Volunteers are critical to the success of The Iowa Children's Museum team in best serving over 127,000 children and adults each year. The ICM has adult and youth volunteer opportunities that accommodate a wide variety of interests and availabilities.
All interested volunteers must submit a Volunteer Application. You may pick up the application at the museum, or download it from this page. Once your application has been reviewed, you will be asked to come in for an interview with museum staff. When you have been approved to volunteer with us, a brief volunteer orientation will be scheduled at your convenience. The Museum requires all volunteers be at least 14 years old.
Find out how you can join our volunteer program by contacting Laura Savage, Business Manager/Volunteer Coordinator, at 319.625.6255 ext. 215 or email lsavage@theicm.org.
Volunteer service at The Iowa Children's Museum counts toward The 10,000 Hours Show! By volunteering at least 10 hours with a local nonprofit, including ours, you earn a free ticket to an awesome concert that's just for volunteers in Eastern Iowa! Past concert performers have included Ben Folds, Guster, Cake, Jack's Mannequin, and OK GO. Join thousands of volunteers rocking the state by registering here!
When Do We Need Volunteers?
Move It! Dig It! Do It! Sunday, September 12th
The Iowa Children’s Museum will be hosting Move It! Dig It! Do It! at The Iowa River Landing (green space between The Coralville Marriott and I-80) on Sunday, September 12th. This special event offers families the unique opportunity to get an up-close look at large construction machinery, farming equipment, and other vehicles to learn how they have changed the way we live. This year's event will be bigger and better than ever with a new highly visible location, a hot air balloon, and a helicopter landing. Last year's event was a great success with about 2,000 people in attendance! This year we are expecting even more visitors and will need about 150 volunteers to make this event a success again. We are looking for volunteers to help with craft and other activities such as backhoe bingo, a race car pit stop, and making garden stones, as well as helping kids with the big equipment, and other various tasks. Shifts are listed below. If you are interested in volunteering for one or more of these shifts or have questions, please email Laura Savage at: lsavage@theicm.org. Also, we would love for you to spread the word! We have a lot of volunteers to find, so if you know of any people or organizations who you think would be interested in volunteering for this fun event, let Laura know!
The Iowa Children's Museum offers free museum admission between 5:00 and 8:00 pm. This is our way of thanking the community for their continuous support and making the museum accessible to all children! Volunteers are needed to help interact with museum visitors, assist in the upkeep of museum exhibits and facilitate special programs or events.
Museum Exhibit Facilitator: during open museum hours, weekends preferred
Volunteers are needed to facilitate our many interactive exhibits. While volunteering "on the floor", you will have the opportunity to interact with the museum visitors and help promote the importance of informal learning. Some responsibilities include, but are not limited to, interacting with children and their families, assisting with the upkeep and cleaning of the museum exhibits, assisting museum staff with ongoing projects, and facilitating special programs. While volunteering at the museum, you will gain experience working in an informal learning environment, have the opportunity to work with a fun, energetic staff, and experience the power of a child's smile to make your day.
General Office Help:
The museum is always in need of office help around with such things as mailings and filing. If you're a detail person who likes working behind the scenes, your assistance would be very much appreciated!
Museum Deep Cleaning:first Monday of everything month during the school year
We need volunteers to help staff clean exhibits, walls, windows, etc... to help keep our facility clean and sanitized for our guests. Volunteers are needed the first Monday of every month during the school year between 10:00am and 6:00pm.
