• Board of Directors
  
  
• Committees
  
  
• History
  
  
• Museum Staff
  
  
• Mission
  
  
• Strategic Plan

History

2001

How did the Stillwater Children's Museum get started?
Discouraged about driving 100 miles to participate in children's educational and entertaining activities, two average Stillwater families began to ask, "Why don't we have something here?" Thus began a grassroots effort to quantify the need, educate the community and surrounding region, and then build a premier, state of the art, interactive science and discovery Museum.

February 2001

Is a Children's Museum the best solution?
At the Stillwater Children's Museum's first meeting, a room full of parents, educators, and early childhood experts pondered the concept of a Children's Museum. Everyone recognized the need for a spontaneous, inexpensive, family friendly outlet, and felt that a Children's Museum rocked! So we were off to the races.

March 2001

What does the community think?
A survey was developed and distributed to all of the elementary schools and preschools in the Stillwater area to measure community interest. The results were overwhelmingly positive and a huge number of volunteers signed up to help, over 400!

April 2001

The paperwork dance…
It was time to make things official, so with the volunteer help of a lawyer, the Stillwater Children's Museum received its Certificate of Incorporation, and subsequently filed for Tax-Exempt Status.

Our first traveling exhibits.
In an effort to educate the community about the concept and function of a Children's Museum, a small army of volunteer helpers came together to create hands-on, interactive exhibits. Several Stillwater businesses and community leaders offered support by making financial and in-kind donations.

• Play Dough Center - At this center, children were given an opportunity to use math and science concepts to make their own play dough.
• Art Center - Children participated in many activities including spin art, chalk drawing, coloring with stencils, watercolor art, and impression drawing.
• Treasure Hunt - A texture table was filled with sand and various metal objects were buried. Children used hand held metal detectors to hunt for buried treasure in the sand.
• Puzzles Center - From toddler to adult, this center provided various puzzles for a variety of ages.
• Dramatic Play - A miniature grocery store, fully stocked with pretend food, grocery baskets, cash registers, and pretend money, provided an imaginative opportunity for children to experiment with dramatic play.
  

These traveling exhibits were offered free to the public at the Run for the Arts, the Red Cross Health & Safety Fair, Western Heritage Days, Payne County Fair, and Oklahoma State University Homecoming. Approximately 5,000 children and adults became familiar with the incredible benefits a Children's Museum can offer.

2002

March 2002

The wait is finally over!
Stillwater Children's Museum received its Tax-Exempt Status under Federal Income Tax Section 501(c)(3).

But where should the Museum live?
With the guidance of a volunteer architect, numerous locations in and around Stillwater were explored as viable options for the Stillwater Children's Museum's permanent home. It became increasingly evident that sheer will and energy were not enough to materialize a Children's Museum. Reconstruction and/or building are a very expensive endeavor.

2003

Maybe we need to do more research.
Unwilling to give up the vision, Stillwater Children's Museum Board Members made a concerted effort to travel the United States touring successful and flourishing children's museums.

2004

What do we need to do to make this happen?
It didn't take much traveling for the Board Members and their families to realize that they had become addicted to Children's Museums…more fuel for the cause. A heavier emphasis was made on researching funding and grants, and boosting community involvement.
Meanwhile, within Payne County, an increasing awareness for child advocacy and betterment was developing. Stillwater Area Success by Six became a positive presence and answer to that need.

2005

June 2005

Stillwater Children's Museum was rejuvenated as additional members of the community stepped up to become involved in the effort. What does it take? Obsessive-compulsive people willing to work endless hours for no pay! With continued vision and mission, the Museum was regrouped.

July 2005

Smart Start Payne County (formerly Stillwater Area Success by Six) believed in the mission of the Stillwater Children's Museum, and voted to provide technical support and guidance.

September 2005

Stillwater Children's Museum was asked to give a presentation to PUMA, a group of City Design Consultants working on a plan to revitalize downtown Stillwater. As an anchor for this project, the Museum could serve as a flagship for downtown, and a premier destination spot for Stillwater.
With a target in sight, the Stillwater Children's Museum gained tremendous focus. The Board was quickly redeveloped, new bylaws were written, a business plan was created, and the search was on to find Champions and Leaders within the community to support and promote the Museum. Rex Horning and Stillwater National Bank were up to the task.

October 2005

Building Momentum!
Excited and inspired by the vision of Stillwater Children's Museum, individuals, city entities, business, movers and shakers began to show their support.

• Architect Jana Phillips volunteered her time and talents to develop an architectural design for the Museum.
• Stillwater Children's Museum received its first substantial donation from Stillwater National Bank.
• Artist, Karen Saunders, donated a branding and marketing package including a logo, full color brochure, t-shirt design, stickers, banners, and stationary program.
• The Stillwater Convention and Visitor's Bureau gave its formal endorsement of the Museum and provided funding for the printing of our first brochure.
• With the incredible support of Smart Start Payne County and Payne County Head Start, the Stillwater Children's Museum has set up an Administrative Office at 1601 S Main, Stillwater, Oklahoma.
  

2006

February 2006

Our first employee!
The Museum gained enough financial support to hire an executive director. A small search was done and the museum hired Ruth Cavins as its first official employee. Ruth began organizing the office, grant writing, meeting with community members, and a million other things on behalf of the museum.

Summer 2006

We Got Some Grants!
The hard work of many volunteers, board members, and the executive director paid off as the museum received its first grants to fund upcoming operations and programming.

Summer and Fall 2006

Museum Without Walls
Countless hours were spent developing curriculum and obtaining materials for the 2 pilot programs for the Stillwater Children's Museum Without Walls. Programming was developed to meet Oklahoma Public Schools PASS standards with assistance from educators, principals, professors, and other community members.

• Smart Start to Science and Literacy began in Stillwater Public Schools - September 2006
• Plant Virus Exploration began in Stillwater Public Schools, Selected Day Care Centers and Home Schools - December 2006
• Centennial Treasurers - coming to Stillwater Public Schools in spring 2007.

And this is just the beginning…
An incredible whirlwind of activity currently surrounds the Stillwater Children's Museum. Strategic planning, grant research, community education, fund raising, and promotion are all high on the priority list of the Museum Board. Please see the Calendar of Events for the Museum's upcoming public appearances.