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A Adventure Outfitters Studio
When visiting WonderTrek, the Adventure Outfitters Studio is always the first stop. It’s a 2,400-square-foot facility where families can check out the tools and gear for their outdoor adventure, or throw themselves into a big messy project.
Areas Available for Sponsorship
A.1 Adventure Outfitters Studio Naming
A.2 Outfitters Station
A.3 Outfitters Worskhop
A.4 Outfitters Play Porch
A.5 Outfitters Creativity Cabinets
A.6 Work Tables
A.7 Outfitters Timber Wall
A.8 Family Restroom Rooms
A.9 Outfitters First Aid Station
A.10 Outfitters Clean-Up Stations
B Children’s Gardens
A day of fun and discovery begins in the Children’s Gardens, which flank the entrance to WonderTrek’s Outdoor Adventure. As busy as bees, children explore the Pollinator Garden, eagerly searching for flowers to touch, count, and sniff while in the nearby Kitchen Garden, children grab spray bottles and enthusiastically mist the beans and lettuce, guided by the friendly and informative gardener.
Areas Available for Sponsorship
B.1 Children’s Gardens Sponsorship
B.2 Children’s Kitchen Gardens Garden
B.3 Children’s Pollinator Gardens Garden
B.4 Children’s Fruit Orchard
C Mud!
With a little help from their adults, children slip into waterproof smocks and get to work! Time seems to disappear as they scoop, pour, stir, shape, and mash mud into pots and pans and between their fingers and toes in a playful, child-led sensory investigation of messy, squishy, squashy Mud! Cleanup is easy thanks to nearby industrial sinks and foot wash stations.
Areas Available for Sponsorship
C.1 Mud! Sponsorship
D Minnesota’s Longest Picnic Table
Finding a seat at this table is easy since there’s room for everyone and everyone is welcome. This only-in-Minnesota picnic table inspires conversation and curiosity, as the tables interconnect, intersect, and create shared spaces for families to gather for a snack, work on a project, or just take a seat.
E Gathering Hearth
A crackling wood fire draws families around a stone hearth, not just to get warm and add a few sticks but to play around on a collection of artist-made chairs and benches. It’s a great place to huddle up, connect with others, catch a program, and roast marshmallows!
Areas Available for Sponsorship
E.1 Gathering Hearth Sponsorship
F Treehouse & Play Path for All
This 36-foot treehouse rises out of the forest floor and invites adventurers to navigate the elevations, platforms, and pathways as they climb and clamor to the top. Along the way, children and adults discover new perspectives, notice the undulating landscape, and come face-to-face with the tops of the trees.
Sometimes, taking the scenic route is the way to go. The Play Path for All gently rises from the ground and is built with a stable surface that invites children and adults of all mobilities to make their way up to the Treehouse. The winding ascent gives new views into nature and special details spark curiosity: textured floor surfaces, niches for collecting special items, railing posts that are sound machines, railing tops that undulate like a bird’s wing, and lookouts that frame beautiful views.
Areas Available for Sponsorship
F.1 Treehouse & Play Path for All Naming
G Trail Hub & Adventure Trails
Curiosity leads the way from the Trail Hub where families decide their direction—to winding pathways that connect bridges, ramps, and boardwalks to endless adventures throughout the campus.
Areas Available for Sponsorship
G.1 Trail Hub & Adventure Trails Naming
G.2 Children’s Gardens Bench Engraving
G.3 Mud! Bench Engraving
G.4 Gathering Hearth Bench Engraving
G.5 Treehouse Bench Engraving
G.6 Posts and Platforms Bench Engraving
G.7 Trickling Stream Bench Engraving
G.8 Ponds and Dock Bench Engraving
G.9 Treehouse Bench Engraving
G.10 Stream & Delta Bench Engraving
G.11 Docks & Pond Bench Engraving
H Rest and Recharge Stations
Just when families need a pause on their outdoor trek, there’s an inviting stopover just around the bend—a place to sit, recharge, get out of the rain, or just have a snack. From deep in the woods to the shore of the pond, each of the five R&R stations has a distinct view and vibe.
Areas Available for Sponsorship
H.1 Boomerang Berm R&R Station
H.2 Post & Platforms R&R Station
H.3 Treehouse R&R Station
H.4 Pondview North R&R Station
H.5 Pondview South R&R Station
I Posts and Platforms
From the top of a trail-straddling berm, a small group of friends spots what they’ve been searching for—and they know the rest of their day at Outdoor Adventure is set. They gather materials from a nearby shed and the surrounding woods: split logs, a pile of tree cookies, pine boughs, slender willow sticks, tarps, and rope—everything they need to transform an unfinished “four-square” frame into a woodland fort. The children make plans, build together, share stories, and laugh until it’s time to head back and meet their families at the Outfitters building.
Areas Available for Sponsorship
I.1 Posts and Platforms Sponsorship
I.2 Zip Lines
I.3 Building Starter Stations
I.4 Circular Platform with Access Ramp
I.5 Accessible Cookie Climber & Platform
I.6 Balance Beams & Ropes
I.7 Rickety Slat Bridge
I.8 Program Pavillion
I.9 Stump Climber Bridge
I.10 Balance Logs (three)
1.11 Warm-up Dome
J Boomerang Berm
As children roll, climb, walk, stumble, and bound up and down Boomerang Berm, they are turning this 12-foot elongated hill into a magical place all their own. The slopes and inclines strengthen sensory development as imaginations soar.
Areas Available for Sponsorship
J.1 Boomerang Berm Sponsorship
K Water on the Move
Water on the Move offers countless opportunities to explore natural ecosystems and discover how each influences the next. Children trace the journey of water across the WonderTrek campus—from the bubbling source of the Stream to its Delta, through the lively buzz and chatter of the Pond, and into the native plantings of the infiltration basin.
Areas Available for Sponsorship
K.1 Water on the Move Naming
K.2 Stream & Delta
K.3 Stream Play Tool Rack
K.4 Pond & Delta Dock
K.5 Recreation Dock & Paddle Station
K.6 Stormwater Infiltration & Boardwalk
L Picnic Shelter and Staff Shed
From celebrating life’s moments to gathering the kids for lunch to taking in a naturalist program, WonderTrek’s Picnic Shelter is a specially designed gathering place for families and groups rain or shine. The enclosed backside of the structure is a hub of activity for staff members and volunteers to prepare for smooth operations of WonderTrek’s Outdoor Adventure.
Areas Available for Sponsorship
L.1 Picnic Shelter & Staff Shed Sponsorship
I’m ready to help!
We’re building something extraordinary at WonderTrek Children’s Museum, but we can’t do it alone. With your support, we can bring this vision to life. Every gift moves us closer to opening day — and closer to a place where play is endless and exploration opens every door to wonder.
“So exciting to see this new museum come to life
We love the community events and Studio Explorations!”
– Mary
“I’ve been able to attend and observe at several of WonderTrek’s Studio Explorations.
Each time, I saw children across a range of ages discover something fascinating to explore, sometimes giant blue blocks, colorful scarves, balls, or wobbly worlds. This kind of play—child-directed, social, physical, and joyful—is not only fun, but also critical to children’s well-being.”
– Jeanne
We're ready for you
After ten years of dreaming up a children's museum like no other, we’re gearing up to open WonderTrek’s Outdoor Adventure in early 2026.
But first, we need you. More than $6,000,000 has been raised thanks to visionary donors and lots of grant writing. Now, we’re in the final push and WonderTrek needs everyone who cares for kids and the vitality of our region to join the campaign. With $1 million to go, every donation counts!
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