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West Hartford Children’s Museum

Everyone Must Have A Timed Ticket

VIDEO: Children’s Museum relocating out of West Hartford

Tickets are currently sold one week in advance to allow us to make modifications as needed. If you do not see additional dates available, please check back later.

When selecting your visit time please keep in mind that you are selecting the time you would like to enter the museum. The time/date that you select for your ticket is your entry period. Do not arrive before your ticket time. If you are not able to arrive during your scheduled entry time please call 860.231.2824. There is no limit to your visit. However, there is no re-entry at this time.

Adults $15.00 Toddlers FREE Members are always free but you must reserve a ticket!

Purchase of tickets will indicate an acceptance of the updated conditional waiver, linked here. 2021-COVID-ADMISSION-WAIVER

Visitor Information

Members and paid admission tickets ARE available in person. However, walk-up tickets are not guaranteed. Please call 231-2824 before you travel!

This will help ensure everyone can access the museum in a safe way. MEMBERS: Please note you will have to sign in or register when you click the timed tickets link in order to get your discounts.

Thank you!

Adults $1500 Toddlers Free

EVERYONE must have a Timed Ticket to enter the museum!Members are always free but you must reserve a ticket!

Members and paid admission tickets ARE available in person. However, walk-up tickets are not guaranteed.

Please call 231-2824 before you travel!

Become a member today and receive immediate discounts! Members can reserve their tickets two weeks in advance!

Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society

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Few people have made an impact on education in America like Noah Webster , whose name practically means dictionary, and whose Blue-Backed Speller books taught American children to read and spell across five generations.

At 227 South Main Street, Noah Websters birthplace is still standing and was turned into a museum for his life in 1966. This attraction includes the historic house, as well as the hands-on Noahs Discovery Learning Space, three new exhibition galleries, the Jodik Education Center and a one-room schoolhouse orientation area.

Among the pieces relating to Webster are his desk, two clocks and a ring from the early-19th century with his and his wife Rebeccas hair encased in crystal, combined with 20 first editions of his books.

The West Hartford Collection deals with life and times in the city from the 1700s to the 1900s and includes a sensational assortment of textiles.

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The Children’s Museum Connecticut

The Children’s Museum, Connecticut

thechildrensmuseumct.org

The Children’s Museum is the oldest and largest museum for children in Connecticut, United States. The museum was founded in 1927 as the Children’s Museum of Hartford, and was known until 2006 as The Science Center of Connecticut. The Museum is geared towards young children, and is committed to “Igniting Curiosity through Science and Nature”. It is the fifth oldest of all Children’s Museums in the US, and serves over 200,000 people each year.

Located at 950 Trout Brook Dr. in West Hartford, the Children’s Museum offers interactive exhibits, New England‘s second largest planetarium, over a hundred live animals, a life-sized replica of a sperm whale that visitors can walk inside, and science and nature classes for children. It also includes the Children’s Museum Preschool, one of the nation’s oldest preschools, and of very few that feature a science and nature curriculum.

Additional Member/caregiver Add On

The Children

Additional children, family members, and/or Caregivers*** may be added to your membership for $25 per person.

Additional Caregivers will receive their own cards, receive all the benefits on the membership, and can visit both locations without the primary named adults.

*Family members can be Children, Caregivers, Au Pairs, Ex-Spouses, Partners, or Grandparents. **2 named adults and 3 additional family members PER VISIT. An add-on must be purchased to receive free admission for more than what is covered under the membership. ***An add-on must be purchased if the adult will be attending the museum without the primary named adults.

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Childrens Museum With Conny The Whale Plans Move From Longtime West Hartford Location

The Childrens Museum has been located on Trout Brook Drive in West Hartford since 1958, and will soon choose a new location from among two options.

The Childrens Museum has been a fixture on Trout Brook Drive in West Hartford for more than 60 years, but may soon be leaving town as the organization firms up plans to relocate.

