Beaumont Children's Museum was started by a group of citizens in 2008 who wanted to bring fun and hands-on learning to the children of Southeast Texas. This group formed a board of directors and started a 501(c)3 non-Profit that would eventually become the museum we have today.  

 

During the next, few years many members of the community began to support the Beaumont Children's Museum through volunteering or monetary donations. Many members of the Junior League of Beaumont became trained for outreach taking STUFFEE®, into the classroom.  STUFFEE®, our 7 ft tall ambassador of health, was purchased with the help of Beaumont Pediatrics, Southeast Texas OBGYN, the Junior League of Beaumont, and a grant from HE and Kate Dishman Foundation. STUFFEE® was our first exhibit and kicked off our "Museum Without Walls" phase where we brought the museum out into the community.

 

In 2012, with grant support from the Foundation for Southeast Texas, the museum purchased LEGO: Simple and Mechanized Machines classroom kits as well as a large collection of legos for taking out into the community to teach STEM concepts to children all over southeast Texas.  

 

Finally, in 2014, we were able to hire our very first employee - Interim Executive Director, Elizabeth Schreck. Through her hard work and the help of many others, the Museum held summer camps for the first time.

 

June 13, 2015, marked the official opening day of the Beaumont Children's Museum located inside the Beaumont Civic Center. 

 

Now with the help of the City of Beaumont and the new museum, the Beaumont Children's Museum has been able to add new programs and activities to enhance the focus on STEAM education.  Some of these programs include Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring Camps based on STEAM topics and Toddler Takeover which includes structured programming for ages 5 and younger.

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While continuing to remember the museum's foundation and start, we have named our outreach program "Museum without Walls."  This allows us to continue many of our initial programs to outside areas of Southeast Texas, reaching many who might not get to visit the museum. The STUFFEE, Legos, and Emerald Planetarium (traveling planetarium) Exhibits travel to visit kids around Southeast Texas providing opportunities for the museum to fulfill our mission and vision. 

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Through the generous support of many donors, the hard work of volunteers, and the countless hours put in by staff, our museum continues to grow its exhibits and programs.