The New Children's Museum

Name

The New Children's Museum

Legal name

The New Children's Museum

Website

https://thinkplaycreate.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Museum / Cultural Institution

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

akta.pro primary industry

Children’s Museums (THAJADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Kids & Family Learning Workshops (Family Crafts, Junior Maker Classes) (THAJAKAO), Museum, Zoo & Attraction Gift Shops (CRALAJAG)

Keywords

• Children's museum services
• Interactive art installations
• Art education programs
• Event venue rentals
• Museum membership programs

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Admissions: Daily admissions revenue from children ($20 for ages 1+), adults ($25), seniors, military, and educators ($20 with discount). Children under 1 and members admitted free.
2. Memberships: Annual membership tiers providing unlimited admission for 12 months: 2 Person ($150), 3-4 Person ($250), 5-6 Person ($350). Includes discounts on parking, café, and birthday parties, plus 4 guest passes and reciprocal benefits at 200+ children's museums.
3. Event Rentals: Venue rental for corporate meetings, special events, and birthday parties. Accommodates groups up to 1,000 across three levels. Includes party rooms, optional art-making activities, and catering partnerships.
4. Donations and Grants: 501(c)(3) nonprofit relying on tax-deductible contributions to fund operations and programs. Major donors, corporate sponsors, and foundation grants support access programs, exhibitions, and community outreach.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The New Children's Museum is a nonprofit children's museum that commissions contemporary artists to create immersive, hands-on art installations for children and families. It offers daily admissions, annual memberships, school and group visits, summer and seasonal camps, after-school art programs, birthday parties, and corporate/private event rentals across a 50,000-square-foot venue in downtown San Diego.

Product overview

The New Children's Museum is a nonprofit children's museum offering a portfolio of interactive art experiences, educational programs, and event services centered around contemporary art and creativity. The core offering consists of rotating art installations created by contemporary artists, supplemented by Artopia: NCM Creative Studios as a dedicated creative hub with artist-led workshops. The museum provides structured programs including Youth Ceramics and Art Afterschool Series for ages 8-13, Summer/Seasonal Camps for ages 5-13, School and Group Visits for educational institutions, and Community Programs like Mass Creativity. Additional offerings include Literacy Programs (Story Time Studio, Author Visits), Toddler Time for early childhood, and Access Programs ensuring inclusive admission. Event services encompass Birthday Parties and facility rentals. The museum also offers Virtual Art Experiences through its All About Art program and maintains hands-on makerspaces including the Innovators LAB and various Art Drop-In Spaces (Clay Studio, Paint Studio, Museum Park).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bean Sprouts Cafe: On-site cafe offering food options for visitors.
• Artopia: NCM Creative Studios
• Rosso Family Foundation Innovators LAB
• Toddler Time

