{"id":334215,"date":"2026-07-09T11:22:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/334215\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T11:22:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T11:22:28","slug":"st-pete-museum-plans-new-discovery-center-for-older-kids-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/334215\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete museum plans new discovery center for older kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

Great Explorations Children’s Museum is asking families, educators and community members to help shape a planned discovery center in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

The museum will host a series of free community forums beginning Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Museum leaders say the new center would expand hands-on learning opportunities for older children and teens.<\/p>\n

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Great Explorations Children’s Museum is inviting the Bay Area community to help shape the future of a planned discovery center designed to expand hands-on learning opportunities for older children and teens.<\/p>\n

St. Pete museum expansion<\/p>\n

What we know<\/p>\n

Beginning Wednesday, the museum will host a series of community forums where attendees can preview the vision for the discovery center and share ideas that could help guide the project’s exhibits, educational programming and overall visitor experience.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Great Explorations says the proposed discovery center would build on the museum’s mission by creating a space where older children and teens can explore science, technology and engineering through interactive experiences.<\/p>\n

Plans include opportunities for visitors to:<\/p>\n

Experiment with chemistry<\/p>\n

Take on engineering challenges<\/p>\n

Participate in hands-on science activities<\/p>\n

Who can participate?<\/p>\n

What you can do<\/p>\n

Museum leaders say everyone is welcome to attend, including parents, grandparents, educators, students, business leaders and other community members. Registration is encouraged but not required.<\/p>\n

The forums will be held at\u00a0Bay Point Middle School, located at\u00a05800 22nd St. S. in St. Petersburg<\/a>, on the following dates:<\/p>\n

Wednesday, July 8:\u00a08-9 a.m. and 12:30-1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Wednesday, July 15:\u00a04-5 p.m. (Youth Community Forum)<\/p>\n

Thursday, July 16:\u00a08-9 a.m. and 12:30-1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Wednesday, July 22:\u00a08-9 a.m.<\/p>\n

Bay Area community education history<\/p>\n

The backstory<\/p>\n

Great Explorations Children’s Museum<\/a>\u00a0has served Bay Area families since 1987. The museum, located at\u00a01925 4th St. N. in St. Pete, is designed for children 10 and younger and features hands-on exhibits focused on creativity, play and exploration.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The nonprofit organization also operates a nationally recognized preschool and offers educational outreach programs throughout the community.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

This story is based on information provided by Great Explorations Children’s Museum ahead of a series of community forums announcing plans for its proposed discovery center, along with scheduling details shared with FOX 13 News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief Great Explorations Children’s Museum is asking families, educators and community members to help shape a planned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[137788,137789,137792,137791,137790,137787,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-334215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-bay-area-community","tag-children-and-teens","tag-community-forums","tag-discovery-center","tag-free-community-forums","tag-great-explorations-children39s-museum","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}