Creating the Path for support

Importance of a Child’s Early Learningon Long-Term Success

From birth, children learn at a rapid pace. Play provides an important foundation for early learning. Play is not frivolous, but foundational. It enhances brain structure and function and promotes all processes of learning as well as skill development.

Employers are looking for people with the transportable 21st century skills of collaboration, problem-solving, critical and creative thinking, communication, and ethical reasoning. Eighty-five percent of all industries seek out at least one of these skills. The foundation for these skills begins at a young age as children play.

Play is an important part of transforming a child into a happy and successful adult and community member. The Muncie Children’s Museum stands poised as an entry point for young children to begin developing the skills needed for both success in school and the workforce.

We talk plenty about a creativity crisis while at the same time note the importance of innovation and problem solving as 21st-century skills. Yet we continue to squeeze out of a young child’s day the very activities that promote these skills – unsupervised, unstructured play with lots of opportunities to self-direct and physically explore…Therein is the genius of the children’s museum. There is intentional design to permit the spontaneous behavior that defines how young children should spend their time.

– Richard Rende, author of Raising Can-Do Kids: Giving Children the Tools to Thrive in a Fast-Changing World, in his blog, entitled “Why We Need Children’s Museums,” 2016

Experiences during the first 8 years of life shape a child’s long-term trajectory. In this window, children benefit from consistent, cumulative learning experiences and other influences that build on each other and evolve as children age.

– National Academy of Sciences, 2015

Play is fundamentally important for learning 21st-century skills, such as problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity, which require the executive functioning skills that are critical for adult success.

– “The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children,” American Academy of Pediatrics, 2018

Linking Learning, Health, and Prosperity: Task Force 1 focuses on linking organizations and institutions to develop comprehensive systems for strengthening life-long educational attainment, well-being, and prosperity. The education level of a community’s workforce is one of the most important factors in the health of that community’s economy.

– Muncie Action Plan, 2020

Donate Today!

Muncie Children’s Museum invites you to come aboard this great adventure! Your gift will support our goal of $3 million - allowing us to provide education-rich opportunities to children through intentionally designed spaces that combine fun and free-play with skill development.