The Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon

10/12/2026

⭐ OCTOBER MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS:

🎟️ Free Day at the Museum | Oct. 27, 10 AM–5 PM — Enjoy the Museum completely FREE in honor of Lyn Hennion’s commitment to our region.

🕷️ Bugs-R-Us: Arachnids | Oct. 30 at 3 PM — Get an up-close look at an amazing live collection of arachnids. Free with Museum entry.

🍬 Trick-or-Treat at the Museum | Oct. 31, 3:30–5 PM — Join us for indoor trick-or-treating! The Museum will close at 3 PM to prepare, but Outdoor Adventure will remain open.

🧠 Did you know? Our programs are intentionally designed around specific Learning Skills, including S.T.E.A.M., social & emotional development, arts & creativity, diversity & inclusion, gross and fine motor development, language & communication, nature exploration, health & nutrition, literacy, and cognitive & mathematics skills.

Look for the color-coded learning skills on our program schedule to discover what your child is building while they play. Because behind every creation, experiment, story, climb, conversation, and discovery is an opportunity to learn something new. ✨

Most programs are included with Museum admission, with the exception of Mini-Wheel Sessions and Clay Workshops.

📍 The Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon
413 W. Main St., Medford
📞 541-772-9922
Come see us PLAY this October! 🎃💜

10/11/2026

🏛️Welcome to the Grand Hall! 💜 BIG PLAY. BIG DISCOVERIES.

The Carrico Family Foundation Grand Hall is where imagination takes center stage at The Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon. With seven interactive exhibits to explore, children can step into new roles, tackle challenges, work together, and make discoveries — all through play.

Throughout the Grand Hall, children are building important skills through dramatic and explorative play, parent-child interaction, social-emotional development, problem-solving, communication, physical activity, and imaginative thinking.

🌱 Farm to Table — Harvest, pack, shop, and prepare a meal while exploring where our food comes from and practicing real-world skills.

🚑 Safe and Sound — Step into the role of a doctor and explore X-rays while learning about health and care.

🦉 Wildlife Rescue — Work as a team to assess wildlife injuries and provide care, encouraging empathy, observation, and collaborative problem-solving.

🪶 Long House — Step into the past and experience Indigenous Southern Oregon life through immersive, imaginative exploration.

🗺️ The Lookout — Become an expert navigator using maps and guides to explore, encouraging spatial thinking and discovery.

🏗️ The Lumber Yard — Build BIG! Kids become master builders as they operate mighty cranes and turn their ideas into creations.

🧗 The Rock Wall — Climb, stretch, problem-solve, and discover just how capable you are while building muscles and confidence.

Come explore the Grand Hall and see just how much learning can happen when children are given the freedom to play, imagine, move, build, care, and discover.

📍 The Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon 413 W. Main Street, Medford

10/10/2026

💜 THANK YOU, PACIFIC POWER FOUNDATION! ⚡✨

We’re excited to share that the Oregon Center for Creative Learning, home of The Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon, has received a $5,000 grant from the Pacific Power Foundation!

The grant is part of $56,000 awarded to 13 Southern Oregon organizations through the Foundation’s Community Enhancement and Environmental Respect grant cycle, supporting organizations working to strengthen communities and create meaningful opportunities for learning and engagement.

For us, support like this helps make possible what families see every day at the Museum: hands-on experiences that invite children to create, experiment, problem-solve, explore, and learn through play. 🌱🧠🎨

We’re incredibly grateful to Pacific Power and the Pacific Power Foundation for investing in organizations doing meaningful work throughout our region — and for investing in the children and families of Southern Oregon. 💜

Every investment in early learning is an investment in our community’s future. Thank you for helping us continue to create spaces where curiosity grows and children thrive!

10/09/2026

Join us tomorrow at the Return of the Salmon Family Field Day at North Mountain Park from 11am-3pm.

We will be bringing family friendly fun to this free event. Hope to see you there!

10/09/2026

🛠️ NEW PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT: Woodshop Workshop! 🪵✨ Measure. Hammer. Sculpt. Create!

Our Woodshop Workshop gives young makers the opportunity to work with real tools and real wood while learning foundational woodworking skills with guidance from our Museum educators.

Children can explore how tools work, practice new techniques, and turn a simple piece of wood into something entirely their own. Plus, we’ll introduce special woodworking projects throughout the month, so there’s always a reason to come back and see what’s new!

🧠 SKILLS IN ACTION: Woodworking supports fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, spatial reasoning, planning, concentration, problem-solving, creativity, and tool confidence.

💡 THE COGNITIVE ACCESS POINT: Building something from wood asks children to turn an idea into action — deciding what they want to create, figuring out how materials and tools work together, adjusting when something doesn’t go as planned, and seeing the results of their choices. It’s hands-on learning with a very tangible reward: “I made this!”

