Meet Megan Baum of Candyland Children’s Museum

Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Baum. Them and their team share their story with us below:

In 2019, Cindi Wolfe and Kelly Babcock began working together with the dream of building a children’s museum in Portsmouth, Ohio. Both of these women had young children and found themselves traveling to different cities with their husbands and children to make memories. This reality unsettled them, for they believed that children in our city deserved the opportunity to experience hands-on learning with their families through a children’s museum.

They formed a Board of Directors, became a nonprofit, found a building in historic downtown Portsmouth, and made plans to fill the building with exhibits from world-renowned children’s museum exhibit companies. The Board of Directors hired a director and together raised over one million dollars in a capital campaign to purchase the exhibits and create a sustainability plan for the museum.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road was not always smooth. We had difficulties with some exhibit companies, were delayed in the opening because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and had construction project setbacks.

As you know, we’re big fans of Candyland Children’s Museum. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We consider the Candyland Children’s Museum as a refuge from technology. While technology is so good and has afforded us, as humans, the opportunities to do things that generations before would have considered impossible, this age of technology does pose significant threats to family life and child development.

In a building where the only screen you’ll find is the one showing our ticket prices, the museum gives children the opportunity to learn the way they learn best–through play–and gives families the chance to invest in time with each other, learning, playing, exploring, and imagining together. Our museum was crafted with the desire for children and their families to dream, discover and grow alongside each other.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters to us is that children who enter our building feel seen, known, and loved. Our staff is trained to consider themselves as mentors and to actively seek to invest in the lives of the children and families who enter our space.

The exhibits we chose, the staff we hire, and the programming we do are all picked intentionally with the hope that children will remember this as a place where they can be children, where they can explore new passions, and where are celebrated for who they are.

Pricing:

• Adult Admission: $10
• Child Admission: $10
• Under age 1: free
• EBT/WIC card holders: $2
• Military Families/Seniors: $9

Contact Info:

• Website: www.candylandmuseum.com
• Instagram: @candylandchildrensmuseum
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candylandchildrensmuseum