After being closed for fifteen months, the Delaware Children’s Museum finally welcomes patrons back this month.
Guests can return June 18th, with new extended summer hours to encourage them to visit
The museum survived its extended closure through online programming, take home experiments and the support of local businesses and foundations.
But Children’s Museum director Jen Bush says the battle isn’t over yet.
“You know it wasn’t just the DCM,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of friends to help us along the way and are very grateful for all those. And we’re gonna have to continue that, I would forecast for the next six months to a year.”
Bush says the immediate challenge is making the museum part of families’ routine again, since it’s been closed for so long.
The museum plans on hosting outdoor events and offering discounts to entice people back.
Bush says they’ve also learned to leverage new programming used during the pandemic.
“A lot of what we have done while we’ve been closed during the pandemic we’re going to continue,” Bush said. “And that’s been a great learning opportunity is that we’re going to consider our online programming part of our outreach and access to the museum.”
Other programs like the take home activity kits the museum produced will also continue, provided they have the funding.
And COVID remains part of the picture with the museum enacting enhanced cleaning procedures, and requiring masks for everyone over the age of two through the summer, since most children are still not eligible for the vaccine.
