December 10, 2024, Topeka, KS – The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center, Topeka’s nonprofit children’s museum, will open the nationally traveling Thomas & Friends™: Explore the Rails! on Friday, January 17, 2025 at 9 a.m.

Thomas & Friends™: Explore the Rails! will delight visitors with the Island of Sodor’s iconic locations: Knapford Station, Sodor Steamworks and much more. In the exhibit, children help Thomas and his friends solve a variety of challenges, from sorting and shape identification activities to more complex engineering obstacles, such as completing a train track using track pieces with different levels of elevation. The exhibit incorporates foundational STEM practices that encourage thinking mathematically, making comparisons, experimenting to solve problems using a variety of methods and tools, and thinking creatively. As children encounter new challenges and test their abilities, the smiling faces of Thomas, Percy, Victor and others are there to offer encouragement. Created by Minnesota Children’s Museum, the exhibit will be open at the Discovery Center from January 17 to May 11, and is included in the cost of regular admission. 

In this exhibit, visitors can:

• Climb into Thomas’ cab and explore the engine’s inner workings. Flip levers and investigate other movable parts that trigger train noises such as braking, whistles and steam.
• Fix Percy’s wobbly wheel by removing and replacing parts and experimenting to find a combination of wheels, rods and bolts that work.
• Explore the favorite Island of Sodor destinations including: Tidmouth Sheds, Brendam Docks and the Sodor Search & Rescue Station on an over-sized Thomas Wooden Railway train table.
• Work with old and new friends loading luggage, livestock and other freight into the coaches of two train cars.
• Collaborate with others to get Percy moving by loading coal into his coal box and filling his tank with water from a water tower.
• Suit up as the conductor to exchange money and sell tickets to other visitors taking a ride on the train.
• Wander through a Thomas & Friends retrospective featuring model engines from the original live action series produced in London, copies of the original drawings and manuscripts from the Rev. W. Awdry, the creator of Thomas & Friends, and a collection of memorabilia documenting the history and evolution of Thomas & Friends through books, television, and toys.

The Thomas & Friends exhibit was designed and developed by Minnesota Children’s Museum in partnership with Mattel, Inc. Fisher-Price, the leading manufacturer of infant and preschool toys, is the presenting sponsor for the exhibit.