Explorations V Children's Museum is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3)

children's museum Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums fea ...

in downtown

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...

History

Founded in July 1991 by parent volunteers, the museum moved from its original location into the four-story historic Kress building in 1999. The Museum has also built an additional building, which serves as the anchor institution of the new Bonnet Springs Park in Lakeland. It will include new exhibits scheduled to open at the end of 2022.

Exhibits

Our Town

The first floor features vocabulary-rich exhibits with a theme of "Our Town" which allow children to appreciate the basics of

music appreciation Music appreciation is a division of musicology that is designed to teach students how to understand and describe the contexts and creative processes involved in music composition. The concept of music appreciation is often taught as a subset of ...

, art, theater, math, science, and history. The exhibit areas include a doctor's office, sheriff's car, fire truck, theater, maker space, news station,

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

, airplane, school and grocery store.

"O’ is for Oranges, From Seed to Our World”

The lower floor exhibits introduce children to local history and the world through an interactive

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

factory and cultural displays. Exhibits include an orange grove, tree house, truck, stand, juice factory. Additional exhibits include Fossils of Florida and International Impressions of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and America.

Other exhibits

The second floor features early science interactives, a small children's art gallery, and program/party rooms which host daily programs, field trip workshops, and out-of-school/after-school camps.

Programs and activities

Daily in-house programs promote skills necessary for academic readiness and advancement, social problem solving, self-control, fine and gross

motor skills A motor skill is a function that involves specific movements of the body's muscles to perform a certain task. These tasks could include walking, running, or riding a bike. In order to perform this skill, the body's nervous system, muscles, and b ...

, and creative expression. The museum also conducts off-site programs, like the free weekly program at Family Fundamentals, a center for the working uninsured. All exhibits and programs complement Florida Sunshine State Standards and

Common Core Standards The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, was an American, multi-state educational initiative begun in 2010 with the goal of increasing consistency across state standards, or what K–12 students throughout th ...

. Explorations V is a teacher-approved field trip destination for several school districts and attracts home-school families, daycare centers, scouts, teen parent programs, and boys and girls celebrating birthdays. The Museum offers financial education classes for families in partnership with

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

and local banks, the program help families learn about and achieve financial stability. United Way's Family Fundamentals is housed on site.

References

{{reflist Children's museums in Florida Museums in Polk County, Florida Buildings and structures in Lakeland, Florida