The Museum sold the 950 Trout Brook Dr. property where it has made its home since 1958 to neighboring Kingswood Oxford School in 2003, and since then has been leasing it back. The Museum has been talking about moving for the past five or six years.

The current lease expired about 18 months ago. The lease has been up and theyve been very patient with us, Childrens Museum Executive Director Michael Werle said Thursday. He doesnt know what plans Kingswood has for the property and he said they have not given the Museum a drop dead date, but there are many other reasons for a move, including that the current facility is not efficient, and not handicapped accessible.

The Board found two sites, and has been working diligently to assess both, Werle said.

One of the possible sites is the former Hartford College for Women property on Asylum Avenue across from the Connecticut Historical Society in the West End of Hartford. The other site is in West Hartford, but Werle said he is not authorized to disclose any information about that location at this time.

The Museums most recognizable asset will follow them to wherever they land.

Childrens Museum In West Hartford Included In Connecticuts Free Summer At The Museum Program

Gov. Ned Lamont announced the launch of a program to allow children to receive free admission to museums across the state this summer.

More than 90 museums across the state including the Childrens Museum in West Hartford will allow Connecticut children ages 18 and under to visit for free through the Connecticut Summer at the Museum program announced Wednesday by Gov. Ned Lamont.

The program, created in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, utilizes a portion of the states federal relief funds and is intended as a way to provide children and their families with enriching experiences this summer. It was approved by the legislature as part of the FY2022 budget signed by the governor last month.

Its a great program, a two-fold smart idea to get folks out in the community and to help often overlooked organizations, said Joe DeFeo, senior development coordinator at the Childrens Museum. Its great outreach to households and families.

The program runs from July 1 through Sept. 6, 2021. All Connecticut children ages 18 or under along with one accompanying adult can receive free admission to visit participating museums.

DeFeo said the Childrens Museum applied for the program and received a grant for participation based on their revenues from 2019. The state made it very easy, he said.

DeFeo sees Summer at the Museum as a great opportunity for the Childrens Museum to broaden its footprint. Ideally people will like us, and will then want to buy a membership.

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Will Connecticuts Iconic Conny The Whale Be Saved It Could Cost Up To $200k

Conny the Whale has stood outside the Children’s Museum for 45 years now. The museum is slated to move to a new location in Hartford this spring, and officials are contending with the cost it will take to move the whale with them.

  • Michael Walsh / Hearst Connecticut Media

Conny the Whale was built in 1976 by around 100 volunteers by the Connecticut Cetacean Society.

  • Michael Walsh / Hearst Connecticut Media

Conny the Whale is a 60-foot long sperm whale, which is also the state animal.

  • Michael Walsh / Hearst Connecticut Media

WEST HARTFORD As the Childrens Museum gears up to relocate to Hartford next spring, officials are wrangling with a costly dilemma: Can the iconic Conny the Whale make the move?

Museum officials had planned to relocate the 60-foot sperm whale that was built by volunteers on the property 45 years ago, but they are now weighing the estimated $165,000 to $200,000 it will cost to move the animal.

Michael Werle, the museums executive director, said the facility is considering three sites in Hartford for its move and hopes to make a decision by the end of the month. Kingswood Oxford School, which owns and is in the process of selling the 3.4 acres of land it occupies on Trout Brook Drive, has requested that the museum move off the property by April 1.

No matter which site they pick, Werle said, the move is going to include some kind of renovation or new construction, and they envision it being a net-zero energy facility.

Connecticut Media Group

** Acm Reciprocal Policy:

A Holiday Visit to the Children’s Museum in West Hartford

50% off General Admission for up to six people.

  • Timed Tickets must be purchased for entry. Please call 860.231.2824 to learn how to receive your discount.
  • Select Adult or Child tickets while selecting your timed ticket. You will not receive your discount if you select member tickets.
  • Cardholder must be present at the time of admission
  • If you do not have proof of ACM reciprocity when you arrive you will be asked to pay for any discounted admission.
  • Membership card must feature ACM Reciprocal logo
  • TCM is not obligated to call other museums to verify membership. The member MUST have his or her card for verification.

