About Us
The Magic House is a not-for-profit organization that offers hands-on exhibits and educational programs reflecting the special interests and needs of children. The Museum offers a wide variety of interactive learning experiences encouraging and inspiring students of all ages to become lifelong learners, including field trips, family STEAM nights, scout programs and summer camps.
Mission Statement: The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s 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 On October 16, 1979, our quaint 5,500 square foot Victorian mansion opened its doors in Kirkwood, Missouri as the region’s first children’s museum and has 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, featured hundreds of new exhibits, and have welcomed over 15 million visitors! We are honored to have provided 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 House’s mission. The Magic House offers a wide variety of interactive learning experiences encouraging and inspiring students of all ages to become lifelong learners, including field trips, family STEAM nights, scout programs and summer camps. The Magic House continually updates our hands-on exhibits to reflect current educational priorities like STEAM, civic education, 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.
An award-winning educational destination, The Magic House was recognized in 2021 as the #2 children’s museum in the country by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice.
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 Entrepreneurs’ 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 60,000 visitors and developed important community partnerships in the region and implemented a workforce development initiative for neighborhood youth.
DEI Commitment
The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s 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 children’s 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.
Job & Volunteer Opportunities
Board, Committees and Staff
