New Exhibit at Children’s Discovery Museum set for opening 2026

Image Courtesy of the Children’s Discovery Museum 

NORMAL, Ill. – The Children’s Discovery Museum will be adding a new exhibit in 2026. The project, entitled ‘From the Farm to a Healthy Me,’ connects agriculture and food to nutrition and health.

The exhibit will be located on the second floor of the museum and will cost a total of $3.7 million. The museum reportedly raised around $4 million to fund the project’s fabrication.

Museum Director Beth Whisman also explained why this new exhibit is important for the Central Illinois community.

“We want to make sure that a local museum reflects its local community,” Whisman said. “This community is very much agriculturally-based. It makes up a huge financial sector.”

For the fabrication of the project, Whisman revealed a unique construction strategy.

“We started the actual fabrication about 4 or 5 months ago, and we do that off-site, so that we don’t have to interrupt the entire museum,” Whisman said. “The second floor, the location of ‘From the Farm to a Healthy Me’, is still open to the public.”

The Children’s Discovery Museum worked with design firms and fabrication groups from around the state in order to construct the exhibit.

Luci’s Creative and Ravenswood Studio, based in Lincolnwood, Illinois, is currently helping with putting together the final pieces for the exhibit.

Whisman anticipates the project will be completed by spring 2026.

“By the time we hit March and April, we should be coming to the end of our exhibit construction, and we’ll plan a grand opening sometime before summer,” Whisman said.

There is no set date for the grand opening of ‘From the Farm to a Healthy Me’ yet, although it is expected to come in May 2026.