📅 Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays
⏰ 12:30 PM
📍 Meet at the Outdoor Pavilion
🎟️ FREE with Museum entry

Come build, experiment, and bring your creative ideas to life! 🔨💜

10/09/2026

10/08/2026

🌱Check out our Farm to Table Exhibit🍎🥕🛒

Have you explored our Farm to Table exhibit? Designed for ages 2–12, this immersive experience invites children to follow the journey of their food as they dig in the Garden, shop in the Grocery Store, and cook up imaginative meals in the Restaurant.

And while it may look like they’re simply playing, there’s a whole lot of learning happening along the way! 💜

🌱 In the Garden:

🐝 Examining the beehive → Scientific observation & identification
🥕 “Planting” fruits and vegetables → Shape & color recognition
🤝 Working together with the conveyor belt → Teamwork & collaboration

🛒 At the Grocery Store:

🔢 Using the cash register → Counting & number matching
💬 Playing cashier and customer → Real-world dialogue & communication
🍎 Grocery shopping → Healthy food habits

🍽️ In the Restaurant:

🧹 Cleaning up a meal → Sorting by attributes
🔪 Pretend food preparation → Understanding how kitchen tools are used
📝 Taking an order → Asking questions & listening for answers

Farm to Table gives children multiple ways to access important early-learning concepts through hands-on, concrete experiences. Instead of simply being told about numbers, colors, food, communication, or cooperation, children get to physically interact with those concepts through imaginative play. The exhibit supports skills including observation, classification, counting, matching, sequencing, language development, problem-solving, social communication, and collaborative thinking. This broader cognitive framing is an interpretation of the specific learning skills identified by the museum.

That’s what learning and growing through play looks like. What feels like grocery shopping, gardening, and cooking to a child is also an opportunity to build skills they’ll carry into the classroom and everyday life. 🌱✨

📍 The Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon
413 W. Main Street, Medford

Explore the Farm to Table exhibit here https://bit.ly/4egbbQY

10/08/2026

Just across from The Children’s Museum, The Annex Clay & Culinary Studio gives kids even more ways to learn through hands-on experiences. It’s a place to get messy, try something new, build real skills, and discover just how much you can create with your own two hands.

🏺 In the Clay Studio, families can drop in during Open Studio to explore clay through Free Clay Play, purchase clay to create something of their own, or choose premade bisqueware to paint. No sign-up is needed for Open Studio!

🌀 Ready to try the pottery wheel? Wednesday Wheel Sessions offer instructor-led, 30-minute mini sessions where kids can experience the process of working with clay on the wheel. Sessions are $15 for members and $20 for non-members and require advance registration.

🎨 Our instructor-led Clay Workshops introduce special projects throughout the month, giving young artists the chance to learn techniques and take a creation from making, to painting, to its finished piece.

👩‍🍳 And The Annex isn't just about clay! Our Culinary Studio invites little chefs into the kitchen for hands-on opportunities to chop, mix, measure, follow recipes, explore ingredients, and develop practical culinary skills.

🧠 SKILLS IN ACTION: Experiences at The Annex support fine motor development, hand-eye coordination, sensory exploration, sequencing, following directions, creativity, patience, problem-solving, independence, confidence, and practical life skills.

💡 Clay and cooking both turn abstract ideas into something children can touch, manipulate, transform, and understand. They plan what comes next, observe cause and effect, adjust when things don't work as expected, and follow a process from beginning to end. The result isn't just something they've made — it's the experience of discovering “I can do this.”

📍 The Annex Clay & Culinary Studio
406 W. Main St., Medford
📞 541-772-9922

10/07/2026

TOMORROW Thursday, October 8 — Mango Nectar Refresher 🥭
Drop-In Kitchen Class at The Annex!

🥭 Something refreshing is on the menu!

This Thursday’s Drop-In Kitchen recipe is a Mango Nectar Refresher! Kids can get hands-on in the kitchen while practicing measuring, mixing, and other culinary skills.

📅 Thursday, October 8
⏰ 2:00 PM
🥭 Mango Nectar Refresher
📍 The Annex Culinary Studio
🎟️ FREE with museum admission!

Come mix up something delicious with us! 🧡

10/06/2026

🎨 TINKER Tuesdays are for MAKING!🛠️✨

Every Tuesday, The Makery and Tinker Bar are buzzing with opportunities for kids to imagine, experiment, create, and build! Whether they want to dive into an open-ended project or join one of our guided activities, there’s always something new to explore.

💚 The Makery | 10:00 AM–4:30 PM
Drop in throughout the day for hands-on creative exploration and plenty of opportunities to make, design, and experiment.

🎭 Mask Makers | 11:45 AM | Tinker Bar
Let imaginations run wild as kids design and create their very own masks!

🛠️ Tinker Time | 1:00 PM | Tinker Bar
Build it. Test it. Take it apart. Try again! Tinker Time encourages curiosity, problem-solving, and creative thinking through hands-on exploration.

🍂 Garden Art | 3:00 PM | Tinker Bar
Take inspiration from nature and turn it into art using colors, textures, shapes, and natural materials.

There’s no right or wrong way to create here — just plenty of room to wonder, experiment, and PLAY. 💜

📍 The Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon
413 W. Main Street, Medford