Topeka, Kansas, March 20, 2025 – The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center announced  the museum set a single-day attendance record today, March 20, 2025, with a total of 1,432 visitors. The previous single-day attendance record of 1,192 visitors was set on March 16, 2023. 

A number of factors contributed to the record-breaking attendance. The museum hosts extended hours on Thursday nights and is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The museum is currently hosting the nationally traveling Thomas & Friends™: Explore the Rails! exhibit through May 11, which has been a major attraction for regional spring break visitors. In addition, March 20 was a free admission night after 5 p.m. with admission sponsored by Advisors Excel. The museum offers free nights monthly on the third Thursday of each month, sponsored by generous local businesses. 

Today’s capacity crowd is timely as the museum broke ground this past September on an $11.2 million expansion that will double the square footage of the museum, expected to open this fall. The museum embarked on the project after years of record attendance and increasing demand for its services. The Building Discovery project includes:

• An artful, cohesive addition to the north of the current building will more than double the size of the museum from 15,000 to over 30,000 square feet.
• An iconic indoor climbing structure anchored by the tallest climbable sunflower in the world, at two stories tall, will draw tourism and excite visitors of all ages.
• Eleven new exhibit experiences exploring science, water power, civic engagement, dramatic play, and more to inspire learning. 
• Three new learning lab classrooms that will create space for quality, STEAM-based childcare for school-age children. 
• A 3,000 square foot traveling exhibit gallery to enable the museum to host any traveling exhibit from around the United States.
• Indoor-outdoor learning space connecting a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen with an intergenerational, accessible garden. 
• Kansas-themed learning opportunities integrated throughout exhibit spaces to excite the next generation of Kansas leaders and innovators. 
• An inventive makerspace that will enable curious children to tinker, explore, and create in a collaborative environment.
• Critical access and safety additions including a nursing room, sensory-friendly space, group entrance, and storm shelter. 

The nonprofit children’s museum opened in 2011, and in the past decade has grown significantly, gaining prominence as a regional tourist attraction and community anchor for families. Access Discovery Programs, like monthly free nights, which ensure museum access for all children, now account for more than 50,000 annual admissions, and thousands more children are served in community outreach events. Since opening in 2011, the museum has hosted more than 1 million visitors from all 50 states and 23 countries. President/CEO Dené Mosier has led the museum since 2015. 

Community members can learn more about the Building Discovery Project at www.kansasdiscovery.org/buildingdiscovery.