DEL News

April 16, 2008
DEL, children’s museums partner to help more children learn through play

OLYMPIA – Nearly a million children and adults visit Washington’s children’s museums each year to experience the joy of learning through play: Splashing in a water table; sorting vegetables in a make-believe farmer’s market; and learning about science, art, language, health, and other cultures while having fun.

But many families have found cost or geography to be barriers to visiting these rich early learning environments.

The Department of Early Learning (DEL) is partnering with Washington’s children’s museums to help open the doors to more children and their parents or caregivers. Thirteen museums around the state will receive about $20,000 each.

“Children who discover early on that learning is fun are much better prepared to succeed in school and life,” said DEL Director Jone Bosworth, who will announce the partnership at 9 a.m. Thursday, April 17, at The Children’s Museum Seattle. “Through this partnership, thousands more children from Pasco to Orcas Island, Spokane to Everett will have the opportunity to learn through play.”

The funded museums and activities are:

  • Children’s Activity Museum of Ellensburg will promote its grand re-opening with free admission days, and discount memberships, and will provide transportation and admission assistance to Kittitas County’s Head Start program.
  • The Children’s Museum of Tacoma will offer a free admission day and expand its Play Pass program so museums passes are free for check-out at the Puyallup Public Library and the libraries at McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis.
  • The Children’s Museum of Walla Walla will offer three free admission days each in April, May and June to reach more families in Walla Walla, Columbia, Benton, Franklin and Garfield counties.
  • Hands On Children’s Museum (Olympia) will expand access to several of its current free early learning programs, including support groups for Spanish and English-speaking mothers and children who are victims of domestic violence. Funding also will be used to offer free admission to military families, and begin foster family and adoptive parent support groups.
  • KidsQuest Children’s Museum (Bellevue) will offer a Free Friday Nights program in June when the museum will be free for all families in the community to come play together. KidsQuest will research and develop a play guide with tips for parents, caregivers and early learning educators on fun activities they can do at the museum and in their homes and schools.
  • Mobius Kids (Spokane) will enhance its Wee Explorers Class for visitors ages birth to 3, purchase puppets and costumes for its Enchanted Forest baby/toddler area, and create a “book wall” of parenting resources for the Mothers’ Room. Funds also will support the museum’s scholarship program, which includes membership passes and bus passes.
  • The Children’s Museum Seattle will enhance its Passport to Play (PTP) program, which provides free admission or memberships to low-income families through local service organizations; DEL’s comprehensive preschool program, Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP); Head Start classrooms; and public schools. The museum will host open houses for PTP clients and partners to help others gain an understanding of the importance of play and informal learning.
  • The Orcas Island Funhouse will upgrade existing exhibits, increase access for island preschools, child care centers and other early learning groups, and purchase bilingual Spanish/English literacy materials for use at the Funhouse and to share with other early childhood care providers on the island.
  • Imagine Children’s Museum (Everett) will offer a series of free “Oh! The Power of Play!” nights to the 18 ECEAP sites in Snohomish County when the museum is closed to the general public. The nights will include playtime, healthy snacks and ideas for fun, easy activities children and caregivers can do at home.
  • The Kids Discovery Museum (Bainbridge Island) will work with an early learning specialist to evaluate the museum’s existing programs and exhibits to provide the museum a roadmap for future planning; create a new multisensory exhibit and supporting curriculum called “Under the Sea” that incorporates science, geography, language and math skills; and conduct a survey of youth service organizations in Kitsap County to better support partnership between the museum and other local organizations.
  • Three Rivers Children’s Museum (Pasco) will enhance its toddler area and science area with new furnishings and more hands-on activities. The museum also will provide free admission passes to local organizations that work with at-risk children and low-income families.
  • The Whatcom Children’s Museum will distribute complimentary admission coupons through local service organizations, and fund an open-access day during which children and families can attend free of charge.
  • The Yakima Valley Museum will use its funding to create a design plan for an indoor/outdoor interactive early learning plaza with exhibits that honor the history and cultural traditions of the Yakima Valley. The plan will be part of the early learning demonstration community in East Yakima.


Map of children’s museum projects funded by DEL.


View TVW Video.


For more information:

DEL Communications Manager Amy Blondin
360.725.4919 (office)
360.878.0628 (cell)
amy.blondin@del.wa.gov