The WonderTrek Approach

Play + Explore = Learn

Now Playing - Playful Connections Studio Explorations

Paper Moves

The "Paper Moves" program, inspired by WonderTrek Children's Museum, transforms everyday paper into a universe of exploration for children. This tactile initiative encourages young minds to discover paper's diverse properties through sensory interactions—folding, crumpling, and observing changes with light and water. Emphasizing the loose parts philosophy, it fosters creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking. Beyond art, it's a journey into understanding material properties and expanding imagination. Material exploration not only promotes child-led discovery but inspires children to think outside the box and see everyday objects from new, imaginative angles. "Paper Moves" nurtures spatial reasoning, problem-solving, and a unique appreciation for mundane materials, offering an enriching experience that blends learning with the joy of discovery, making the ordinary extraordinary.

WonderTrek Children's Museum and its partners envision a more connected region and state and actively work to create connections by bringing together families of diverse backgrounds in shared experiences. That’s why WonderTrek's Playful Connection's Studio Explorations programming engages children and adults in play-based studio learning experiences to help design a signature "up north" climber experience that reflects our regional art and cultural heritage. By bringing together the ideas and possibilities of many children and their parents, running through June 2023, WonderTrek's Playful Connection's programming empowers children to lead the way to a more connected region and state through the power of play. Playful Connections Studio Explorations is made possible by a competitive Arts and Cultural Heritage Legacy grant administered by the MN Humanities Center.

How does WonderTrek really make a difference in the lives of children and families?  It starts by taking a lead role in valuing children, childhood, and play.  As a children's museum, it is a place-based, informal learning setting that engages children 12 years and under, their parents, caregivers, and teachers in making connections between ideas and actions, across systems, and with others.   

 WonderTrek's focus on children and families exploring and learning together, its understanding of the value of play, and its attention to 21st century skills come together in dynamic environments and experiences that are richly layered, locally relevant, and open onto the wider world.  Setting WonderTrek apart from other children’s museums is a dedication to play-based professional development training and supportive resources for teachers and caregivers to help bring out the value of play and interactive learning in the lives of children and our community at large.

Child, Parent, & Educator Centered

Play Lab

At WonderTrek's Play Lab in the Franklin Art Center, children, parents, and caregivers find a cozy space to explore, play, and learn together at their own pace. See our events page for upcoming dates and times. The Play Lab invites children to explore materials, to build, arrange, take apart, make connections, and follow their wonder. All the while, WonderTrek is learning from and with children through Studio Explorations programming, a grant-funded evaluation process of observation, documentation, and reflection that will ultimately result in a wonder-filled children's museum that was designed for and with the region’s children.

Pop-up & Off Site Programs

WonderTrek Children's Museum brings the fun and joy of play, exploration, and learning to children and families across North Central Minnesota. From community parks to classrooms, from community service organizations to summer festivals, WonderTrek meets families where they are with admission-free programming that launches imaginations and inspires a love of learning.

Engaging Children Where They Are!

  • Around the Region

    WonderTrek has engaged more 10,000 participants from 3,000 families with hands-on programs at nearly 200 events in seventeen communities across the region.

  • Enriching at-home learning

    To safely support learning at home during the pandemic, WonderTrek quickly pivoted to create and distribute hundreds of Covid-safe Play Packets for material rich explorations at home.

  • Collaborating for Impact

    To maximize impact through partnerships, WonderTrek is providing countless hours of museum programming in collaboration with school districts, Greater Minnesota Family Services, libraries, local businesses, service agencies, and nonprofits.

WonderTrek’s Center for Play and Interactive Learning

Is committed to changing the way the region values play in the lives of children.

The Center for Play and Interactive Learning at WonderTrek Children’s Museum is an innovative resource for play, experience development, hands-on learning materials, and workshops that serve museum staff, volunteers, parents, caregivers, teachers, and education leaders. The Center enhances WonderTrek’s material-rich environments, exhibits, and programs by exploring and deepening its understanding of play in a variety of settings. In a very real sense, the Center serves an essential R&D function for the Museum’s play, exploration, and learning experiences.

The purpose of WonderTrek's Center for Play and Interactive Learning is to advance the value play as a powerful strategy for learning and wellbeing.  Play is a way for children—and adults—to explore, engage with, and understand their world. Interactive learning is a related process for exploration and learning. The Center highlights the role of interaction with objects and materials, with people, ideas, and the physical environment in both play and interactive learning in informal and formal learning settings.

Join Our Team

If you have a deep love for children and learning, and are eager to make a positive impact in your community, then you could be the perfect fit for the WonderTrek team as a Playworker! In a collaborative, team-based environment, you will play a key role in creating a dynamic and welcoming environment for children to play, explore, and learn. Our team is enthusiastic about interacting with children of various ages and supporting their learning through play with dynamic, material-rich programs and events.

Use the link below for the full job description