Both visiting and local families alike are welcome and encouraged to explore the many hands-on, interactive exhibits at the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum. The museum also hosts a number of educational programs in the fields of science to provide guests with more opportunities to examine the world around them.
The children’s museum aims to help both adults and children of any age form a love for learning through creative problem solving and collaborative play within a nurturing setting.
The mission of the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum is to provide a space for children to be able to play, discover, explore, and create. Almost all of the exhibits at the children’s museum were created by the hands and hearts of local volunteers and artists from the Jackson, Wyoming community.
The Wild Wind Machine at the museum offers children ages two and above a great source of fun and learning, and a change to get things flying. Whether children are experimenting with materials of a simple nature tossed into the exhibit’s tunnel or constructing a complex air machine, the choices are almost endless. Designed and constructed by local artists and craftsmen, the Wind Machine lets guests change materials to explore thrust and weight, drag, lift, or change the airflow to learn how wind affects various aspects of flight.
The Mountain Market at the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum is a beloved and popular exhibit. The hands-on exhibit is space for kids to practice math skills, learn about sources of food, and experience role playing. In recent years, maps and stories of local farms were added to the exhibit, as well as information about food made and grown in the region.
Jackson Jobs at the children’s museum is a rotating exhibit that showcases the jobs people have in region’s valley. One such job focus is the industry of aviation. In the Jackson Hole Airport Exhibit, visitors can “take flight” in a replica of the local airport that serves the community.
Children can take to the pilot seat to land a plane, serve drinks as a flight attendant, or buckle into a seat as a passenger. Visitors can load bags onto a plane as a member of a ground crew, or guide airplanes from a control tower into the arrival gate. The exhibit also features a check-in counter and a security gate.
Another hands-on exhibit of the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum is its massive steel magnetic wall that provides visitors with plenty of innovative fun. Children can construct a maze using magnetic tubes that change direction with every design. The maze visitors create will transport a number of colored balls up the wall to the top using simple machines, such as the Archimedes Screw or the pulley system.
The museum’s Touch the Sea interactive exhibit allows children to act as ocean explorers as they explore the various textures of the sea. Uncovering different species of life that call the sea home and playing with the exhibit’s rice help to promote gross and fine motor skills, as well as hand-eye coordination in children. The blue rice sea of the exhibit offers a sensory experience similar to that of playing in a sandbox.
Jackson Hole Children’s Museum, 174 North King Street, Jackson, Wyoming, Phone: 307-733-3996, Map
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