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Huntsville’s EarlyWorks Children’s Museum reopens with new exhibits

Huntsville’s EarlyWorks Children’s Museum reopens with new exhibits

  • The museum reopens July 7-9th to members first
  • The public can visit after July 10th
  • New permanent installations & safety procedures
  • Features "Toys: the Inside Story" traveling exhibit

After several months of being closed to the public, the EarlyWorks Children’s Museum will open again for members on Tuesday, July 7th through Thursday, July 9th. The general public will be welcomed back to the museum on Friday, July 10th. During the closure, the caretakers of Huntsville’s beloved children’s museum have been busy cleaning, adding lots of new exhibits, and making repairs. They have also added new guidelines and procedures to keep visitors, staff and volunteers safe during the Covid-19 pandemic.

What’s Changed at Earlyworks?

All visitors must now pre-purchase a timed ticket prior to visiting any of the EarlyWorks Family of Museums. The EarlyWorks Children’s Museum will have three 2-hour sessions Monday-Saturday and – new this year – a session on Sunday afternoon.

  • Online pre-purchase of a timed ticket required for 2-hour sessions
  • Up to date hours of operation and ticket information can be found at www.earlyworks.com
  • Individual exhibit area capacities will be posted and monitored by staff in real time.
  • After each 2-hour session the EarlyWorks staff will perform a 30-minute sanitizing routine, in preparation for the next session.
  • Paper museum maps will not be available at this time.
  • Explore the new permanent installations throughout the museum, including an awesome water table kids will love, light boxes, a puppet theater, pop-up activities, and a real-play cafe!
Earlyworks museum water table
Kids are going to love the new water table at Earlyworks!

“Toys: The Inside Story” Exhibit

Also new to EarlyWorks is a brand new exhibit! You will take a look “inside” many classic toys from the past. What makes them move? What makes them buzz? If your parents never let you break open your Etch A Sketch® to find out how it works, or if you’ve been wondering how to stop your toddler’s push toy from making such an infernal racket, you’ll love this exhibit.

There are 20 different play & learn stations that illustrate the simple mechanisms commonly found in toys, and let kids create their own toy-like combinations of gears, pulleys, linkages, cams, and circuits. It also explores the history of toys throughout the ages, allowing visitors to reminisce and play with toys of days gone by. Parents are sure to spy a childhood favorite or two.

EarlyWorks Museum huntsville Toys exhibit
If your kids love to take things apart they will totally dig this exhibit.

“It has been four long months and we are extremely excited about reopening the Children’s Museum, not only are we prepared to keep the environment safe and clean, but we have added tons of new exhibits and play areas for our guest,” stated Executive Director, Bart Williams.

It was very common to see Bart and his team working late into the night and on weekends to personally deep-clean the building and build new features for families to enjoy.

EarlyWorks Museum
Museum staff are excited to install new exhibits!

Earlyworks Marketing Director, Beth Goodwin, is also part of that hard-working EW team. “Be assured – we are very concerned about the safety and well-being of our visitors. We know families are looking for fun things to do together and we want them to know we are just as concerned about their health and safety as they are when they visit Earlyworks. Our staff has gone the extra mile and are excited to see everyone back when we reopen!”

New Covid-19 Health & Safety Procedures at Earlyworks

  • Daily staff health screenings will be conducted. Sick employees will not be allowed in the building.
  • Face coverings are one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and all staff and volunteers will be required to wear a face covering. Visitors and children ages 5 and up will also be strongly encouraged to do so.
  • In order to maintain social distancing, capacity will be limited to 50 guests per session. Limits will also be placed on the capacity of each exhibit area within the museum.
  • Museum capacity has been set so that each family group can enjoy our exhibits at a safe distance.
  • Hand washing will be encouraged with additional hand sanitizing stations throughout the building.
  • Staff and volunteers will be continually cleaning exhibits and high traffic surfaces throughout the day.
  • The museum staff & volunteers will conduct a deeper cleaning each day between each tour and session.
  • Restrooms will be open and cleaned frequently.
  • Water fountains will be closed.

EarlyWorks Family of Museums reopening policies and procedures are based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and align with local and state reopening guidelines. The Museum will continue to evaluate its new measures and make changes to the guidelines as needed.

EarlyWorks Museum Details

Where: 404 Madison Street SE, Huntsville, Alabama (map)
Phone: 256-564-8100
Hours: Open Tuesday through Saturday 9 AM – 4 PM
Cost: Members FREE | General Admission: $5 Toddler, $10 Youth ages 4-17, $12 Adults, $10 Senior (55+)
View Website | EarlyWorks on Facebook

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