New Exhibits Enrich Experience

For more than three decades, the Children’s Museum of Stockton on Weber Street in downtown Stockton has been an enchanting place for kids to explore. Now, it has some new exhibits and outdoor play equipment to entice young visitors. A special celebration was held in late February to show off the new upgrades and to thank the museum’s community sponsors as well as their generous donors.

“These new exhibits will enhance visitor experience,” Edward Figueroa, executive director of the museum, said. “While many of our exhibits are staples at the museum, we believe creating new exhibits or updating others helps keep the exhibits socially relevant and invigorates the creativity and imagination.”

The Family Resource Center is sponsoring a brand-new 211 exhibit, an interactive space designed to teach families about local community resources. Launched in February 2026 in partnership with the Family Resource Center, the exhibit aims to make calling 211 as familiar to children as calling 911. “The museum’s vibrant hands-on environment makes it the perfect place to unveil 211,” Kay Ruhstaller, CEO of Family Resource Center, said at the celebration. “Children do learn through play.”

The 211 exhibit features a fast-paced interactive game in which children help “critters” in need by identifying the right resources. Kids also can use a touch screen to practice dialing 211 and connecting characters to services such as food, housing and healthcare. The exhibit is designed to show that help and support are just a call away, helping families navigate essential services in San Joaquin County.

The Health Lab Exhibit, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, has three features. There’s a Pedal Powered Blood Flow Race where children race on stationary bikes. As they pedal, children face a display of the basic outline of a person and the movement of their pedaling tracks on the outline shows how the blood is pumped from the heart to the extremities and back to the heart. There are two bikes and two body displays so that children can race each other to see who can get the blood flowing the fastest. The second feature is a Heartbeat Box. This display tracks the child’s heartbeat. It is displayed as heart symbol on a monitor as well as having an auditory pumping noise so that a child can both see and hear their heartbeat. And there is a Light Bar, with a hand crank that a child may use. The faster they can rotate the crank, the higher the lights rise on the light bar.

“We are investing in our future workforce, our future leaders, future politicians, future changemakers,” Dr. Anitra Williams of Kaiser Permanente said of Kaiser’s sponsorship of the exhibit at the celebration. “Play builds power.”

Also new at the museum are two outdoor playground structures that are sponsored by the Mildred Luck Lewis Foundation. The new playground offers two outdoor structures designed for play for ages 2 through 5 and 6 through 12. They are a great place to climb, jump and slide! In addition, there are outdoor musical instruments sponsored by Sponsors of Musical Enrichment Foundation. Designed in the shape of a tree, a mushroom and flowers, they’re designed to not only be beautiful but fun too! Children can use percussion mallets to hit just the right note.

The San Joaquin County Office of Education is sponsoring a new Amazing Airways exhibit to encourage STEM education. “Children can experience the amazing power of pneumatics as they watch balls and scarves zipping through the maze of twists and turns and try to catch them as they are released and fall back to the earth,” said Edward. “This exhibit is truly mind-blowing!”

For moms, there is a Mamava Lactation Pod sponsored by the Rosi Cerri Foundation. While not technically an exhibit, the Mamava Lactation pod is a new and exciting addition to the museum. While nursing mothers are free to nurse in all areas of the museum, the museum also recognizes that some may want a bit more privacy. The Mamava Lactation Pod is designed with their needs in mind and offers a seating area, USB plug ins and is ADA compliant.

In all, the museum has 31 interactive, hands-on exhibits and experiences for children to enjoy. “The reaction from visitors has been overwhelming and extremely positive. Many have shared how bright and updated the museum is looking. They appreciate the changes and we are excited for more updates to come,” Edward said.