How do you get local families excited about a new downtown Buffalo children's museum that isn't scheduled to open for two more years? Let kids touch a truck. It's just one activity to be held in early June, as Explore and More looks forward to their upcoming new interactive museum in Canalside.
Groundbreaking on the new facility, which will replace their existing location in East Aurora, is not scheduled until next spring and the museum is not set to open until 2018. On Sunday, June 5, Explore and More Children's Museum will co-host Touch A Truck as part of the City of Buffalo's Day of Play.
"The museum isn't just waiting around for their building to be built," said Touch A Truck event co-char Sam Savarino. "They're bringing the fun downtown now."
The event will be hosted in the Buffalo News parking lot on Scott Street, between Michigan Avenue and Washington Street, from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. on the day of the event.
As part of Touch A Truck, youngsters will be able to climb into and on to actual heavy trucks and explore the vehicles. They'll also be invited to take part in activities including making and racing derby cars. Popular local characters are scheduled to appear. Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres mascots Billy Buffalo and Sabretooth, for example, were among those appearing at Thursday morning's news conference to detail the upcoming event.
Explore and More's current site in East Aurora welcomes thousands of guests each year. The museum's CEO, Douglas Love, says when the newer museum opens in Canalside, they'll expect even more guests.
"Today we serve 60,000 children and their families. When we open in Canalside in 2018, we are projected to serve more than 250,000 annually," Love said.
More information about Touch A Truck can be found here.
