding of play in a variety of settings. In a very real sense, the Center serves an essential R&D function for the Museum’s play, exploration, and learning experiences.
The purpose of WonderTrek's Center for Play and Interactive Learning is to advance the value play as a powerful strategy for learning and wellbeing. Play is a way for children—and adults—to explore, engage with, and understand their world. Interactive learning is a related process for exploration and learning. The Center highlights the role of interaction with objects and materials, with people, ideas, and the physical environment in both play and interactive learning in informal and formal learning settings.
Join Our Team
If you have a deep love for children and learning, and are eager to make a positive impact in your community, then you could be the perfect fit for the WonderTrek team as a Playworker! In a collaborative, team-based environment, you will play a key role in creating a dynamic and welcoming environment for children to play, explore, and learn. Our team is enthusiastic about interacting with children of various ages and supporting their learning through play with dynamic, material-rich programs and events.
Email your resume to aimee@wondertrekmuseum.org
