About Us
Mission Statement
The Magic House, St. Louis Childrenโs Museum will engage all children with hands-on learning experiences that spark imagination, pique curiosity, enhance creativity and develop problem-solving skills within a place of beauty, wonder, joy, and magic.
History
Founded by two volunteers, Barbie Freund and Jody Newman, The Magic House opened its doors in Kirkwood, Missouri on October 16, 1979 as the regionโs first childrenโs museum. What started as a quaint 5,500 square foot Victorian mansion has since grown from a local attraction to an award-winning national landmark. Through a series of expansions, The Magic House has grown from 5,500 square feet to 55,000 square feet, has featured hundreds of new exhibits, and has welcomed over 16 million visitors! Just like the children we serve, The Magic House continues to grow and evolve to meet the current needs of the children, families and schools we serve and to continue to be one of the best childrenโs museumโs in the country. In 2019, in order to broaden our reach in the community, The Magic House opened a satellite location in the City of St. Louis on Delmar Blvd. called MADE for Kids. In 2023, The Magic House acquired an offsite facility located minutes from the Museum to expand our exhibit fabrication workshop and storage space and aptly named it EPIC, the Exhibit Project Innovation Center.We are honored to provide families in the St. Louis region, and around the country, a place where imaginations are sparked, curiosity is piqued, and problem-solving skills are developed through a variety of hands-on experiences.
Throughout its history, education has been at the core of The Magic Houseโs mission. The Magic House continually updates our hands-on exhibits to reflect current educational priorities like STEAM, literacy, and 21st-century learning skills, while aligning with the interests and needs of children today. The Magic House has had a long-term commitment to provide Access for All, an initiative to offer free admission and learning experiences to families and schools from under-resourced areas
MADE For Kids
In 2019, to further extend the reach of The Magic House in the community, we opened MADE for Kids, a new satellite location created for children ages 4-14 on the north side of Delmar Boulevard in the City of St. Louis. Featuring a Makers Workshop, Artists Studio, Designers Lab, and Entrepreneursโ marketplace, MADE for Kids makes our resources more accessible to underserved children, families, and schools in North St. Louis City and County and other under-resourced areas. Since it opened, MADE for Kids has served over 175,000 visitors, developed important community partnerships in the region, and implemented a workforce development initiative for neighborhood youth.
DEI Commitment
The Magic House, St. Louis Childrenโs Museum embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion as essential to our mission. We value and seek to support the uniqueness of each member of our community including their race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and identity, ability, age, socioeconomic level, and religious/spiritual identities.
Our Guiding Practices
- Foster an environment where all children and families are welcome, accepted, and valued for their unique interests, abilities, and backgrounds.
- Recruit, retain, and value volunteers, staff, and board members who represent the diversity of our community.
- Strengthen childrenโs abilities to create and problem-solve together, through play, providing transformational experiences to expand empathy and cultural awareness.
- Create programs, facilities, exhibits, and partnerships that represent and engage diverse voices and experiences.