We believe in the power of play.
Chicago Children’s Museum’s mission is to improve children’s lives by creating a community where play and learning connect. Our mission applies to our work inside and outside the museum.
Curiosity Classrooms bring elements of museum-quality design to the school setting. The room is a soothing and aesthetically pleasing space, filled with enticing materials, natural objects, living things and hundreds of loose parts ready for curious questions and eager explorations.
The goals of the Curiosity Classrooms are to:
Bring innovative learning environments, designed for sensory-rich, hands-on learning, into neighborhood schools across common early childhood themes of investigation
Inspire children’s curiosity about the physical and natural world, arts and literature, and to be a catalyst for active learning
Encourage and train teachers to integrate similar developmentally appropriate, hands-on learning strategies into curricular units in the classrooms
Engage caregivers and encourage family learning at home
Drive enrollment in neighborhood schools
Complement in-school learning with visits to Chicago Children’s Museum
Partnership
Curiosity Classrooms are designed by Chicago Children’s Museum for Pre-K to 2nd grade students in Chicago Public Schools, and created in partnership with the CPS Office of Early Childhood Education.
Curiosity Classrooms are made possible through leadership support from Crown Family Philanthropies and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, as well as a generous gift from CME Group Foundation.