For more information, including a list of Reciprocal Museums, please visit the ACM Website.

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The Childrens Museum Plans Move From West Hartford To Hartford Envisioning A Climate

WEST HARTFORD The Childrens Museum and its model whale Conny are well on their way to finding a new home across city lines.

The museums executive director, Michael Werle, said the museum is in negotiations on a property purchase in Hartford, where it hopes to construct a net-zero energy building.

The Childrens Museum has been a West Hartford icon for decades. But with an expired lease on its Trout Brook Drive space, the museum has spent the past year working on a move to the West End of Hartford.

The move would actually be a homecoming for the museum, which was founded in Hartfords Elizabeth Park in 1927.

To some degree, this is a back-to-the-future, Werle said.

Werle said Wednesday that The Childrens Museum is in negotiations to purchase a four- to five-acre portion of the University of Hartford property that sits at the corner of Elizabeth Street and Asylum Avenue, only a few blocks from the museums original location.

The UHart property was previously the campus of the Hartford College for Women.

The museum doesnt have much choice in leaving its current West Hartford space Werle said the landlord, Kingswood Oxford, has been very sympathetic but at this point would rather do other things with the property.

Pink Flamingo Party Co. opens unique shop in West Hartford center » Wethersfield blanks Conard in early season hockey match »

President Suzann Beckett said the association was almost unanimously in favor of the museum moving to the UHart property.

Art Museum University Of Saint Joseph

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At USJs vibrant campus museum there are six galleries for a collection of more than 2,100 works ranging from the 1400s to the present day.

The Art Museums forte lies in American painting from the 20th century and European and American prints over hundreds of years to the 21st century.

This collection first took shape in 1937 with a donation by the priest Andrew J.

Kelly, and grew again in 1966 with a bequest from another priest, John J.

Kelley . Some of the many compelling exhibitions in the last few years have been graphics by Käthe Kollwitz, 19th-century Japanese woodblock prints, Caricatures by Enrico Caruso and photography by Paul Caponigro.

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Mark Twain House & Museum

West Hartford and Hartford are contiguous, which puts a lot of interesting sights and attractions in easy reach, and none is more absorbing than Mark Twains purpose-built residence.

Less than a mile down the road from Elizabeth Park, this sublime American High Gothic house went up in 1874 and Twain and his family would live here until 1891 when they were forced to move to Europe because of financial troubles.

You may get frissons knowing that The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were all written right here in the Billiards Room.

As well as its whimsical design and literary history the house is remarkable for its technology, as Twain was an early adopter and installed gadgets like an early telephone.

In 1881 the interiors were remodelled at great expense under the supervision of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

An environmentally-friendly visitor centre showcasing Twains life and work was built next door in 2003, while a tour of the houses restored interiors is an experience you wont soon forget.

Best Things To Do In West Hartford

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Often praised as one of the best small towns in America, West Hartford has a downtown to make most other towns green with envy.

The Center and its recent extension, Blue Back Square, are made for walking and brim with one-off shops and hip international restaurants.

West Hartford is joined to its larger neighbour to the east, putting must-sees like the Mark Twain House only minutes away.

The town also benefits from abundant green space, at the genteel Elizabeth Park, the wild West Hartford Reservoir and Westmoor Park where children can meet farmyard animals.

The lexicographer Noah Webster, of Websters Dictionary, was born in West Hartford, and his 18th-century childhood home is a worthwhile museum.

Lets explore the best things to do in West Hartford:

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West Hartford Private School Aims To Sell Childrens Museum Property

The longtime West Hartford home of the Childrens Museum is for sale.

