Published: Monday, August 4, 2008
Prized kids' museum earns national honors
Tucked into downtown Everett, the Imagine Children's Museum is a bright little city, bustling with children and activity.
The museum recently raked in some impressive national awards for its exciting approach to childhood diversion. Nickelodeon's ParentsConnect Web site recognizes family-friendly destinations in 52 major cities. Local editors nominate businesses, and families vote. This year, the museum earned Best Museum for Big Kids, Best Museum for Little Kids, and Best Day Camp for Little Kids in the Seattle area. That's counting the stiff competition from King County, including the Seattle Children's Museum and the Experience Music Project.
These well-deserved nods spotlight a local gem and a true community asset. The Imagine Children's Museum is an engaging, educational fun house with a long list of community outreach programs. We're thrilled to see it acknowledged.
The hordes of kids who visit the museum find that everything is hands-on. They can fly a jet, give a rock concert or run a bank. The exhibits feature everyday places, souped up with local color and culture. And they make sure every age and personality can find fun. Boisterous kids can climb a giant rooftop playground; the shy can seek solitude in a quiet treehouse overlooking the fun.
As a local nonprofit, the museum is wildly successful. It started in a Marysville strip mall in 1993. Last year, 183,000 visited the spacious downtown Everett building where the museum has resided since 2004.
Fifteen years after the strip mall, the grass-roots museum has become a major community resource and traveling destination. The museum helps children understand the world they live in. And it celebrates the beauty of our area, evolving to stay vibrant and competitive. The museum prides itself on reflecting a changing community and a changing childhood.
Those maxims would be impossible without passionate leadership and volunteers. More than 800 volunteers put in more than 5,000 hours at the museum a year, executive director Nancy Johnson said. Upkeep is a huge job; thousands of kids would wear and tear most any business, yet the museum stays meticulously clean.
Local businesses sponsor much of the museum's outreach. Sponsors pay for day camps for low-income children. In a basement studio, local recyclables become snazzy arts and crafts. Everything is fun, local and meaningful.
Everett's Imagine Children's Museum is a timeless childhood classic. We're proud to see it earn national recognition as such. Now we just wish we weren't too old to play with its water wheels and miniature trains.
The museum recently raked in some impressive national awards for its exciting approach to childhood diversion. Nickelodeon's ParentsConnect Web site recognizes family-friendly destinations in 52 major cities. Local editors nominate businesses, and families vote. This year, the museum earned Best Museum for Big Kids, Best Museum for Little Kids, and Best Day Camp for Little Kids in the Seattle area. That's counting the stiff competition from King County, including the Seattle Children's Museum and the Experience Music Project.
These well-deserved nods spotlight a local gem and a true community asset. The Imagine Children's Museum is an engaging, educational fun house with a long list of community outreach programs. We're thrilled to see it acknowledged.
The hordes of kids who visit the museum find that everything is hands-on. They can fly a jet, give a rock concert or run a bank. The exhibits feature everyday places, souped up with local color and culture. And they make sure every age and personality can find fun. Boisterous kids can climb a giant rooftop playground; the shy can seek solitude in a quiet treehouse overlooking the fun.
As a local nonprofit, the museum is wildly successful. It started in a Marysville strip mall in 1993. Last year, 183,000 visited the spacious downtown Everett building where the museum has resided since 2004.
Fifteen years after the strip mall, the grass-roots museum has become a major community resource and traveling destination. The museum helps children understand the world they live in. And it celebrates the beauty of our area, evolving to stay vibrant and competitive. The museum prides itself on reflecting a changing community and a changing childhood.
Those maxims would be impossible without passionate leadership and volunteers. More than 800 volunteers put in more than 5,000 hours at the museum a year, executive director Nancy Johnson said. Upkeep is a huge job; thousands of kids would wear and tear most any business, yet the museum stays meticulously clean.
Local businesses sponsor much of the museum's outreach. Sponsors pay for day camps for low-income children. In a basement studio, local recyclables become snazzy arts and crafts. Everything is fun, local and meaningful.
Everett's Imagine Children's Museum is a timeless childhood classic. We're proud to see it earn national recognition as such. Now we just wish we weren't too old to play with its water wheels and miniature trains.
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