CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF THE UPSTATE INC
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Mission Statement
Ignite a community of compassionate problem solvers through intentional and inclusive play.
About This Cause
Since it opened in 2009, The Children’s Museum of the Upstate (TCMU) has developed the young minds of all who engage with our offerings through purposeful, intentional, and accessible play-based learning. TCMU is committed to providing this important learning advantage to all children and, through its Scholarships program, ensures equitable museum access for children and families where financial barriers may make it difficult for them to visit. The museum focuses heavily on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) learning in all its unique exhibit galleries, where the arts, humanities, sciences, health, nutrition, the environment, and community engagement are highlighted. For example, TCMU’s Your Healthy Body exhibit teaches about the body, healthcare, and healthy habits through larger-than-life interactive organs, while its Wheels on the Ground exhibit highlights physics concepts by testing race cars on various tracks. As the nation’s seventh-largest children’s museum and the first with a Smithsonian affiliation, TCMU’s downtown Greenville location boasts over 80,000 square feet of interactive learning and play, serving families of all backgrounds. Its downtown Spartanburg location focuses on early childhood development and kindergarten readiness for children birth to age 6, spanning 10,400 square feet. Both locations offer free weekly programming focused on social and emotional development as well as academic concepts (literacy, art, STEAM, physical education, and more), encouraging families to learn and discover together. These learning experiences comprise Exploration Station, Healthy Hustle, Open Art Studios, Random Acts of Science, steamWORKS, Story Time & More, and TCMU Tots. Each program’s theme changes monthly with Exploration Station engaging children in hands-on discovery of the senses. In Random Acts of Science, young participants join impromptu experiments and surprise demonstrations of science concepts. Open Art Studios encourages the building of creative skills, while toddlers to five-year-olds explore role-playing, storytelling, and interactive activities in TCMU Tots. Healthy Hustle teaches children about self-care practices and healthy living principles, and, through steamWORKS, they develop their analytical thinking and creative problem-solving abilities. TCMU’s outreach programs expand its impact beyond the two museums by taking its expertly developed early childhood curriculum into the community – to schools and community centers in Anderson, Greenville, Laurens, Pickens, Oconee, Spartanburg, Union and other surrounding Upstate counties. Bringing the museum directly to children who otherwise may have barriers to accessing TCMU’s physical locations in Greenville and Spartanburg is an essential part of our mission and goals. In the past year alone, TCMU served over 279,000 visitors across its locations, welcoming audiences from more than forty-six South Carolina counties, all fifty states, and international visitors. Recognized as a premier family destination, TCMU fulfills its mission of developing young minds into compassionate problem solvers through purposeful, intentional, and accessible play-based learning for all who engage with its offerings.