Officials at the adjacent Kingswood Oxford School, which bought 950 Trout Brook Drive from the museum in 2003 and have been leasing the property back to the institution since, announced its intentions Tuesday in a letter to its neighbors.

Colliers International is handling the listing, which contains no asking price. The listing describes the 3.4-acre property as a once in a generation opportunity to develop the only remaining three acre or larger parcel within the dense West Hartford Center core.

Potential development options include luxury apartments, medical, office or retail.

Tom Dillow and I. Bradley Hoffman, head of school and chair of the board of trustees at Kingswood, respectively, wrote in their letter this week that selling the property would enable the school to support faculty and staff professional growth, bolster student financial aid resources, plan for new campus facilities and expand academic and experiential programming.

We believe it will be positive for the Town of West Hartford, as well, they added.

The Childrens Museum has been on Trout Brook Drive for six decades. Executive Director Michael Werle said Wednesday that the school’s decision to list the property is understandable, and said the museum is grateful to Kingswood for its support since purchasing the property 17 years ago.

The Childrens Museum In West Hartford

The Childrens Museum in West Hartford, Connecticut offers hands-on fun with science and nature for younger children and families, school and community groups, and home schooled children. At the Museum and in classrooms throughout Connecticut, we encourage children to become creative thinkers and lifelong learners. Children engage in our interactive labs, workshops, multi-sensory exhibits and demonstrations, a live wildlife sanctuary, state-of-the art digital science dome planetarium shows and movies, vacation camps, sleepovers, birthday parties, scout activities, and special events. Our unique Childrens Museum Preschool, co-located on our West Hartford campus, integrates science experiences into early childhood learning. Nearby Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton offers environmental exhibits, nature programs, concerts and acres of outdoor hiking, bird watching, and winter cross-country skiing.

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Where Learning Is Childs Play

Come join the excitement as children at our preschool explore and participate in a variety of activities that are designed to awaken their curiosity and facilitate the discovery of the world around them. Our teachers offer programs filled with child-centered activities that foster curiosity and a strong desire to learn. Our focus is on each childs needs and stage of development as we incorporate hands-on fun that stimulates creativity, the ability to express oneself, scientific understanding, as well as mathematics and literacy skills for each child. While learning academic skills is important, preschool children are also developing social skills that will last a lifetime. Put it all together and what do you get? An amazing opportunity for your child to shine in a safe and nurturing environment.

Roaring Brook Nature Center

West Hartford’s Children’s Museum Expands Astronomy Exhibit

Over in nearby Canton a half-hours drive or less from West Hartford the Childrens Museum also manages the Roaring Brook Nature Center, an outdoor classroom well worth visiting.

Delight and dazzle the family with the Childrens Museums interactive exhibits just steps from DELAMAR West Hartford!

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Kingswood Oxford Looking To Sell Parcel Currently Occupied By Childrens Museum

The parcel, measuring roughly 3.4 acres and strategically located within walking distance of West Hartford Center, is likely to attract significant interest from developers.

Located at 950 Trout Brook Drive, the Childrens Museum occupies a strategic parcel that borders residential and commercial zones within walking distance of the Center and Blue Back Square. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

The Childrens Museum remained in its longtime West Hartford home after selling the property to neighboring Kingswood Oxford nearly two decades ago, but the institution and its iconic Conny the whale sculpture will likely be departing soon now that the private school has put the strategically-located parcel on the market effective Jan 6.

The Museum sold the 950 Trout Brook Drive property, which has been its home since 1958, to KO in 2003, and since then has been leasing it back. Both organizations knew the arrangement would end eventually the current lease expired several years ago, and the Museum has been talking about moving for at least the past seven or eight years.

Kingswood Oxford Head of School Tom Dillow announced Tuesday that after much consideration, school leadership has decided to sell the property. Colliers International of Hartford, a leading commercial real estate brokerage and investment management company, has been selected to handle the the process, and John Cafasso, principal with Colliers, said it will officially go on the market Wednesday.

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