Brady Drake
“Roaming the Plains” will connect an indoor nature center to outdoor play with water and winter features. Custom Playground Designer’s Monstrum.dk are an inspiration for board members of Great Plains Children’s Museum when planning the outdoor playscape.
Why Fargo–Moorhead is ready for a large-scale children’s museum — and how you can help build it.
We North Dakotans know what we signed up for living in the Great Plains: frigid winters, blustery winds, wildfire smoke, and the occasional scorcher of a summer day. We also know what keeps us here—an inviting community, Midwest goodbyes, lefse and hot dish, and a steady stream of young professionals who put down roots and become young families.
As our region grows, new residents bring memories and expectations from their hometowns—and hopes for amenities that keep them here and support their families. The Fargo–Moorhead metro reached ~255,000 residents in 2023 with a median age of 33 (younger than the nation overall). The age profile is kid-forward—6.3% under age 5 and 16.1% ages 5–18—and long-term growth is projected to approach 340,000 by 2045 (about +35%). Together, these trends create the perfect moment to build family-centered destinations in the FM area.
The Great Plains Children’s Museum aims to be that daily destination: hands-on, playbased exhibits indoors; a nature-rich campus outdoors; and something our region has never had before—a Caregiver Coordinator Office that helps parents and caregivers find the right local support without stigma, bias, or confusion.
The Regional Precedent
- Magic City Discovery Center (Minot): 28,000 sq. ft., ~$20M; opened 2023.
- Children’s Museum of South Dakota (Brookings): 44,000 sq. ft. with ~105,000 annual visitors.
We’re designing for daily use, not once-and-done or an annual outing
What We’re Building
The nonprofit Board of Directors is planning a 20,000–30,000 sq. ft. museum on 10–20 acres, designed primarily for ages 0–12. Six core exhibit zones reflect who we are as a region:
- Roaming the Plains — An indoor nature center with an immersive outdoor nature playspace featuring a wading river, splash pad, natural play structures, and seasonal ice
- Arts & Parts — Multi-medium, creative exploration for little hands.
- Seed to Table — Exploration of all aspects of agriculture from planting and raising livestock to harvesting, processing, and culinary.
- Build It / The Garage — Immersion into skilled trades (plumbing, construction, welding) and craftsmanship (woodworking, etc)
- FUNdamentals — Miniature town with retail storefronts, a hospital, civil services, and more.
- SENSEsations — Multisensory experiences beyond the five senses
Every exhibit will be engineered for repeat visits and intentional, regular content changes, so families and daycares can come weekly—not just once a year.
Community Demand (Your Voices)
In our recent survey of 400+ local respondents, 98% support building a children’s museum of this scale; 83% say they’d visit monthly to daily. Caregivers and parents agree; 72% want more opportunities to connect with one another, and 89% agree our community needs more affordable, play-based places for children 0–12. That’s a powerful mandate—and a design brief.
Now more than ever we need to get back to the basics of play and create a local village of support. Before having kids we are all told, it takes a village—but for many, that village isn’t a reality. Instead, we rely on social media influencers, internet searches, or the limited perspectives of the resources we know about. Our children deserve a playful childhood where their parents and caregivers are supported without judgement, bias, or fear to seek out support they need.
The Hub-and-Spokes Model (And Why It Matters)
Yes, the Great Plains Children’s Museum is being built for play— but the mission goes deeper. The Caregiver Coordinator Office (CCO) is a neutral, non-clinical front door where parents can ask questions—“Is my child’s speech on track?”, “Life is so different since giving birth; how are other parents doing this?”—and receive warm referrals to trusted local services, resources, and programs across health, development, nutrition, mental wellbeing, and early learning. Partners (public health, hospitals, therapy clinics, Head Start, Extension, libraries, safety coalitions, and parent groups) can host satellite workshops and pop-ups on site, so families discover help where they already are: at play.
The museum is the hub—a place kids can’t wait to return to and where caregivers feel welcome every day. From that hub, our spokes reach into the community:
- On-site: “Ask-a-Therapist” hours (education + screening), car-seat checks, safety days, nutrition classes, story-time, milestone pop-ups.
- Off-site: pop-ups at parks, markets, and schools to meet families where they are—building momentum before opening day.
How We Fit Alongside Existing Options
Right now, the metro doesn’t have a nonprofit children’s museum. Families drive to Fergus Falls’ Otter Cove, Brookings’ Children’s Museum of South Dakota, or Minot’s Magic City Discovery Center—or visit KidCo. Children’s Museum in Moorhead, a private, timed-session play space. We’re building a community-owned, mission-driven option designed for daily use and deep partnerships. Comparable scale elsewhere: Minot opened the 28,000-sq-ft Magic City Discovery Center (~$20M) in 2023, showing what a mid-sized regional museum can accomplish. Brookings’ museum draws ~105,000 annual visitors in a city smaller than Fargo—clear evidence of regional demand. Statewide momentum continues with the Grand Forks Children’s Museum effort advancing planning and fundraising.
What Your Gift Unlocks
- Caregiver Coordinator Office: Launch staffing, a resource library, and partner hours that shorten the path from “I’m worried” to “I’ve got help.”
- Roaming the Plains & Nature Play: A year-round indoor/outdoor continuum celebrating prairie, weather, and water.
- Build It / The Garage: Real-world tools and trades exploration that spark curiosity and confidence—early workforce inspiration, Fargo-style.
Where We Are Today
Great Plains Children’s Museum is a local 501(c)(3) founded in October 2024 and recognized as tax-exempt in February 2025. We’re currently volunteer-run and focused on securing our final site and founding gifts to begin the long work of making this a reality.
How You Can Help (Today)
- Lead gift or land: Become a Founding Land Partner (10–20 acres or more) or make a six-figure leadership gift to launch the caregiver programming, phase planning, and outdoor playscapes.
- Program partners: Health, early-childhood, literacy, safety, nutrition, and therapy partners—join our intent-topartner roster so we can activate programming on day one (or earlier if we secure a temporary facility).
- Families: Take our survey, join our e-newsletter, and share the vision with friends.
- Everyone: Volunteer at our pop-ups, shop our Amazon wish list, and make a tax-deductible gift (on our website or on Giving Hearts Day).
Learn more and get involved: greatplainscm.com
