Kohl Children’s Museum re-opened on Saturday, July 25, with a new series of weekly programs after a months-long closure due to COVID-19. The new Kohl Kids Live programming will offer guests five personalized sessions of interactive programs led by museum educators, in small groups of no more than 10 guests at a time.
“We take pride in creating high-quality, interactive educational experiences through play,” says Stephanie Bynum, Vice President of Programs, who oversaw development of the new offerings. “When the State of Illinois Re-Opening Phase 4 guidelines were released restricting interactive exhibits, we saw the opportunity to reimagine our experiential learning environments to reduce common-touch elements and comply with guidelines in an innovative way.”
Visitors enjoy a socially distant story time in Kohl Children’s Museum’s Habitat Park exhibit. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF KOHL CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
An art project at Kohl Children’s Museum. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF KOHL CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
Among the new activities are story time, a science demonstration, theater activities, physical fitness games, and an art studio project that will be available during 90-minute sessions. The museum will have weekly themes—summer fun, insects, and music—that coincide with the activities. Weather permitting, all sessions will be held in the Museum’s two-acre outdoor Habitat Park exhibit.
To stay on course with CDC and Illinois Public Health guidelines, the Glenview-based museum has put in place strict cleaning and social distancing measures to keep families safe.
“We heard our members clearly, and we all agree safety is our No. 1 priority,” says Mike Delfini, President & CEO. “We have instituted limited capacity to allow ample social distancing and allocated additional resources to exceed CDC and Illinois Public Health guidelines for deep cleaning and sanitizing the entire museum. We have worked hard to re-engineer our exhibits for an outdoor experience, while preserving the engaging and fun family learning experience that is our hallmark.”
Bynum adds: “We bring programs to life through more verbal engagement and very small group interaction, almost like providing individual field trips to our guests.”
Kohl Kids Live programming is scheduled to run Wednesday through Sunday with sessions starting every 20 minutes between 9 a.m. and 3:20 p.m. Advance registration is required, and museum members may reserve their tickets 14 days in advance. Tickets are available to the general public 7 days in advance.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit kcmgc.org
