The Glazer Children’s Museum is like a huge playground for kids. It surely keeps kids curious. You can visit the museum at 110 W Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa, FL. It is found in the downtown area, just next to the Tampa Museum of Art and Curtis Hixon Park, along the Tampa Riverwalk. It is actually part of the Waterfront Arts District.
The museum promotes learning through different hands-on, interactive play. The majority of the museum’s effort is focused on visitor experience and of course, the educational programming. It offers a number of programs, from formal curriculum based classes for schools to informal workshops for families, to camps and specialized programs.
Seated in a 53,000 square foot facility in downtown Tampa, the Glazer Children’s Museum has about 170 hands-on exhibits. These exhibits are in multiple themed areas. These are designed to encourage children in the discovery process through play. Traveling exhibits provide the museum its permanent collection twice in a year. The exhibits which last to about 3 to 4 months are meant to make an additional level of engagement to kids and enhance the educational experience of guests.
It wasn’t much of a surprise when the museum gained awards, since this is indeed one of the best when it comes to children’s museums in Florida. Some of the recent awards are the 2012 WEDU Be More Award winner for Outstanding Educational Outreach, the 2012 Tampa Downtown Partnership Urban Excellence Award Recipient and the 2012 Tampa Bay Business Journal Arts Culture and Humanities Non-Profit of the Year.
Level 1 of the Museum
- KidsPort: One of the most popular attractions within the museum is the KidsPort. This is a huge water table where children can explore different activities, from navigating, loading and unloading cargo. Children can think of themselves as dockworkers or harbor pilots.
- Tug Boat Tots: Tt provides a tactile exploration in a safe space intended for children below three years old with their caregivers. Children can explore a tug boat, hear a story under an oak tree, or play fishing.
- Water’s Journey: The 35-foot tall climbing structure is designed to teach children about the water cycle. Kids can pretend to be a water droplet that make their way to the ecosystem. This sounds really fun.
- Cruise Ship: This is where kids can pilot their own ship to different destinations, and make a stop to dig for treasures.
- The Telemundo Tampa Exhibit Hall: The hall is comprised of the museum’s traveling exhibits. It helps keep the museum exciting than ever. Its goal is to create several learning opportunities for kids.
Level 2 of the Museum
- Get Moving: This is a high energy activity space that surely keeps the children up and moving. Kids here can see how they measure up to a number of physical challenges, including strength, endurance, and speed.
- Engineer’s Workshop: This is the perfect exhibit for the young inventors, those who would like to know how exactly things work. Kids here can produce electricity, design planes, and learn more about the fun stuff of engineering.
- Kid’s Network: This is actually the “media zone” which provides children a chance to explore both high and low tech means of communications, language, and media in general.
To see more about the Glazer Children’s Museum, visit their official website.
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