Portland, OR. With no end in sight for the COVID-19 lockdown, State mandates surrounding interactive museums and exhibits continue to affect the operation status of many organizations, including the Portland Children’s Museum, which remains closed.
One way staffers are continuing to serve the community is through popular summer camps. Located in the Portland Children’s Museum building itself, the kids attending have the unique experience of spending time in the museum without any of the normal attendees.
Under creative and strict social distancing measures, the campers are able to spend time in a unique setting under the Children Museum’s philosophy of “learning through play.”
Aside from the summer camps, the staff at the Children’s Museum is making a big effort to reach families at home through its Museum@Home newsletters. These are filled with clever ways for children and their parents to spend time learning together through activities that only require common household supplies, such as “nest” building and focus on thinking “outside of the box.”
From the Portland Children’s Museum, here’s all you need to know about camps:
Beginning in July and running through August, Portland Children’s Museum will offer weekly camps with added safety measures for children ages 4–10. Using Governor Kate Brown’s statewide Guidance for School-Aged Summertime Day Camps, we have reenvisioned Summer Camp plans in order to continue to explore, discover, and create together this July and August!
What to Expect this Summer:
- Groups of 10 or Less:Â Campers will be in stable groups of 10 or fewer with consistent staff members for their entire week of camp. If siblings are attending, they will be in the same group as each other despite age differences.
 - Building Closed to Public: Portland Children’s Museum will be closed to the public. Campers will have the unique opportunity to play and enjoy the Museum in their small group during the week without being alongside the regular summer crowds.
 - Designated Spaces & Staggered Timing: Each camp group will have designated indoor classroom space, bathrooms, and entrance to the building used only by their group and sanitized multiple times each day. Time in the indoor and outdoor Museum spaces will be staggered to ensure distance and time to sanitize between groups.
 - Wellness Surveys: Campers and staff will have wellness surveys each day to screen for symptoms of illness. This will include a temperature reading, checking for any new symptoms, and any known exposure to COVID-19.
 - Meal Modifications: Campers will be required to bring their own lunch and snacks for health safety reasons.​Read the Museum’s Communicable Disease Management Plan.
Our Mission:Â To develop innovative problem-solvers through playful learning experiences that strengthen relationships between children and their world.
Our Vision:Â We envision a world where everyone retains and values the innate curiosity, creativity, and empathy of childhood.
