EDWARDSVILLE – While the Edwardsville Children’s Museum’s doors have been closed for more than a year due to COVID-19, its team has been hard at work creating brand new exhibits to wow visitors and introducing new safeguards to protect them. ECM will host a private ribbon cutting to celebrate its reopening before welcoming families back on Saturday, June 26.

The opening of the Children's Museum was delayed because of air conditioning issues.

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Restore Illinois Plan Phase 5 guidelines will allow ECM to open to its full capacity, enabling the Museum to resume its normal exploration hours. Beginning June 26, ECM playtimes run from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, and 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. General admission is free for ECM members and $7.00 for non-members. In addition, ECM is available for private events on Friday and Saturday evenings as well as throughout the day on Sundays. Reservations for birthday parties and other events can be made through the ECM website at www.edwardsvillechildrensmuseum.org.

All ECM memberships will become active again on the 12th, and new members can receive 10 percent off from June 1-12.

Introducing new exhibits for Summer 2021

Just in time for the reopening, ECM is excited to unveil three new indoor exhibits and an addition to its Discovery Garden:

· Edwardsville Family Dentist Exhibit - Kids can learn how to keep their teeth in good shape while "working" in a dental clinic.

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· Phillips 66 STEM Forest (Coming Soon) – An indoor extension of the ECM Micro Forest, this exhibit introduces explorers to everything that lives and grows in our native Southern Illinois forests. Kids can color a native animal, press a button on a scanner, and watch it scamper into a virtual forest.

· Canopy Tree House – Little ones can climb up into ECM’s new tree house, which offers dramatic play learning opportunities, from adventures with forest animal friends to time around the campfire.

· Sensory Garden – The newest addition to the Discovery Garden features five areas, one for each of the five senses.

Enhanced safety guidelines in place to protect families

As the only hands-on children’s museum in the Metro East, ECM is taking extra precautions recommended by the State of Illinois to keep kids and families safe. In addition to temporarily removing some high-touch exhibit components, ECM will regularly clean and sanitize all exhibits. ECM has also installed hand sanitizing stations in every room and the Discovery Garden, and is requiring all visitors over the age of two to wear masks.

“For the past 15 months, we’ve been planning for this big day, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome families back to ECM,” said executive director Dr. Abby Schwent. “With our new exhibits and additional protective measures, our littlest explorers have a safe place to play, learn and imagine. We thank the Edwardsville community for their unwavering support during our closure and invite everyone back to see our exciting new changes in person!”

To learn more about ECM’s new exhibits, visit www.edwardsvillechildrensmuseum.org.

About Edwardsville Children’s Museum: Edwardsville Children’s Museum is committed to stimulating curiosity and cultivating learning at the age of wonder. ECM believes that kids of all ages learn through discovery and hands-on play. All exhibits and programs are designed to build happy and curious learners from ages six months to 60 years. Families are invited to explore ECM’s exhibits, discover its seasonal programs, or become members for year-round learning fun. For more information, visit www.edwardsvillechildrensmuseum.org.

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