BILLINGS — The new Wise Wonders Children’s Museum location offers more square footage, which means more room for activities, more room for larger field trip groups, and a more accessible parking lot.
"Wise Wonder’s New Home is at 3024 2nd Avenue North," Wise Wonders' Pete Bowlenbaugh said.
The new building allows for triple the capacity, and space for exhibits.
"We’ve had amazing community support that donated time, exhibits, money to make this place the way it is today, this is something that is not just a one person’s dream, or the board of wise wonders dream, it’s the entire Billings community and Yellowstone county to come together and make this successful for us," Board Chairman Shawna Bonini said.
Some of the new exhibits consist of an excavation site for fossils, a giant mouth to be added to the Dentistry Area, and the Bernoulli blower that teaches about air flow, pressure systems, and flight.
"Math and science take just as much as creativity as art, as music. It really just shows kids that it’s within their reach, that it’s not anything that they need to be scared of, that they can do on their own. They can get their hands dirty and learn about some science and math," Bowlenbaugh said.
One young man getting his hands dirty, was a local boy scout, who built by hand, and contributed a life size Periodic Table to Wise Wonders.
"I remember once I was at a museum and this kid said, Mom that’s permeability, and that’s what I want to see, that’s this type of fossil, that type of fossil, or that’s the Bernulli principle, we want to bring families together, and learn together and have a really exciting and rewarding time when they’re here," Bonini said.
"Yes, there’s a lot of play, but there’s a lot of active, engaged hands-on learning, so it gets children exposed to STEM, Science Technology, Engineering and Math at an early age, makes them more engaged in their own education and realize that they can take an active role in what they’re learning," Bowlenbaugh said.
"I would say my favorite thing is to look around and see how happy kids are to discover and learn about their world, I think it brings me such joy," Bonini said.
Wise Wonders is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
