Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota announces future plans

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - ”The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota is a place for kids to grow and have fun in a safe manner and they are taking all of this outside in a big way.”

They recently announced a major land purchase which was made possible by Mankato Area Foundation and two local donors. This donation is an act of love for both the Dotsons and Jacobsons, one that stems from their love to travel, and the future generation.

“Watching kids play in a park in New Zealand in Auckland and we naturally started talking about the Children’s Museum and that property out there. It has to, it just has to be acquired,” donor for the new expansion project Denny Dotson said.

The expansion will include an outdoor wonderland for children to get their hands dirty and explore with waterfalls, jungle gyms, multiple play areas and another building.

Museum CEO Louise Dickmeyer says this could revolutionize what they do for children on a daily basis and more importantly get them outside.

“Research shows that children spend four to seven minutes a day in unstructured play, but they spend up to seven hours on a screen or in front of technology.”

Dickmeyer says this is a crucial piece of the puzzle for not only their future in southern Minnesota, but also the children who come through their door every day excited to grow their minds.

“Truly be one of a kind in Minnesota. There’s no other museum that has an indoor gallery as well as an outdoor play space like we will hope to have,”

The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota truly has only one way to go.

“and that is out and up and in the muck and in the mud and we are going to do it,” chair board for Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota Ann Hendricks stated.

They are going to start the planning process here soon, construction is going to take three to five years once they get shovels in the ground.

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