A new experience and exhibit, a collaboration between the Minnesota Children’s Museum (MCM) and the creators of the PBS Kids series Wild Kratts, will be premiering in January of 2019.
While this seems like a ways away (a lifetime in kids’ years), there is plenty to be excited about: Something like a younger version of the “Escape Rooms” popping up around the Twin Cities, in which teams must work together to complete mind games and solve puzzles in an allotted amount of time, the new exhibit lets visitors use their brains, and their abilities to work together, to save animals from the clutches of evil.
The Minnesota Children’s Museum is a leading producer of interactive exhibits for museums and science centers in downtown St. Paul. The decision to create this exhibit was based on a survey sent out to museum members and returning visitors asking what type of exhibit they’d like to see next.
Wild Kratts came up as the number one choice.
For those unfamiliar, here’s a bit of background on the animated series: Wild Kratts transforms the Kratt Brothers, creators of the award-winning Kratts’ Creatures and Emmy-winning Zoboomafoo, into animated versions of themselves to allow real-life zoologists to visit wild animals in their natural habitats, showcasing key science concepts along the way – from elephants using physics to suck gallons of water with their trunks, to a fleet of peregrine falcons harnessing the force of gravity to speed through the air. Each episode of Wild Kratts presents age-appropriate science inspired by the natural abilities of the animals that the Kratt Brothers and young viewers meet.
The show broadcasts daily on PBS Kids.
Visitors will now be able step into the Wild Kratts world themselves, joining animal experts Chris and Martin Kratt and a cast of heroes and villains as they explore the secret lives of extraordinary creatures. Using Kratt technology and the powers of science and collaboration, children will help the team solve problems and protect animals. The exhibit will also focus on cultivating STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills in children ages 3 to 9.
“We’re thrilled at the opportunity to help families experience the adventurous world of Wild Kratts,” President of the Minnesota Children’s Museum, Dianne Krizan said in a statement. “The exhibit will use the power of play to give children opportunities to develop critical thinking, collaboration, confidence and more.”
This will be the first time the popular show will come to life as a museum experience. The exhibit’s tentative working title: “Wild Kratts: Creature Power!”
The Wild Kratts experience adds to the museum’s roster of 13 other acclaimed traveling exhibits, including Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails, Curious George: Let’s Get Curious!, and Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice.
Concerning those involved:
About Kratt Brothers Company
Kratt Brothers Company, founded in 1993, has created and produced more than 220 episodes of television, including award-winning series: Kratts’ Creatures, Zoboomafoo, Kratt Brothers: Be The Creature and, through a full-service animation studio, the currently-in-production fifth season of the Emmy-nominated hit Wild Kratts, on which this exhibit is based.
More information: www.krattbrothers.com
About Minnesota Children’s Museum
Minnesota Children’s Museum is dedicated to sparking children’s learning through play.
Our vision: “Kids play more. Adults do, too. We thrive as a happier, healthier and more innovative community through the radiant power of play.” The museum serves more than 500,000 visitors each year at its locations in St. Paul and Rochester, and reaches thousands more across the state through Smart Play Spots, Storyland exhibit and other programs. As the nation’s leading developer of traveling children’s museum exhibits, the museum is a trailblazer in creating immersive learning environments, reaching more than 10 million children and adults in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
More information can be found in this press release.
