The Edwardsville Children’s Museum (ECM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Edwardsville, Illinois, in Madison County. Open to the public 260 days each year, ECM welcomes approximately 40,000 visitors annually, serving children and families from the Metro East and greater St. Louis region as well as communities throughout Illinois. The museum actively promotes its exhibits, events, educational programs, and summer camps to audiences within a 50-mile radius, ensuring broad regional engagement and access to hands-on learning experiences.
In 1997, a visit to a recently opened children’s museum in Gulfport, Mississippi inspired Carla Johnson and her family to envision a similar hands-on learning space for the Metro East region. Motivated by this experience, she began exploring the idea of establishing a children’s museum in Edwardsville, Illinois. Two years later, in 1999, after consulting with local leaders and beginning early fundraising efforts, the first Edwardsville Children’s Museum Board of Directors meeting was held, formally launching the project.
Over the next several years, the organization focused on exhibit planning, securing a location, grant writing, and community fundraising efforts. These efforts culminated in the grand opening of the Edwardsville Children’s Museum on February 1, 2003, with a formal celebration held in June of that year.
In the years that followed, ECM faced significant challenges, including a critical financial period in 2014 and the unprecedented disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, both of which required resilience, adaptability, and strong community support to navigate. Through each of these challenges, the museum remained committed to its mission and emerged stronger. In 2021, ECM expanded its offerings with the opening of the Discovery Garden, an exciting outdoor, nature-based play space featuring a music garden, stage, greenhouse, and opportunities for hands-on exploration. In 2024, the museum continued its growth with the Route 66 Roadway expansion, which includes a car repair garage exhibit, filling station, and interactive water table.
Today, ECM is thriving, with new exhibits and expanded learning opportunities strategically planned and implemented to meet the evolving needs of all visitors and to continue inspiring curiosity, creativity, and discovery.
At ECM, we believe deeply in the power of play as a foundation for learning. Guided by our mission to create a magical, inclusive, and community-driven space where children can cultivate curiosity, joyfully shape their own learning experiences, and explore through discovery and hands-on play, we are committed to nurturing learning at the age of wonder.
We bring this mission to life by developing experiential educational exhibits and hands-on programs for children ages 0–12. Through museum visits with families, school field trips, summer camps, and outreach programs at community events and schools, we engage children wherever they are, fostering curiosity, creativity, and a lifelong love of learning.
