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Children's Museum In Denver Reopens For Members

DENVER (CBS4)  — The Children's Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus is ready to welcome guests after months of being closed due to COVID-19. The Museum's phased reopening starts Thursday.

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"What we're focusing on right now are our outside exhibits, the art space and the adjacent water exhibit," said Mike Yankovich, President and CEO of The Children's Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus. "It's great to hear those laughs and those giggles again."

The Childrens Museum received a variance to open at limited capacity, with limited attractions. Some exhibits like the Adventure Forest are harder to keep clean, so they're still closed.

The Museum is open for members with reservations on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays for three, 90-minute play sessions each day.

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"In between each of those one and a half hour sessions, we spend 45 minutes deep cleaning the museum," said Mike Yankovich. Sneeze guards have been installed in the admissions area and all employees will have their temperature checked prior to starting work.

The museum made best health practices fun. From social distancing to washing your hands. Shared supplies like art brushes and toys are disinfected after every use.

Household groups must follow social distancing guidelines and remain six feet from other guests, staff and volunteers. Areas are marked to assist guests with distancing.

As mandated by the City and County of Denver, all guests ages three and older are required to wear a mask or face covering at all times.

"A lot of kids become accustomed to wearing a mask. We go around and gently remind them to wear it over their nose and under their chin," explained Mike Yankovich.

Parents say its good practice for the school year. Katie Scarbrough brought her children, Aiden and Ellen, for the opening day. She says they had no trouble following best health practices.

"They understand that it's the coronavirus, but it's hard to explain to a 5 and 3 year old what that means. They understand that we need to cautious. They're doing a really good job at following the rules of this time were in right now," said Scarbrough.

Members-only play sessions from July 16 to July 25 are sold out. Play sessions from
July 30 to Aug. 1 will also be added for members. The Museum will open up the reservation process for those later dates on Wednesday, July 22 at 10 a.m.

The museum hopes to open reservations up for non-members in the future.

For more information visit: https://www.mychildsmuseum.org/safer-play

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