Announcing The Tulsa Children’s Museum – By Allyson Jannotta

Imagine a place where Tulsa kids can discover fossils as they dig for dinosaur bones or learn geometric principles as they play with bubbles. Sounds cool, huh?

You may have visited a children’s museum in another city and wondered “Why doesn’t Tulsa have one of these?”

If you have, you aren’t alone.

You will be happy to know that there is a group of incredibly enthusiastic professionals who are working to bring a children’s museum to Tulsa. We are the Tulsa Children’s Museum, a non profit organization with a board that began meeting in the spring of 2007.

We are all passionate about bringing educational activities to Tulsa children. This is something we know that other parents are passionate about too.

Results from our online surveys and city-wide feasibility study showed that 99% of Tulsa parents would visit a children’s museum located in Tulsa!

So, you may ask, where is this museum and how do I get there?

We are “a museum without walls.” We don’t currently have a physical location, but that hasn’t stopped us from already bringing quality programming to Tulsa families.

At local festivals this summer you can experiment with bubbles at our traveling exhibit POP! The Art and Science of Bubbles.

In the fall, we will debut the first part of our family concert series with Trout Fishing in America and later will bring Ralph’s World and The Tulsa Symphony.

As school comes back into session next fall, we will begin our outreach program, with after school classes in yoga to promote our health and wellness initiative.

Stay tuned for more details about these events in upcoming issues of Tulsa Kids.

As for our future location -- we are looking to be centrally located. But please be patient, according to the Association of Children’s Museums, it usually takes about 3-5 years before an emerging museum opens its doors.

Our board chair, Leah Saidy Storm said it best, “If you want a children’s museum in Tulsa, it is imperative to show funders that we have the community’s support. Tell other parents about us, attend our concert series, check out our traveling exhibit at festivals, volunteer, or whatever you can do to make this a success will be a benefit to everyone.”

For more information on the Tulsa Children’s Museum, go to www.tulsachildrensmuseum.com.