It’s been a challenging spring at Discovery Depot Children’s Museum. As an organization that can’t exactly offer at-home or curbside services, Discovery Depot had to issue several refunds to those that booked birthday parties or field trips. As Executive Director Denise Bradburn said, the Depot offers an experience. Any member at the Depot whose membership expired during the two-month closure was automatically extended for two months. But as Phase 3 of Restore Illinois gets underway, Discovery Depot is offering a program called “RSVP to Play”. They are taking reservations by families so ten people will be allowed on each floor to come and experience the museum. “The museum is huge,” Bradburn said. “We have 15,000 square feet. So if you put ten people on a floor, you’ve got lots of square feet around you to move and play. We’ve also established a whole list of safety protocols to make sure children and families are safe in the museum.” One family is allowed in an exhibit space at a time, with hearts and footprints marking off each area. Bradburn says families will have an hour and a half – 45 minutes on each floor – when they make their reservation. There will also be thirty minutes between reservations for the staff to go around and clean everything from top to bottom. A select number of spaces have been closed off due to the difficulty in keeping them clean. Looking ahead, Discovery Depot has gotten summer camp programs underway – each with its own theme. Camps are held on Tuesdays, so if you notify or sign up by Monday each week, you can get your child included. Discovery Depot is also offering camp kits – so if there is still a concern about going out in public, the kits can be taken home with activities for kids.
