Bursting with fun: After a yearlong closure, Kohl Children's Museum reopens to the public June 2

Kohl Children's Museum in Glenview is no stranger to reopening after shutdowns. In past years, the Museum voluntarily closed for up to five days at a time during the slow autumn season to do deep cleaning, painting, and exhibit repairs. Reopening simply meant a sparkling clean Museum for guests.

The unscheduled 14-month COVID-19 shutdown that started last year, however, proved another issue entirely.

"The Museum did what it does best: adapt to situations," said Mike Delfini, Kohl President & CEO, who himself had helmed the Museum for just under 9 months before the unscheduled shutdown.

"While we were prohibited from opening our interactive exhibits to the public, we created new programming, both online and in-person, and learned a lot about how we could best serve an audience hungry for learning opportunities. It also gave us permission to really try out-of-the-box ideas."

Kohl is putting those lessons to good use as it prepares a reopening to the public on June 2.

Keeping things clean

One of the biggest concerns post-COVID is providing a safe, healthy play environment for young children, an aspect the Museum knows well.

During fall and spring, the Museum allowed single households to reserve time slots in the indoor exhibits, after which all loose items were removed for washing, and all surfaces electrostatically sprayed and wiped down. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

"Our custodial operations team, the Super Scrub Squad, were able to cut projected cleaning time nearly in half, all while instituting even more vigorous sanitation protocols," Delfini said.

The Museum's HVAC system, already robust enough to contribute points to the Museum's Silver-level LEED (Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design), provides 100% fresh air circulation.

Using the Great Outdoors

Even though state restrictions primarily affect indoor operations, Kohl Children's Museum experimented with several successful outdoor programs with strong safety measures in the past year. Its 2-acre outdoor exhibit Habitat Park served as the host for these programs.

Last summer, the Museum tested timed-entry, small-group sessions with STEAM-focused activities spread throughout the park at socially-distanced stations. Further successful practice with managing guest flow came with the Ghost Hunt, a Halloween trick-or-treat path in the park, and Kohlights, an interactive winter holiday light walk.

In June, the Museum will put that practice to good use as it debuts its new seasonal event, SummerBurst: An EXPLORsion of Outdoor Fun.

Running June 2 to August 29, SummerBurst will utilize not just Habitat Park, but nearly all of the Museum's outdoor spaces, including the tent pad, bug garden, and prairie grass areas.

SummerBurst activities

The new program offers five large-scale STEAM-focused activities:

• Butterfly Tent: A screened structure allows guests to walk through a live butterfly habitat stocked with native plants.

• Bug Hunt: A path through the Museum prairie lets children discover supersized animatronic bug sculptures and participate in a scavenger hunt for native insects.

• Tiny Town Trike Track: Half of Habitat Park will be converted into a tot-sized village. Children can ride tricycles to deliver packages to storefronts and learn basic traffic signs.

• Art Studio: Pop-up stations will feature "can't do this at home" large format art activities that will change all summer including magnet, sand, and chalk art.

• Math Trail: Created in coordination with tech startup MathTalk, this augmented reality path encourages guests to solve math problems and unlock virtual reality creatures, from bunnies to a T. rex.

"SummerBurst offers museumgoers the best of both worlds," Delfini adds. "We recognize that, even though we have greatly expanded our cleaning and sanitation protocols, many families may not yet be comfortable visiting indoor establishments. By taking our brand of learning through play outdoors, we can offer an even safer environment, while also providing fresh, fun and educational content for visitors."

Registration is required.

Additional safety measures for Museum attendance include mandatory mask wearing for guests over age 2, as well as capacity limits as mandated by state guidelines. To support these crowd control measures, the Museum will continue asking guests to register for limited time slots. Walk-ins may not be admitted based on crowd size.

Indoor exhibits are $15 for adults and children, $14 for seniors, and free for Museum members. SummerBurst special event tickets are $15 for adults and children; Museum members may purchase discounted child tickets at $10 and adult tickets at $5. Tickets for both programs can be reserved at kcmgc.org.

• About Kohl Children's Museum: In recognition for its outstanding exhibits and impact on Chicagoland families, Kohl Children's Museum, 2100 Patriot Blvd., Glenview, was featured last year in USA Today's 10 Best Children's Museums in North America competition. The Museum's mission is to encourage young children 8 and younger to become effective learners through play. Its 17 exhibits and educational programs are grounded in early childhood research, and designed to nurture holistic child development, including cognitive, social, emotional, creative, and physical skills. For more information, visit the Museum's website at kcmgc.org or call (847) 832-6600.