Join us for a monthly celebration of hands-on exploration designed for children five and younger! These special playtimes are the perfect opportunity to focus on your little one’s development through play. Each month, we’ll feature a different play schema—key behaviors that help kids make sense of the world—and pair it with activities in the party room and an exhibit that brings it to life.
Caregivers can explore the science of play with insights from our museum educators, enjoy guided sensory activities, and discover simple ways to extend the fun at home.
Explore spinning, rolling, and rotating as your child learns about motion and circular patterns. Spin, twirl, and watch learning take shape!
Featured Exhibit: Notion of Motion
Featured Play Schema: Rotation (Children show interest in turning, rolling, spinning and circles through the use of their bodies and objects)
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with activities that explore movement through space. From flying planes to rolling cars, this event is sure to get your imagination rolling and let your heart take flight!
Featured Exhibit: Take Flight
Featured Play Schema: Trajectory (Children enjoy running, swinging, jumping, throwing, crashing and dropping things; they propel items and themselves) & Transportation (Children enjoy moving things from one place to another; they enjoy collecting items and moving them around)
Celebrate Pi Day as we transform materials! From dough to pizza and back again, hands-on activities will inspire creativity and curious minds.
Featured Exhibit: Pizzeria
Featured Play Schema: Transforming (Children enjoy observing and discovering how things change)
Discover how little ones learn by wrapping, hiding, and uncovering objects in this playful deep-sea adventure.
Featured Play Schema: Enveloping (Children show interest in wrapping, hiding, and covering items and themselves)
In honor of World Turtle Day, your child will explore building, connecting, and creating cozy spaces. It’s a shell-abration of learning and play!
Featured Exhibits: Blue Room & Lego Room
Featured Play Schema: Connection (Children explore how items connect together; this can include deconstructing and disconnecting items too) & Enclosing (How objects and themselves fit into spaces; they build borders around items and fit their body into small spaces)
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Fuel their curiosity and create lasting memories—memberships, gift certificates, and unique toys from our gift shop will spark joy, learning, and endless play!
The Iowa Children’s Museum will be closed Monday, August 26th, through Friday, August 30th, for routine cleaning and maintenance. Thank you for your patience while we work to make our exhibits even better for your next visit!
