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Courtesy of HealthWorks! Kids Museum St. Louis
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Courtesy of HealthWorks! Kids Museum St. Louis
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Courtesy of HealthWorks! Kids Museum St. Louis
Only at a children’s museum could you find 3-foot-tall molars in the lobby, a skeleton-inspired jungle gym, and a 4-D theater featuring bubbles and minty scents—and that’s just phase one.
On Saturday, May 14, HealthWorks! Kids Museum St. Louis (formerly known as the Delta Dental Health Theatre) will welcome the public to its new 12,000-square-foot exhibit space at 1100 Macklind.
Central to the museum's philosophy of melding play with learning is the 55-foot long, 25-foot wide, 8-foot tall human skeletal playground structure that is also the first universally accessible indoor playground. It features a leg slide, a bone balance beam, an electronic, a memory-style healthy-eating game attached to the digestive track, and an all-about poop panel that passes gas. Children can go inside the giant skull and learn about the different parts of the brain.
Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
Geared to kids from birth through fifth grade, the museum offers high-energy games, mock medical offices, and a farmers' market, plus demonstrations and lectures on important healthy practices. The Mouth Theatre will show a virtual 10-minute 4D tour (there's minty scents and bubbles!) through the mouth via an apple as it passes through the digestive system.
If seeing is believing, try the Face Your Future exhibit, which with high-tech age progression software visualizes what a child could look like when they're older if they use tobacco, get too much sun, or eat junk food.
“With the former theater and museum space, we could basically only offer two programs, and everything said, ‘Do Not Touch!’” says museum president and CEO Shannon Woodcock. “Now we have an all-inclusive indoor playground and interactive games.”
And yes, the famous teeth will still light up.
HealthWorks! Kids’ Museum St. Louis
1100 Macklind
314-241-7391
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.; Sunday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., and closed on Mondays.
Prices: $7 general admission (1 year and under free). For a limited time, visitors can become a founding member for $250.
