The Magic House Launches Hero Quest: A New Interactive Exhibit to Inspire the Hero in Every Child
ST LOUIS (September 4, 2024) – This fall, The Magic House invites families to experience its newest exhibit, Hero Quest, opening Saturday, September 20. Created as a museum-wide scavenger hunt, in a powerful and engaging way, Hero Quest brings to life the beloved book series Ordinary People Change the World by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos.
Throughout the Museum, children will discover life-size book kiosks placed in their favorite exhibits, where they can step into the world of each hero, learn what made them extraordinary, and participate in interactive activities that highlight their character traits. Featured heroes include Dolly Parton, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Sacagawea, Albert Einstein, Frida Kahlo, Helen Keller, Jim Henson, Marie Curie, George Washington Carver, and Leonardo da Vinci.
The experience begins at a Welcome Kiosk, where children receive a Hero Quest Passport that guides them on their journey. At each stop, they can explore immersive environments inspired by each hero’s story and uncover traits that made them heroic like courage, kindness, and curiosity, while discovering how those same qualities can be found within themselves.
A highlight of the exhibit is the Hero Quest Gallery, a space designed to foster meaningful parent-child conversations. Through engaging prompts and storytelling, families are encouraged to reflect on what it means to be a hero and to share stories about the heroes in their own lives and how they can become a hero themselves.
“Hero Quest is more than an exhibit,” said Beth Fitzgerald, President of The Magic House. “We want families to leave not only inspired by the heroes they’ve met but also inspired to continue conversations at home. This exhibit encourages self-reflection and helps kids see that character traits like kindness, courage, and curiosity are what truly makes someone a hero.”
Developed in partnership with CharacterPlus, a St. Louis-based character education resource organization, Hero Quest integrates character education into every aspect of the experience. The exhibit is part of Fostering Character Through Children’s Museums, a national initiative funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. to support positive character development in young children. Through play, storytelling, and shared experiences, Hero Quest helps families explore the values that shape who we are and how we treat others.
Want to learn more?
Read our blog post, Find the Hero Within: Why Hero Quest Matters, for a behind-the-scenes look at the inspiration and why behind this powerful new exhibit. Discover how Hero Quest is more than just an adventure, it’s a call to action for families to explore character, courage, and connection.
Ribbon Cutting: September 20
Hero Quest opens to the public at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 20 and is included with Museum admission. To celebrate the grand opening, The Magic House will host a private ribbon-cutting event from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., featuring appearances by local community heroes and Chris Eliopoulos, illustrator of the Ordinary People Change the World series.
As a bonus, the first 100 families who complete the Hero Quest Passport on opening day will receive a free copy of an Ordinary People Change the World book, provided by Penguin Random House and signed illustrator Chris Eliopoulos.
For more information, visit: https://www.magichouse.org/exhibits/hero-quest/
About The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum
The Magic House is a not-for-profit participatory museum that provides 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. Serving more than 550,000 visitors annually, The Magic House opened in 1979 and has 55,000 square feet of hands-on exhibits. In 2019, the Museum opened an all-new satellite makerspace in the City of St. Louis on Delmar Boulevard, located between the Central West End and the Delmar Loop.
To stay up-to-date with The Magic House, visit www.magichouse.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
About Character Plus
CharacterPlus®, a St. Louis-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1988 by Sanford (Sandy) N. McDonnell, is the longest-running and most‑recognized evidence‑based character education initiative in the country. For over 35 years, CharacterPlus has partnered with schools, families, and communities to foster caring, high-achieving school cultures by promoting the positive social, emotional, and moral development of young people. Serving over 400,000 students and 16,000+ teachers across 500 schools in 50 districts, CharacterPlus empowers educators and students alike via customized, data‑informed character skill-building programming—such as its signature three‑year CharacterPlus Way® process and The Teacher Academy in Character Education (TACE)—designed to embed character into the fabric of school communities. In June 2025, CharacterPlus assumed the operations of Character.org, expanding its impact by integrating the nationally renowned Schools of Character, Promising Practices, and the 11 Principles framework into its offerings.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although gifts of stock remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. The Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion
About Ordinary People Change the World The beloved and bestselling children’s book series – Ordinary People Change the World – was created by author Brad Meltzer and illustrator Chris Eliopoulos to introduce young readers to real heroes from history with humor, heart, and age-appropriate storytelling. Each biography focuses on a leader’s childhood and defining moments – showing how courage, kindness, perseverance, and curiosity can turn ordinary individuals into changemakers. The books feature Meltzer’s gifted storytelling and Eliopoulos’s signature comic-style art. Embraced by families, educators, and libraries nationwide, the series helps kids build character, kindness, and compassion, one real hero at a time.
To learn more about Ordinary People Change the World, visit www.ordinarypeoplechangetheworld.com and check out the always appealing Instagram channels of Brad and Chris!