A nonprofit children’s museum in Meridian has big expansion plans. Here’s what’s in store

Mia Maldonado
·3 min read

Southwest Idaho’s only nonprofit children’s museum has become so popular that it plans to expand to address capacity issues.

Located in Meridian, The Children’s Museum of Idaho is a place that targets kids 10 and younger so that they can explore different environments. The museum’s mission is to “bring children, family and the community together to engage in learning through creative play.”

The museum features 31 interactive exhibits and spaces, including a rocket ship, trains, a doctor’s office and a grocery store, among others.

Executive Director Pat Baker, the museum’s founder, opened it in 2018 after retiring from the travel industry. Baker, who has a master’s degree in education, said seeing her seven grandchildren grow up in the Treasure Valley inspired her to give back to the community.

“When I retired, I did research on what a children’s museum would do for our community,” she said. “There were over 400 children’s museums in the United States, but there was not a single one in Idaho.”

The Meridian museum is a nonprofit that is part of the Association of Children’s Museums, Baker said. In coming years, a grass-roots group in Twin Falls has plans to open another nonprofit children’s museum in Southern Idaho.

“The philosophy of the museum is that children learn best by seeing, touching and doing, and so those are the types of things that we provide,” Baker told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview. “Children can come and they can pretend to be in these different roles.”

Among the many displays at the Children's Museum of Idaho in Meridian is a train room.
Among the many displays at the Children's Museum of Idaho in Meridian is a train room.

Expansion would meet capacity demands, director says

In 2022, the museum received nearly 100,000 visitors from 49 states, Baker said. The only state that wasn’t represented? Delaware.

Baker said the museum projects more than 115,000 visitors for 2023, and the expansion will improve capacity issues. She said museum staff have had to turn away guests because there are too many people in the building at one time. Its capacity is about 250.

The museum’s slowest times are weekday afternoons and the members-only hour from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday. January and July are the museum’s busiest months, Baker said, and on busy days, it receives between 500 to 700 visitors.

The City of Meridian approved plans for the Children’s Museum of Idaho to expand its existing building onto extra property. The expansion would include a planetarium, a multipurpose room with a stage and five new exhibit galleries. Children's Museum of Idaho
The City of Meridian approved plans for the Children’s Museum of Idaho to expand its existing building onto extra property. The expansion would include a planetarium, a multipurpose room with a stage and five new exhibit galleries. Children's Museum of Idaho

The museum has 8,000 square feet of gallery space and 5,000 square feet of outdoor space, which is often limited depending on the weather. The expansion would add 4,000 square feet to the existing building on an acre and a half of extra property, and it would include a planetarium, a multipurpose room with a stage, and five new exhibit galleries, Baker said.

The expansion is projected to cost approximately $2 million, she said, and the nonprofit aims to start construction in April so that the new space can be open to the public by December.

The city of Meridian approved the museum’s expansion proposal in November. Shortly after, the museum began a “Reach for the Stars” campaign to raise funds for the cost of construction.

“We depend on community support from individuals as well as corporations and foundations. We can’t do this on our own,” Baker said. “We need to expand, and we can only do that with help from the community.”