You’re invited to participate in the 16th Annual BFK Children’s Parade, presented by ThedaCare, on July 23!
Get your crew, costumes, and creativity ready because the BFK Children’s Parade is returning on Wednesday, July 23! During this annual tradition all about celebrating the kids in our community, families and groups stroll through downtown Appleton in themed costumes and non-motorized floats (bikes, wagons, strollers). Gather your family and friends, or form a group from your school, daycare, work, business, or organization, and start brainstorming your theme. Common themes include superheroes, sports teams, characters from your favorite movie, or repurposed Halloween costumes. Keep your theme simple or get as creative as you’d like. A panel of judges will be awarding trophies for creativity, imagination, and confidence.
The parade kicks off at 6pm. Participants are welcome to arrive at Houdini Plaza between 5:50 – 6:15pm and will be sent down College Avenue in waves.
After the parade, join us in City Park for free activities, entertainment, and the award ceremony. Grab dinner from one of the food trucks provided by the Fox Valley Food Truck Association and enjoy a trolley ride back to Houdini Plaza at the end of the night!
This is a free event, but registration is required. We’ll see you there!
The BFK Children’s Parade, presented by ThedaCare, is one of the signature events of U.S. Venture Children’s Week. This community-wide celebration of kids will take place July 20 – 26 and offers a week full of free or reduced-cost activities for the whole family.
As school wraps up and summer begins, the Building for Kids is excited to add Mondays to our hours of operation! Starting June 2 and continuing through the end of August, we’ll be open every day of the week from 9am – 4pm, giving your family even more opportunities to visit us and enjoy our play-based learning experiences.
The BFK is a great way to keep your child engaged and learning while they are out of school for the summer. Our exhibits and activities spark curiosity and creativity, allowing kids to learn through play without even realizing it. Plus, our rotating daily activities, engaging events, and two-floors of hands-on exhibits ensure that there’s always something new and exciting for kids (and their grown-ups) to explore with each visit. Check out our Activities & Events Calendar here.
Designed to better support the autism community and those with sensory sensitivities, we recently opened a brand-new quiet room called the Space Station! The room, now equipped with a fresh coat of paint, updated lighting, new furniture, and enhanced self-regulation tools, embodies a space theme throughout it. The space theme carries dual significance, using the tranquil imagery of outer space to provide a retreat for children and their families who need “space” from the stimulating environment of our museum.
Additionally, to better accommodate sensory-related needs beyond the updated room, we are also introducing mini “Space Stations” at various locations. These mini space stations feature bags containing self-regulation tools such as noise-cancelling headphones, sunglasses, and various fidgets. Families can now more easily and efficiently address sensory needs, regardless of where they are in the museum.
This project supports our mission to make the Building for Kids an inclusive place where all families can thrive and is one of the several ways we work towards ensuring the autism community is supported in our museum.
We’re thrilled to bring back our Summer Explorer Camps for 2025 with some exciting changes!
Similar to last year, Summer Explorer Camp will run throughout July and August and will continue to provide children with an unforgettable experience, blending hands-on learning, social engagement, and free play. Additionally, we will continue to explore weekly themes that cater to every interest — from visual arts and robotics to food and music!
New this year, is we have extended the camp week to include Mondays, providing a full week of play-based learning. Camps now run Monday – Fridays, with half-day and full-day options available for 4K – 4th grade. Additionally, due to popular demand, Summer Explorer Camps are now exclusively open to BFK members. If you’re not a member yet, we’re always happy to help you set up your membership so you can join us!
Our Summer Explorers leave the experience with new friends, new skills, and an increased readiness for the new school year. Spots are filling up fast, so register today to ensure your child’s spot!
Introducing Building for Grown-Ups, our 2025 series of adult-only nights at the BFK! We’re kicking off this series with Building for Grown-Ups: Agents + Aliases, a spy-themed event taking place on Saturday, February 1 from 6 – 9pm.
During this night of espionage and excitement, you’ll get to feel like a kid again as you explore our exhibits and participate in a variety of spy-themed activities! Test your knowledge in spy-themed trivia, become a detective as you take part in a QR code scavenger hunt, unlock your creativity at the build-your-own gadget station in The Studio, and write secret messages with invisible ink in The Lab. A DJ and dance party, snacks, and a cash bar will also be available as you explore the activities and exhibits!
For participating in the activities, you’ll earn raffle tickets to enter for a chance to win some amazing prizes, among them being tickets to our next Building for Grown-Ups event. You’ll also want to dress up as an undercover agent for this event to earn a bonus raffle ticket!
If you can’t make it to Agents + Aliases, stay tuned for information about our next Building for Grown-Ups events! We’ll be hosting two more later in the year in August and November. We would love to have you join us for these events that are all about letting loose and unleashing your inner child!
Building for Grown-Ups costs $20 per person and is for ages 21+. Please note that an ID will be required at check in.
From parks and recreation centers to schools and nonprofits, we have so many wonderful places to be grateful for in our community. But all of these places, including the Building for Kids itself, wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for those who decided that they were going to “make it happen” through their hard work, planning, executing, fundraising, and generosity.
At the Building for Kids, we want to empower children to recognize what they value in our community, and to believe that they too “can make it happen!” But how do we teach kids that they have the power to help build the community that they want to live in and make an impact on what matters to them?
