The Children’s Museum, Seattle brings to life the joy of discovery for children and their families through fun, creative, hands-on explorations of the world around them.

We encourage children to develop into life-long learners in the areas of art, culture, literacy and wellness. We labor on a daily basis to create opportunities to build in children, through their families, values and skills such as citizenship, positive views of their future, personal boundaries and expectations, social competencies and the commitment to learning.

The Museum uses the acronym CHILD in our view of the activities and projects at the Museum.

C - Community  (Neighborhood Impact, 40 Developmental Assets®, Community Partners, Mobile Museum Moments, Volunteers, Passport2Play, Schools/Youth Organizations, On-campus Partnerships)

H - Home (Exhibits, Renovations, Accessibility, Rotating Exhibits, Supplies, Soft Sculpture Areas, Book in a Box Program, Safety and Security)

I - Integrity (Organizational Goals, Staff Training, Board Development, POS System, Development Database,Surveys, Integrative Communications, Placement of Employees of All Abilities)

L - Learning (Informal Education, Educators, Programs, Inclusion, Artists/Performers, Clubs, Camps, Caregivers, Early Learning 0-5, Content Learning 6 – 10, Educational Standards, Research)

D - Dollars (Sustainability, Lease, Debt Reduction, Operations, Endowments, Capital Investments)

While our exhibits are the most visible part of the Museum, they are just part of the larger mission of education, integration and outreach. The Museum’s mission is met only when we are investing at equal degrees in all aspects of the Museum -our community impact programs, our exhibits, our infrastructure and staff, our educational programming and our financial stability.

We also use the visual above as a reminder that we need to maintain equal investments in each area in order to uphold our mission - The Joy of Discovery. An individual pillar cannot uphold its mission alone, but requires synchronization with the others. We see this reality every day at the Museum as our visitors enter to play on exhibits that are enhanced by programs from our educators. Among those visitors are the children who enter through Passport 2 Play reduced admission and are served by a staff that is growing through our development programs. All of this requires our organization to remain financially stable and operating within our means.