Rooted in Community.
Built for Wonder.
The Grand Forks Children’s Museum is becoming a place where children explore, create, discover, and grow through hands-on play.
What began as a shared idea has become a community-built museum, shaped by years of vision, generosity, volunteer energy, and belief in what children and families across our region deserve.
Who We Are
The Grand Forks Children’s Museum is a nonprofit children’s museum created to engage minds through play.
We are building a welcoming, hands-on learning environment where children and families can explore STEAM concepts, use their imaginations, move their bodies, ask questions, solve problems, and discover the world around them in new ways.
Our exhibits and programs are rooted in this region, from the land and water that shape daily life to the wide-open sky that invites curiosity, creativity, and possibility.
Rooted in Our Region
Built for Connection
Hands-On Learning
Play-based experiences that spark curiosity and confidence.
Exhibits inspired by the Red River Valley’s land, sky, industries, and stories.
A place for children, families, schools, partners, and the community to gather.
Where We Are Today
The museum is now moving from vision to visible progress. Construction is underway, permanent exhibits are in development, and the next chapter is focused on bringing the full museum experience to life.
That includes hands-on educational programming, welcoming indoor and outdoor spaces, school and community partnerships, and long-term sustainability so the museum can open strong and continue growing for years to come.
What Guides Us
MISSION:
To engage minds through play.
VISION:
To provide a creative space that enriches lives through exploration.
VALUES:
Exploration. Education. Equity. Engagement. Excellence.
These values shape how we design exhibits, create programs, welcome families, build partnerships, and grow with our community.
Exploration
We invite curiosity, discover, movement, and imagination.
Education
We believe learning is strongest when it is active, joyful, and hands-on.
Equity
We work to create welcoming experiences where all children and families can participate.
Engagement
We build connection through play, programs, partnerships, and community events.
Excellence
We are committed to thoughtful design, meaningful learning, and lasting impact.
In Land, We Root. Through Sky, We Rise. Together, We Grow.
This guiding idea shapes both the museum experience and our story.
The Land Level roots children in the wonder of our region through nature, science, agriculture, water, and community. The Sky Level lifts children into imagination, innovation, weather, flight, space, and possibility. Connecting them is Grow, a two-story climber that invites children to move, explore, build confidence, and reach upward.
It is also a reflection of how this museum has come to life. We are rooted in community, rising through shared momentum, and growing into a lasting resource for generations.
Rise.
Grow.
Root.
Grounded in Grand Forks and the Red River Valley.
Inspired by imagination, discovery, and possibility.
Built to evolve with children, families, and the community.
Built by Many Hands
The Grand Forks Children’s Museum exists because people across this region believed in it before the walls began to rise.
Families, educators, businesses, foundations, civic partners, volunteers, board members, donors, and children themselves have helped shape the vision. Every program, event, gift, introduction, and conversation has moved the museum forward.
This is not just a building in Grand Forks.
It is a community institution, created with and for the region.
Grow With Us
The Grand Forks Children’s Museum is being built for today’s children and for generations still to come.
As the building rises, so does the opportunity to help shape what happens inside, around, and beyond it. Whether you give, volunteer, partner, attend an event, or simply share the story, you are part of helping this museum grow.
Together, we are creating a place where curiosity takes root, imagination rises, and children grow through play.