Introducing the BFK Impact Crew! Through facilitated programming opportunities and engaging milestone challenges, we aim to inspire the next generation of community change makers.
Children involved in Impact Crew get their own fundraising pages to raise money for the BFK. They will have the opportunity to earn exciting prizes for the following milestones along the way:
Raise $50 and get a special-edition Impact Crew baseball cap.
Raise $100 and expand your Impact Crew swag collection with a t-shirt.
Raise $500 and receive an invitation to a donor reception on Giving Tuesday at the BFK.
Raise $1,000 and receive an invite to an overnight Impact Crew family lock-in at the BFK!
Not only can they earn fun prizes, but they will also take away habits of community involvement and a belief that they can make a difference in our community!
Want to be a part of our Impact Crew? You can contribute in the following ways:
Create a Fundraising Page for Your Child
If you want to inspire a change-making attitude in your child, help them join the Impact Crew by creating a fundraising page for them. Simply visit our Impact Crew site and click on “Become a Fundraiser.”
Join the Match Crew
The Match Crew will contribute to a match of funds raised during the campaign. Donate to the match pool by heading to our Impact Crew site and clicking on “Match Crew.”
Donate to a Fundraiser
Choose a child’s story that inspires you and make a donation to their fundraiser. Find a list of fundraisers on our Impact Crew site.
The Building for Kids is proud to have officially opened three renovated exhibits and a new Welcome Center! On Tuesday, September 17, a round robin ribbon cutting event with individual ribbon cuttings for each new space was held to celebrate. These updates combine to form one of the biggest renovations at the museum in over five years.
Among the updates is a new Doll Hospital sponsored by Thedacare. The Doll Hospital transports visitors to a real-life doctor’s office and includes an X-Ray puzzle, handwashing station, and all the tools needed to give a doll a check-up.
Also among the newly opened exhibits is The Littlest Branch, in which kids can work behind the teller desk or use the pneumatic tubing system in the drive-thru to make a deposit. The Littlest Branch is sponsored by Fox Communities Credit Union.
The Studio, sponsored by School Specialty, was also given a new look. The refresh includes a mural designed by Explorer Camp students and offers an improved environment for fostering creativity.
Finally, the new, outer space-themed Welcome Center creates a safer and more efficient experience for visitors and includes a gift shop with exciting BFK merchandise and high-quality educational items.
Through play, these updates will help ignite a child’s curiosity about important topics and inspire early conversations about good habits for the future, from keeping healthy to being smart with money.
Plan your next visit to the BFK to explore our new exhibits and check out our gift shop!
You’re invited to a night of free admission at the BFK!
Get crafty, enjoy story time, and celebrate diversity by attending Diversity Discover Free Night at the Building for Kids! During this free event on Saturday, September 21 from 4:00 – 7:00 pm, local non-profits and community groups will lead hands-on activities and host performances for families. Activities will include making rattles used in indigenous music, listening to stories, coloring posters, enjoying a meal catered by Uni Uni, and more!
This event is in partnership with Rhythms of the World, and participating organizations include:
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Member Mornings at the Building for Kids! Starting in September, we’re offering our valued members a special opportunity to enjoy the museum. On Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 8 – 9am, the museum will be open exclusively for members to explore our exhibits before the doors open to the public. Members are welcome to stay longer than that specified hour for more time to explore the museum!
Member Mornings are designed to thank our members for their support and provide time for uninterrupted play in our 31,000 sq feet of exhibit space. Whether it’s exploring new interactive exhibits or diving deep into their favorite ones, this dedicated hour is a perfect way to start your day and spend quality time together.
But it’s not just about the exhibits. Member Mornings also provide a unique opportunity to connect with other member families in a shared space that’s both welcoming and inspiring!
Make sure to mark your calendars to take advantage of this exclusive benefit. We can’t wait to see our members come together for these special mornings!
You’re invited to the 15th annual BFK Children’s Parade presented by ThedaCare on Wednesday, July 24!
Celebrate children during this annual summer tradition where kids and their grown-ups stroll through the streets of Downtown Appleton dressed in themed costumes and non-motorized floats (bikes, wagons, strollers, etc.). Gather your family, friends, or other groups and brainstorm your theme. Whether it’s designing brand new costumes based on a movie, tv show, or book, dusting off old Halloween costumes, or altering previous parade costumes, this is the perfect event to show your creative skills! You will want to flex your imagination because awards for creativity, imagination, and confidence will be given out by our panel of judges.
This event is free but participants are required to register. Once the day arrives, people partaking in the parade are welcome to arrive at Houdini Plaza between 5:50 – 6:15pm and will be sent down College Avenue in waves.
After the parade, join us for a party in City Park, where we’ll host performances, the award ceremony, and free activities. Plus, grab a delicious snack or dinner from a variety of food trucks from the Fox Valley Food Truck Association.
Sign up your family or put together a group of families from your school, daycare, work, or any other organization.
The BFK Children’s Parade presented by ThedaCare is one of the signature events of U.S. Venture Children’s Week. This community-wide celebration of kids will take place July 21 – 27 and offers a week full of free or reduced-cost activities for the whole family.
