Explore & More Children’s Museum is kicking off the month of October with a “Pay What You Can” program that will run throughout the entire month. Thanks to a grant from the New Car Dealers of WNY, the museum will be able to subsidize the cost of admission to make a visit more accessible for families who are dealing with numerous challenges amidst the pandemic.
It’s been a difficult year and we wanted to provide anyone in the community the opportunity to come in and play, learn and relax for a couple hours, without the added stress of finance,” said Jess Basil, Senior Marketing Manager at Explore & More.
The promotion will run from October 1-31, 2020 and will feature a sliding scale for ticket purchases. Families can choose to pay either $5, $7, $9, $11, with museum members and children under the age of one receiving free admission. Explore & More encourages their guests to visit their website (www.exploreandmore.org) to confirm hours of operation and purchase tickets in advance. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the museum is currently limited to a 15% capacity, so reserving tickets in advance is required.
“With tremendous empathy for families who may be struggling financially in light of recent furloughs, who are juggling professional responsibilities with their children’s virtual learning schedules, and numerous other stressors brought on by the pandemic, and who are just looking for a wholesome family activity, we are very excited to collaborate with Explore and More Children’s Museum to offer ‘Pay What You Can’ for October so that all members of the community can take their families to enjoy this WNY treasure and just be carefree kids for a day,” said Betty Murphy, Executive Vice President of the Niagara Frontier Auto Dealers Association.
“Most Western New York new car franchise dealers are lifelong residents of WNY, and many are second and third generation dealers,” she said. “They are deeply invested in the community. In 2018, the New Car Dealers of WNY Charitable Foundation issued a $250,000 grant to Explore and More Children’s Museum as their official transportation partner, facilitating field trips to the museum for local schools. We believe the interactive learning, socializing, and creative play offered by the museum are more important today, than ever, and we want to make sure children can enjoy the museum, even if there are no field trips.”
There will be plenty of fun events to check out in October at the museum. Their “Halloween Spooktacular” runs from October 17-31 and features a spooky scavenger hunt and trick-or-treat goodie bags to take home. The museum will also be offering a virtual Halloween themed Sanity Savers & Storytime via their website for families who want to participate from home.
Superhero Night at the Museum will take place on Saturday, October 24, featuring guest appearances by the heroes of the Superhero Alliance of WNY. Guests can participate in interactive cosplay scenarios where they help the superheroes solve a mystery. There will be sessions at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Cost of admission includes your very own superhero cape, too.
Additionally, the museum offers a series of fall classes, ranging from one-hour sessions to all-day drop-off programs for youth ages 0-10. The classes include The Children’s Garden, Baby & Me, the Homeschool Program, and Study & Play. More information on what each class entails, the schedule, and cost of admission can be found here.
The museum has specific procedures in place in regard to COVID safety, which can be viewed in full on their website. In addition to purchasing tickets in advance, groups will be assigned a timeslot with their ticket purchase to avoid bottlenecks and maintain capacity requirements. Guests are permitted to stay as long as they like. Visitors are required to wear a mask while in the museum and follow social distancing guidelines. Explore and More has placed hand sanitizing stations throughout the museum and has enhanced its HVAC system for better air circulation.
For more information on the Pay What You Can promotion, upcoming events and classes, ticket purchases, and general information, visit www.exploreandmore.org.