The Scoop Announcing the Tulsa Children’s Museum by Allyson Jannotta

Editor’s Note: Some of you have heard rumors about a Tulsa Children’s Museum. They’re true. Plans for a children’s museum are in the works, and the organizers want to let you know what’s happening. TulsaKids is providing on-going space to the Tulsa Children’s Museum to give you monthly updates on news and developments. Here is our first column, written by one of the board members. – Betty Casey Imagine a place where Tulsa kids can discover fossils as they dig for dinosaur bones or learn geometric principles as they play with bubbles. Sounds cool, huh? You may have visited a children’s museum in another city and wondered “Why doesn’t Tulsa have one of these?” If you have, you aren’t alone. You will be happy to know that there is a group of incredibly enthusiastic professionals who are working to bring a children’s museum to Tulsa. We are the Tulsa Children’s Museum, a nonprofit organization with a board that began meeting in the spring of 2007. The idea to bring a children’s museum to Tulsa started with our board chair Leah Saidy Storm. While visiting the Denver Children’s Museum, she kept thinking that this would be great to bring to Tulsa. Storm went to the Association of Children’s Museum conference in Chicago last year and attended the emerging museum session. She met other people like her, who were starting up museums across the country.  From there, she formed the TCM board. We are a diverse board of parents who are passionate about bringing interactive and hands-on activities to Tulsa children. During our first meeting, there was a common theme. All of us had visited a children’s museum in another city and left wanting to bring that same experience to our hometown. After further research, we were validated. There is a definite need to bring a children’s museum to Tulsa. Results from our online surveys and city-wide feasibility study showed that 99 percent of Tulsa parents would visit a children’s museum located in Tulsa! So, you may ask, where is this museum and how do I get there?  At this time, we are “a museum without walls.” We don’t currently have a physical location, but that hasn’t stopped us from bringing quality programming to Tulsa families. At local festivals this summer, you can experiment with bubbles at our traveling exhibit “POP! The Art and Science of Bubbles.” In the fall, we will debut the first part of our family concert series with Trout Fishing in America and later will bring Ralph’s World and The Tulsa Symphony. As school comes back into session next fall, we will begin our outreach program with after school classes in yoga to promote our health and wellness initiative. Stay tuned for more details about these events in upcoming issues of Tulsa Kids. As for our future location — we are looking to be centrally located. But please be patient, according to the Association of Children’s Museums, it usually takes about 3-5 years before an emerging museum opens its doors. Storm said it best, “If you want a children’s museum in Tulsa, it is imperative to show funders that we have the community’s support. Tell other parents about us, attend our concert series, check out our traveling exhibit at festivals, volunteer. Whatever you can do to make this a success will be a benefit to everyone.” For more information on the Tulsa Children’s Museum, go to www.tulsachildrensmuseum.com .