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The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis celebrates several broken attendance records this past year. More than 1.25 million children and their adults visited the world’s largest children’s museum in 2015. That is the second highest year in visitation since The Children’s Museum started tracking attendance. Only 2011 ranked higher with about 1.27 million people visiting.
The museum credits a significant increase in membership by families and schools in addition to free and affordable opportunities to make the museum accessible to all. The goal is to create unique opportunitiesf for the entire family to enjoy. “We purposefully create a wide variety of high-quality, immersive family learning experiences that necessarily appeal to children and families of all ages. We work hard to make sure our family learning experiences change frequently so that each visit becomes a unique experience,” said Dr. Jeffrey H. Patchen, president and CEO, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. “We want to capture visitor’s imaginations while encouraging multi-generational learning with rich and robust programs that feature real science, real history, cultural and humanities content.”
With a strong commitment to offer fun and imaginative exhibits that are always changing, the museum boasted a strong lineup of exhibits in 2015 including: You’re on the Set: Inside Hollywood Film & TV, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Hot Wheels Race to Win, National Geographic Sacred Journeys, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Haunted House, and Jolly Days Winter Wonderland. The museum also completed a full renovation of its Food Court and added a Seasonal Café (currently Gingerbread Café but will be reimagined into a Chocolate Café just in time for Valentine’s Day).
Families have discovered great value in membership. The museum recorded just over 548,000 member visits in 2015, a glowing sign that those who visit more than once save money by becoming members. That’s up nearly 20,000 visits from the previous high set in 2011. Not only do members enjoy unlimited museum visits throughout the year, but there are special perks including:
- Free, unlimited carousel rides
- Discounts on family programs & preschool tuition
- Advance tickets to special events
- Exclusive members-only hours
- Ongoing discount at The Museum Store
Schools also enjoy the benefits of membership as the museum becomes their classroom.
“The academic connections we can make, plus the enrichment that some of our students may otherwise not have,” said Monica DeLaPaz, IPS #48. In 2015, a little over 89,000 school visits took advantage of the special unlimited visitation and membership program that gives teachers the flexibility to create extraordinary learning experiences for students tied to state and national arts, humanities, and STEM standards all year long. That number is third all-time (2014 – 101,885 and 2006 – 94,272).
The fun and engaging activities are also available to all through creative free and affordable offerings such as Target Free Family Nights, which are offered from 4-8 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. With nearly *190,000 visitors taking advantage of free admission in 2015, it was the third highest-visited year for ‘free visitation dates’ since keeping records. Previous highs were just over 199,000 in 2011 and 195,500 in 2010. The Access Pass is another unique program created by The Children’s Museum for families who qualify under state guidelines (temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Food stamps, and Hoosier Healthwise Insurance). It enables qualifying families to visit The Children’s Museum and all participating locations for just $1 per family member per visit.
With another strong lineup of rotating exhibits coming in 2016, there is a new adventure every day and more reasons to invest in a membership to The Children’s Museum! Become a brave knight or royal princess in Pirates and Princesses: Storybook Adventures. Step into the imaginative world of Disney’s Doc McStuffins or come face-to-face with galaxies beyond ours in Alien Worlds and Androids.
Here’s a look at the stellar 2016 lineup:
- National Geographic Sacred Journeys – now through January 31
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – now through April 10
- Pirates & Princesses: Storybook Adventures – Jan. 30 – Nov. 27
- Alien Worlds & Androids – March 12 – May 1
- Fables Across Time – March 19 – June 12
- Hot Wheels: Race to Win – May 14 – Aug. 14
- NEW permanent exhibit TBA – Summer 2016
- Doc McStuffins – Aug. 6, 2016 – January 2017
- ScienceWorks (reimagined new permanent exhibit) – August 27
- Haunted House
- Jolly Days Winter Wonderland
About The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is a nonprofit institution committed to creating extraordinary learning experiences across the arts, sciences, and humanities that have the power to transform the lives of children and families. For more information about The Children's Museum, visit www.childrensmuseum.org, follow us on Twitter @TCMIndy, Facebook.com/childrensmuseum and YouTube.com/IndyTCM
*Free includes Access Pass, free days and Target Nights, and InfoZone.
