Interactive exhibit a precursor to permanent facility

Next month marks the opening of the Glacier Children’s Museum first established exhibit in Kalispell as the Museum at Central School hosts the six-month educational display centered on the effects of fire on the Flathead.

A nonprofit aimed at educating children and families of the Flathead about their community’s history, ecology, environment and more, the Glacier Children’s Museum has been active in the Flathead since 2017.

To date, the organization has focused on setting up temporary, mobile exhibits at local events and engaging the public through its outreach program while working toward procuring a more permanent space.

According to Glacier Children’s Museum board chairwoman Corrie Holloway, the semi-permanent exhibit opening at the Museum at Central School will give the children’s museum a platform on which to display a longer-term glimpse of its future ambitions.

“Our mission is to be a space…where families can come and play and learn together through fun, hands-on activities,” Holloway said.

The exhibit, “Lookout! Our Forest, Our Home,” combines interactive games, crafts, puzzles and more in fire lookout themed room meant to educate visitors on the impact of fires on forests.

A play structure built to resemble a lookout tower will invite kids to climb up and explore the room from above, using a pair of binoculars to spot various animals, plants and other targets in a mural across the room.

A reading nook will feature a play campfire and shelves of books on nature, fire, animals, Montana and other topics relating to the theme.

Children of all ages can engage in the sensory table stacked with various rocks, tree parts and other natural materials in order to practice building their own towering structures.

The state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation loaned a box of fire protection gear for the dress-up corner, and a two-sided light drawing and magnet board provides a creative corner for kids to create their own stories.

In addition to the six-month exhibit, Holloway said she and her team plan to continue expanding their mobile exhibits to increase awareness for their objective.

“We just find that there’s nothing really to do with kids on those really cold days,” Holloway said. “You want them to play and get out energy, and yet you want them to learn at the same time. That’s what we want to have for the valley.”

One of dozens of ideas the children’s museum hopes to explore in the future, the lookout room points toward a museum Holloway hopes will one day occupy its own space.

Though no timeline or specific goals have yet been set for a permanent building for the museum, Holloway said the various art and science, medical, STEM, cultural and historical exhibits the nonprofit’s board has in mind could easily fill a huge space.

The space they’re able to acquire, she said, will depend on cost.

As the search for property and funding continues, Holloway said the museum’s focus, for now, remains on the expansion of the mobile outreach program and on identifying more opportunities to share their vision with the community.

Hoping to help the museum raise money, Anderson Radio Broadcasting selected the Glacier Children’s Museum as the beneficiary of proceeds from this year’s 406 Voice Competition.

Now in its third year, the community karaoke competition offers a cash prize to the winner and features live music, kids activities, a silent auction and more.

The finals will be held April 20 at the Kalispell Red Lion Hotel Grand Ballroom at 6 p.m.

Tickets are available for purchase in advance at Jensen Jewelry, Music One Workshop, Photo Video Plus and Vaquero’s.

For more information about 406 Voice, visit www.the406voice.com.

To find out more about the Glacier Children’s Museum, visit http://glacierchildrensmuseum.org/ or email glaciercm@gmail.com.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.