NONPROFIT

NONPROFIT by KELSEY CIPOLLA

The Joy of Discovery.

All kids deserve the chance to play, explore, and learn. The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center provides a space to do that, regardless of financial or medical barriers families may face.

“We really see ourselves as a community anchor,” says President and CEO Dené Mosier. “Our mission is to enhance the lives of children and enrich the communities we serve.”

The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center opened in the heart of Topeka’s Gage Park in 2011 and welcomes about 100,000 visitors in a typical year. Inside the center, kids can design metal raceways and send toy cars speeding through twists and turns. They can build their own additions to Topeka with plastic bricks or create artworks directly on the windows of the facility’s art pavilion. As a nod to Kansas, there’s an exhibit where guests use pulleys, augers, gears, conveyors, and a hearty dose of teamwork to move grain, and an eight-foot-long light wall with giant, colorful pegs creates opportunities for nostalgic light art.

“Everything we do here is infused with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) based learning,” Mosier explains. “Kids think they’re just having fun, but they are learning at every single activity and exhibit throughout the museum.”

The center also features a 4.5-acre outdoor adventure area, which boasts a kid-friendly ropes course, zipline, music garden and treehouse, plus surprises that can only be uncovered by doing some good old-fashioned exploring.

Mosier says the center’s work is guided by a simple question: Who aren’t we serving, and what barriers do we need to address?

Dené Mosier, President and CEO ever.

That question sparked the center to create Medical Warriors, a free program designed to allow kids battling illness to come to the museum after-hours for a private play time. Back in 2016, a staff member noted that her neighbor, a 6-year-old girl named Rachel with neuroblastoma, wasn’t able to visit the center because of the health risks it posed. A conversation with Rachel’s mother helped the museum team identify appropriate cleaning procedures and schedule a visit for a time when others would not be in the space, reducing risks posed to her compromised immune system.

Since then, the program has been expanded to include any medically fragile children or those battling life-limiting illnesses who are referred by a doctor or child life specialist, and Medical Warriors has become more essential than

“Throughout the pandemic, it really took on a new life, because we were all isolated, but for children who have serious illnesses, it looked incredibly different,” Mosier says. “Those visits, as the world started to open up, were really, really significant to families.”

Additionally, The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center hosts Sensory-Friendly Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon on the second Sunday of each month. During this time, admission is free to families who have children with autism or who benefit from a sensory-friendly environment where lights and sounds are kept low and activities are specially designed.

Of course, many other circumstances can make it difficult for children to access the museum, and the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center works to address those, too. The center was the first cultural organization in Kansas to participate in Museums for All, which allows Kansas families that qualify for state food assistance to show an EBT or WIC card and receive museum admission for $3 per person. Admission is also free on the third Thursday of each month, and through the Play Free program; kids with incarcerated mothers are invited to the museum for a full day of fun with their moms, encouraging educational play and family bonding to increase resilience.

“We are here to serve and strengthen families,” Mosier says. “We are truly committed to ensuring access for every child, to addressing the barriers that prevent access to high quality play experiences.”

Access programs like Medical Warriors and Play Free are made possible by private donations, and although the center does earn revenue, it receives no public funding. “Without

donors, we can’t make those programs happen,” Mosier says. “Really, those dollars directed toward access programming are critical.”

Mosier is quick to note that the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center serves all of Kansas, not just Topeka and neighboring communities in northeast Kansas. Beyond the exhibits and activities offered at the center, the nonprofit organization also offers a mobile museum, which takes exhibits and play experiences across the state, and is in the process of distributing 500 learning kits to classrooms throughout Kansas.

But if families are able to travel to Topeka for a day of fun, it’s well worth the trip.

“We are a place that families will come and experience joy,” Mosier says. “This place is just full of fun and laughter. Really, the only time we hear tears is when kids have to leave.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kelsey Cipolla is a local writer, editor, and social media specialist. Kelsey has covered everything from the Kansas City culinary scene to home design, health, fitness trends, hidden gems, and nonprofit in the Kansas City community.