WonderTrek Blog
Stories, Updates & Exploration
WonderTrek Breaking Ground 2025
Theresa Bourke from The Brainerd Dispatch interviewed Sheila Boldt, communications manager, at The Franklin Arts Center Interim Play Lab to discuss the 2025 Phase 1 ground-breaking in Baxter, MN as well as why it will be beneficial to our region. Kelley Humphrey,...
Happy New Year!
2023 was quite a year for WonderTrek, and there’s no slowing down in 2024! As we take a moment to reflect on the progress of the last twelve months, we’d like to share with you some of the exciting developments in the works. DISCOVER WONDERTREK CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: YOUR...
WonderTrek IN the News
Sammy Holladay from Lakeland News interviewed two WonderTrek staff members during a WonderTrek on Wheels visit to the Brainerd Public Library! Vanessa Bauer and Aimee Tagtmeier talk to Sammy about ground-breaking plans for Phase One of the WonderTrek Children’s...
Follow Your Wonder!
WonderTrek Children’s Museum provides off-site programs for schools, camps, and community events. Currently, the museum has a Play Lab at the Franklin Arts Center. Until the museum is built, the majority of the programs are offered as a mobile option in the...
Children’s museums: why they are essential to our children, families, and greater Minnesota communities
Maria Prozinski, Executive Director WonderTrek Children’s Museum For some of us, the giddy excitement of a school field trip to the museum is a treasured memory. We remember what it was like to walk underneath towering dinosaur skeletons, to discover what electrical...
A new coalition of children’s museums!
Greater Minnesota Children’s Museum Coalition members will serve nearly 500,000 guests annually, capturing visitors from nearly 100% of the state’s 87 counties. The coalition includes Otter Cove Children’s Museum, the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota, Duluth...
Grant Announcement
WonderTrek Children’s Museum recently received notice that the MN Humanities Center's committee for the Legacy Fund's competitive children's museum grant, has chosen to award WonderTrek Children’s Museum full proposal of $241,000 over an 18 months period starting...
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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