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!
Come explore with us at After-School Explorer Camp!
If your child is a kindergartener-4th grader who loves STEM and/or the arts, then After-School Explorer Camp at the Building for Kids is the place for them to be! During this exciting and enriching after-school opportunity, children will dive into season-themed activities, from creating popsicle stick scarecrows to making thermometers and rain gauges.
After-School Explorer Camp will offer a STEM, Art, and Music activity every day, so your child can choose to participate in the subjects that interest them the most, helping build their self-confidence and resiliency. The program will operate on a Plan-Play-Share model, in which students plan what they want to do for the day, participate in the activities, and then share how they felt about it. This model will teach our After-School Explorers valuable skills, including communication, collaboration, problem solving, and more.
If this sounds like a great fit for your child, register them for our fall session! The fall session runs 11 weeks starting on October 1 and takes place on Tuesdays from 3:30 – 6:00pm. You may choose which days your child will attend or sign up for the entire session.
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.
Zeke from the PBS Kids show “Work It Out Wombats” is planning a trip to the BFK and you should too! The TV star is bringing the Treeborhood fun from June 25 – July 1 which will include a special playdate. Join us on Friday, June 28 from 5 – 7pm for exclusive, after-hours playtime, themed activities, and lots of opportunities to meet the TV Star. Members can sign up for $5/person and non-members can register for $15/person.
Part of our mission at the Building for Kids is to inspire discovery. This takes many shapes throughout the museum from exploring how pulleys can change a ball’s path in Move It to what different foods taste like during one of our Food to Grow activities. Giving kids a safe, encouraging, and welcoming place to try new things is a critical component for their development. This is why we are excited to share that we will be opening The Lab, sponsored by Amcor, on April 6, 2024!
This new space is dedicated to creating hands-on experiences that build observational skills and inspire curiosity of the world around us. In The Lab, visitors will be able to experience the entire scientific method. Kids will have the opportunity to investigate various topics as they build skills around asking questions, thinking through problems, learning as they test their solutions, and sharing their findings.
To help encourage STEM exploration for all ages, The Lab will host daily activities around a variety of quarterly themes that encourage inquiry, experimentation, and collaboration. Within its first year of opening, The Lab will explore the topics of Food Spoilage, Polymers, Recycling, and Robotics.
As part of the experience, kids will also learn more about what a lab is like by wearing proper protective equipment and using real-world tools and instruments for their scientific investigations. Scientists and engineers from our community will regularly host activities within The Lab to expose kids to different STEM fields and careers.
We’re looking forward to discovering with you and your family in The Lab soon!
The Building for Kids is excited to once again be hosting Summer Explorer Camps! Campers will have the opportunity to build new skills, explore different weekly themes, and, of course, play, all while making new friends along the way.
We’ll be offering 8 themed weeks of camp, starting in July. Weekly themes include Robotics & Coding, Sculpture & Pottery, Rhythms & Percussions, and more. Click here to see the weekly theme schedule.Sign up for one week or all eight for a discounted price!
We offer a variety of sessions that are new each week. Whether it’s art, STEM, music, or learning about food, these summer camps have activities for everyone to enjoy!
Each week will run Tuesday – Friday with both half-day camps (4K – 4th grade graduates) and full-day camps (Kindergarten – 4th grade graduates) available. Every day, campers will participate in a combination of facilitated programming based on the week’s theme and open-ended play around the museum!
Full-Days (Kindergarten – 4th grade)
1 Week: Members = $160 or Non-Members = $200
All 8 Weeks: Members = $1,200 or Non-Members = $1,520
Celebrate the love of a family at the BFK! Join us on February 17 for special Valentine’s Day activities!
There will be activities for the whole family all over the museum including a card exchange! Stop by the art studio which will be divided in half, one for adults and one for kids. Each half will make Valentine’s card for the other and then present their cards to each other in a special sharing spot in the middle of the studio!
After families exchange cards, there is a collaborative mural to showcase why you love our community. Then, make your way to eat some heart healthy food in our Food to Grow Exhibit. End the activities with sliding down our famous Heart Slide!
We hope you can join us to enjoy all this and other activities with your family from 9am – 4 pm!
Regular admission applies. No pre-registration required.
