Step into the Minnesota Children's Museum Rochester this week and experience the power of play. From an interactive Tinkertoy exhibit to the popular Teddy Bear Clinic, here's your guide to family fun this spring break.

TINKERTOY®: Build Your Imagination™

Remember Tinkertoys as a kid?

The imagination. The creativity. The endless amounts of possibilities.

Now through May 27, the museum is home to the TINKERTOY®: Build Your Imagination™ exhibit, sponsored by Kraus-Anderson and Olmsted Medical Center. With nine stations, visitors are encouraged to explore real-world issues like renewable energy and clean water technology, to experiment with their own ideas and inventions, and to work as collaborators with an awe-inspiring collection of Tinkertoy construction sets.

Teddy Bear Clinic

Wednesday, April 4 from 10 - 11 a.m.

Join staff from Mayo Clinic Children's Center Child Life Department for a Teddy Bear Clinic.

Bring your favorite Teddy Bear to the museum for a check up. Each child will learn about a doctor visit using a teddy bear they bring from home. To fully experience this program, the museum recommends bringing along a stuffed animal. It does not need to be a teddy!

Touch & Learn Class with Oxbow Park & Zollman Zoo

Thursday, April 5 from 11 a.m. - noon

Got an animal fan at your house? Join museum staff as they welcome friends from Oxbow Park and Zollman Zoo for an excellent starter program for younger students. Topics discussed include the daily happenings here at the zoo and park, as well as some basic environmental principles. There are also opportunities for some “hands on” learning with our live critters and wildlife artifacts.

Free weekend of admission

The museum is offering a FREE admission BOTH days this weekend, thanks to the generous support of two local banks.

Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. The Minnesota Children’s Museum Rochester invites all community members to celebrate the Science of Saving with First Alliance Credit Union. There will be experts on hand to help get your child excited about saving, answer questions about money management for families, and fun giveaways for the whole family.
Sunday, noon - 4 p.m. Thanks to Bremer Bank, visitors can explore the museum free of charge on this special day for a fun hands-on activity. Bremer has been an ongoing sponsor of the museum's once-a-month free Sunday programming.

What's next at the museum?

Looking ahead, the museum continues to explore new ways to encourage innovation, health and well-being, and cultural connectedness through experiential learning.

In the coming months, the Rochester Public Utilities exhibit will be updated to become more interactive and hands-on.

And then in June, the museum will introduce Framed: Step into Art™, presented by Think Bank. The exhibit will allow visitors to enter the framework of famous paintings as they become 3-D.

"Families will get to go in and interact as if they are part of the painting," explains Beth Sherden, operations and experience manager.

To stay updated with the museum, follow them on Facebook.

Photography by William Forsman