Take a trip to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: A Grr-ific Exhibit before it closes May 12

May 12 is the last day to step into Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: A Grr-ific Exhibit at DuPage Children's Museum, 301 N. Washington St. in Naperville.

This exhibit brings to life the themes presented in the award-winning PBS Kids television series created by The Fred Rogers Company that follows the adventures of 4-year-old Daniel Tiger and his friends.

In the exhibit, children enter the world of Daniel Tiger and friends to explore the Neighborhood. Through immersive experiences, visitors collaborate to solve problems, use their imaginations to transform their surroundings, and play along with Daniel's singable strategies as they learn life's little lessons.

The exhibit, created by Children's Museum of Pittsburgh in partnership with the Fred Rogers Company, brings to life the themes presented in the PBS series such as community, communication, and emotions, which enables young children to understand their feelings and those of their neighbors. Visitors can walk the paths and hear the sounds of Daniel's world as they encounter the meaning of empathy, gratitude, sharing, and diversity in an environment of creative and interactive play. Through music, kids can also sing along with Daniel, work together to solve problems, and even experience the contagious nature of kindness.

"This exhibit has added an extra layer of social-emotional skill building to help children and their adult caregivers explore and navigate feelings to build competencies like self-awareness and self-regulation. Daniel's strategies help children learn to recognize and accurately label their emotions and identify ways to be helpful toward others," said Julie Carlsen, Vice President of Strategic Engagement, DuPage Children's Museum. "DCM is proud to provide children and families with the resources and spaces to learn together and build interpersonal skills that help children make positive choices when interacting with friends and family."

"Daniel speaks directly to children, and he is their age," notes Paul Siefken, president and Chief Executive Officer with the Fred Rogers Company. "Because of that, they see him as their friend, and he goes through a lot of the challenges that they face, whether it's dealing with mad feelings or learning how to share."

Along with the emotional lessons gleaned in the Neighborhood, visitors can:

• Transform into to a favorite character with masks and costumes;

• Compose a song or play along with one-of-a-kind instruments;

• Visit the Post Office and sort, deliver, and receive packages and letters;

• Create stories through the Movable Character Mural;

• Step inside the Clock Factory to play with a variety of clocks;

• Identify spots in one's own neighborhood on the interactive world map;

• Write or draw thank-you notes and put them on the Thank You Tree;

• Cozy up with a good book in O the Owl's Reading Nest;

• Stroll with a Trolley along the path, and ring the bell upon arrival!

Museum staff have enjoyed reading the thoughtful strategies and Thank You Tree notes left behind by visitors. Thank yous have included children thanking their caregiver for bringing them to the Museum, being thankful for siblings and best friends, thanking a Museum staff for taking the time to play with them, and thanking a teacher for helping when they felt sad.

Some favorite strategies have included: remembering that the only thing that you can control is your attitude, hugging for 6 seconds when feeling frustrated, and many more. Stop by the exhibit to leave your own thank you or strategy, or just take a look at what's already there.

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: A Grr-ific Exhibit was made possible through local sponsorship by DuPage Medical Group. The exhibit continues its multiyear run as a traveling exhibit with its next stop being the Mississippi Children's Museum.

While it will be difficult to say goodbye to such a popular, engaging exhibit, DuPage Children's Museum has some exciting plans in the works. Back by popular demand for the summer, DCM Express, a pop-up exhibit featuring trains, will be opening by Friday, May 17.

Also, back by popular demand, Art Is Instrumental REMIX will be opening by Friday, May 24. Stay tuned for more details.

Admission to DuPage Children's Museum is $12, $10 for seniors. It is free for museum members and children less than one year.

Museum hours are: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The museum is open until 8 p.m. on third Thursday of each month.

For details, visit dupagechildrens.org or www.facebook.com/DCMFanPage/ or call (630) 637-8000.

The DuPage Children's Museum helps develop curiosity, creativity, thinking, and problem solving in young children through its mission: "DuPage Children's Museum ignites the potential of all children to learn through hands-on exploration by integrating art, math, and science." Interactive exhibits and programs make learning fun for children and adults playing together. It serves over 300,000 visitors annually representing all 50 states and 575 ZIP codes in Illinois. The children museum's reach and support represent well beyond the Chicago area. Its impact extends across cultural, financial, and educational boundaries. It touches the lives of children from all regions, providing the building blocks for success in school and life.

About Children's Museum Pittsburgh

Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (pittsburghkids.org) is a place that delights and inspires children, where they can take off on fantastic flights of imagination daily, and return to earth to splash in a river, hammer a nail and ink a silk-screen. With 80,000 square feet of space the museum welcomes more than 306,000 visitors annually and provides tons of fun and loads of "real stuff" experiences for play and learning. Permanent hands-on, interactive exhibit areas at the Museum include The Studio, Theater, Waterplay, Attic, Nursery, Backyard and MAKESHOP®. The Museum's award-winning, three-story, center building is screened by a shimmering wind Sculpture and connects two historic structures (Allegheny Post Office Building & the Buhl Building). In 2006, the museum became a certified green building and was honored by the American Institute for Architects and the National Historic Preservation Trust. In 2015 Parents Magazine named the Museum one of the nation's 15 top children's museums and in 2017 the Children's Museum was Voted One of the Nation's Ten Best Museums for Families in USA Today's 10 Best Reader's Choice Contest.

About The Fred Rogers Company

The Company was founded by Fred Rogers in 1971 as the nonprofit producer of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for PBS. In the years that followed, it not only created hundreds of episodes of this much-loved program, but also extended Fred's values and approach to other efforts in promoting children's social, emotional and behavioral health and supporting parents, caregivers, teachers and other professionals in their work with children. The Fred Rogers Company continues to build on Fred's legacy in innovative ways through a wide variety of media, and engaging new generations of children and families with his timeless wisdom. The company's highly rated, award-winning children's series include Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Peg + Cat and Odd Squad. For more information, visit www.fredrogers.org.