Programs

MCM’s educational programs and special events complement our exhibits and offer hands-on, inquiry-based learning experiences for all our guests. MCM’s educational initiatives focus on the cultural arts; literacy; health and nutrition; science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); and Mississippi heritage. All programs offered at the museum are aligned with Mississippi educational standards.

Story to Stage

ABC Come Play with Me

This program is designed for infants, toddlers, and their caregivers. Join us Wednesday mornings at 10:00 am. Start your morning with a stretch, a song, a story and an art project! The focus of our toddler time is to learn the ABC’s, 123’s. Children learn how to use their 5 senses to discover the world around them. Learn how to engage your toddler and show them easy, age-appropriate activities at the museum and at home to prepare them for pre-school, while allowing them to have creative discovery and interaction with other children.

Farm Bureau Spotlight

Join us for Farm Bureau Spotlight every Friday at 10:00 am. This multi-disciplinary, inquiry-based program is designed to educate visitors about the broad industry of agriculture, the many careers fields within it, and its important role within our daily lives.  Each week we emphasize a different aspect of agriculture such as beekeeping, growing produce, the chemistry of food, veterinary medicine, farming, irrigation, the water cycle, forestry, fishing and much more.  Farm Bureau Spotlight incorporates our STEM, Mississippi heritage, and health initiatives.

Fit for Fun

Fit for Fun introduces children to health and nutrition concepts through a wide range of hands-on and fun activities. This program is held every Wednesday at 3:30 pm. Fit for Fun introduces children to health and nutrition concepts through a wide range of hands-on and fun activities. Children who attend the program will have the opportunity to hear a health or nutrition related story; engage in an interactive nutrition activity; and participate in physical activities that are designed to encourage movement and fitness for children of all ages and abilities. For young children, these activities will improve fine and gross motor skills; spatial awareness; and agility, while older children will have the opportunity to increase their flexibility; aerobic fitness; and muscle strength. Through this program, children will have the opportunity to cultivate skills that are vital to long-term health and cognitive growth. These behaviors, which are proven to positively impact academic performance as well as physical and emotional wellbeing, play a key role in promoting positive futures for Mississippi’s children.

Food Lab

Food Lab is a scientific, inquiry-based program that incorporates food and at least one of the five senses.  Food is a universal language for families and it is something everyone is familiar with.  Inferencing, prediction of taste, and observation by smell and sight are a few of the topics that we will explore. We will also reinforce the scientific method and bridge into some literacy skills like:  sequencing, predicting, and identifying main ideas, and details. This program is included in general admission.

Fueled for Adventure

Enjoy the yummy results of a nutritious snack! Join us Thursdays at 3:30 pm at the Red Rocket Café for Fueled for Adventure. Sponsored by St. Dominic Health Services, this weekly program teaches children a recipe which they can make at home that tastes good and is good for them too!

The Mississippi Children’s Museum has been designated as a Let’s Move Museum by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Initiative. MCM engages children with interactive exhibits and programs that help young people make better food choices and be more physically active.

Know to Grow

Children can join us in the Literacy Garden for our Know to Grow program every Saturday at 11:00 am. Know to Grow is a cross-disciplinary program incorporating MCM’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), literacy, and health initiatives.  Each week, children will gather to hear a garden-related story and participate in a hands-on gardening activity. Partially sponsored by the Field Cooperative, Know to Grow will provide a fun forum for children to make connections between reading, science, and aspects of the natural world.

Question It? Discover It!

Check MCM’s calendar for each month’s Question It? Discover It! (QI?DI!), which is designed to provide children and families with opportunities to learn about healthy habits through fun, engaging activities, with the support and guidance of medical professionals. QI?DI!  is sponsored by Children’s of Mississippi, a part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Tinker with Tuesday

Tinker with Tuesday is our hands-on program focusing on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This program will be held every Tuesday beginning at 3:30 pm. Tinker with Tuesday is sponsored by Georgia-Pacific.

Visiting Artist

Check MCM’s calendar for each month’s Visiting Artist.  This program directly links children and their self-directed exploration and practice of the arts with a wide range of arts experiences and artists from Mississippi and beyond. MCM provides opportunities to create and view art and performances, participate in material explorations while investigating a variety of authentic art tools, techniques and processes in a dedicated studio space.  The Visiting Artist Program is sponsored by the Mississippi Arts Commission.