While there are several children’s museums that have climbing gyms, tot-scaled supermarkets, and STEAM-inspired tinkering labs, what makes an institution really stand out from the pack is its creative play spaces.

What follows are eight of the country’s best children’s museums—dynamic, sensory-rich spaces that engage and entertain as much as they educate.

A favorite pastime for some children is writing plays, often gathering their parents in the living room for theatrical performances or directing their friends in the newest skit at recess. On Saturday and Sunday, the stage got a little bigger for eight Maine children as they saw their plays performed at the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine.

The Youth Playwriting Festival showcased eight stories — four each day — written by children under 17, whose play topics ranged from normalizing the experience of occupational therapy to imagining a unicorn sleepover party.

Having covered nonprofit fundraisers weekly for the past 13 years, I have seen hundreds of auctions where ordinary people raise their hands — and their bid numbers — to protect the organizations and initiatives that matter to them. Never is that impulse stronger than when they feel that something they love, like the Children’s Museum & Theater of Maine, is threatened.

The staff at Victoria Mansion in Portland found out about the loss of federal funding in degrees.

First came the news that President Donald Trump had signed an executive order declaring the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary federal support for libraries and museums nationwide, was “unnecessary.” Then the entire staff of the federal agency was placed on a 90-day leave.

Finally, Timothy Brosnihan, executive director of the mansion, got a short email last week saying the organization’s grant from the IMLS “is no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS Program.”

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - Over 300 stakeholders gathered at the Cross Center in Bangor for the 2025 Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

Gov. Janet Mills surprised business leaders in the state at the conference with a speech.

“Hopefully, we’ll be successful in attracting high numbers of tourists from all countries including Canada to the state of Maine because we want them here,” said Mills.

Small businesses in Maine account for 99.2% of operations.

The Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine has been notified that a three-year, $224,143 grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services has been cancelled.

The Institute's Museums for America funding was awarded in August 2024 to support programming that the museum says, “brings children and families together to learn about community, culture and belonging” and included a focus on the history and culture of the Wabanaki nations.