In providing an environment for play-filled learning, C’mon affirms that play is not merely something to be tolerated in the gaps between eating, sleeping, and periods for formal learning. Play is vitally necessary to a child’s health and full development. While kids are having fun, they are also:

Children’s museum specialist Mary Sinker, and acclaimed exhibit designer Jack Rouse Associates, conceived each exhibit as a model of three interrelated principles: an appreciation of children’s play behavior, knowledge of how an environment can influence play and learning, and an understanding of children’s developmental milestones. These three core beliefs enabled them to transform the learning landscape so that serious learning looks like play… for those who know how to look.

The exhibits present a well-rounded universe that is rarely experienced by children or, for that matter, the adults in their lives, from the swamps of the Everglades to outer reaches of the galaxy, from the annual change of seasons to a farm to a day at the beach. At the heart of the exhibits is The Banyan Tree, a soaring, two-story banyan tree with cubbies nestled in vertical prop roots, a lookout platform, and crawling branches that lead to the fascinating tree house at the top, inspiring children’s imagination as well as body coordination.

Exhibits were created to meet Florida’s Sunshine State curriculum standards, and all are accessible for individuals with developmental, hearing, physical, social/emotional and visual challenges.