Products and services

• Art Installations Interactive art installations created by contemporary artists for children to explore, play, and learn. The museum commissions and collaborates with artists to create immersive, hands-on installations that change regularly.
• Artopia: NCM Creative Studios The creative hub of the museum's expansion, offering hands-on art experiences including artist-led workshops, drop-in art making, and creative programs for children, teens, adults, and families.
• Museum Membership Annual membership with unlimited admission, parking discounts, early camp registration access, reciprocal ACM network benefits, and guest passes. Tiers include 2-Person ($150), 3-4 Person ($250), and 5-6 Person ($350).
• School Visits Program In-person and virtual educational tours for schools from pre-kindergarten through high school, with interdisciplinary activities aligned with visual arts, reading, writing, social studies and science standards.
• Summer Camps Project-based summer art camps for students ages 5-13 taught by artists and educators. Named one of the Best STEM Summer Camps in San Diego by SummerCamps.com.
• Youth Ceramics Afterschool Series Four-week wheel-throwing course for ages 8-13, teaching centering, opening, and pulling techniques for creating functional ceramic forms.
• Art Afterschool Series Hands-on, project-based art-making for ages 8-13 inspired by contemporary art and ideas, rotating through themes and media with foundational sessions on essential techniques.
• Birthday Parties Event hosting at the museum including admission, party room, optional art-making activities, and catering options. Can accommodate groups in the 50,000-square-foot venue.
• Corporate Event Rentals Venue rental for corporate meetings, special events, and team building accommodating up to 1,000 guests across three levels, with party rooms and optional art-making activities.
• Social Emotional Learning Program Collaborative curriculum with San Diego Unified School District that empowers teachers to use visual arts as a tool to cultivate social emotional learning in students at 7 Title 1 schools.
• Toddler Time Weekly facilitated toddler programming including Story Time, Science + Nature, Art-Making, and Music + Movement for ages 5 years and younger.
• Literacy Programs Includes Story Time Studio (live story readings and hands-on art activities for ages 0-7) and Seeding Futures Author Visits (author readings, Q&A, and book signings).
• Mass Creativity Series of free community workshops and family fun day at the Museum designed to inspire imagination and creativity through hands-on art-making.
• Access Programs Includes Museums for All ($5 admission with EBT/SNAP/WIC), Access for All Membership (reduced-cost memberships), free admission for CASA volunteers, Discover & Go Library Program, and Rx for Art + Play wellness program.
• All About Art Virtual Tours Series of virtual experiences of the Museum's interactive art installations featuring mascots Art and Play exploring the museum's exhibitions from home.
• Bean Sprouts Cafe On-site cafe offering food and beverage options for the entire family, including options for picky eaters and those with dietary challenges.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 300,000 visitors annually, with over 1/3 served through access programs
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered secondary and core.

• StoryCorpssecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020As an IMLS National Medal recipient, the museum partnered with StoryCorps to record 40-minute conversations with people connected to the museum. One interview was edited into a 3-minute segment for NPR, and all 12 interviews are archived at the Library of Congress.
• Association of Children's Museums (ACM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive member of ACM, a national network of 200+ children's museums. Through ACM's reciprocal membership program, museum members receive free or discounted admission at participating children's museums nationwide, extending access beyond San Diego for traveling families.
• San Diego Museum CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipates in countywide access initiatives through a network of 70+ museums and cultural institutions across San Diego County, including Museum Month (50% off general admission in February) and Kids Free October.
• Voices for Children (CASA Program)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership granting free admission to children in the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program and their CASA volunteers. Contact [email protected] for more information.
• San Diego Public LibrarycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSan Diego Public Library cardholders can reserve free passes covering admission for 2 adults and up to 6 children (8 people total) through the Discover & Go program.
• CPCMG ClinicscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPediatricians at three CPCMG clinics serving under-resourced San Diego communities prescribe the Rx for Art + Play program, providing families with free art kits, year-long museum memberships for up to 6 people, and free parking.
• San Diego Unified School District Visual and Performing Arts DepartmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership with the school district's VAPA department, an art therapist, a project evaluator, and 11 teachers from 7 Title 1 schools to develop a Social Emotional Learning curriculum using visual arts.
• Artist Tanya AguiñigacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned artist who created the tikitiko toddler play space installation at the museum. Artist creates immersive, hands-on art experiences for children.
• Artist Wes BrucecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned artist who created The Wonder Sound installation, a labyrinth of rooms, nooks, ropes and continuous exploration for children.
• Artist Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned artist who created Whammock!, an interactive three-dimensional textile environment made of hand-dyed, hand-braided nylon resembling a giant crocheted hammock.
• Saya WoolfalkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned New York-based artist who created Woodswoman: Earthseed installation, transforming the gallery into a lush landscape with sculptural forms, projections, and responsive sound for visitors to explore as 'California butterflies.'
• teamLAB KidscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtist collective that created the Sketch Aquarium installation where children can draw sea creatures that come to life in a virtual aquarium.
• Wes Sam-BrucecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned artist who created the immersive Curio Cityscapes installation for Sculpture & Sound afterschool program, transforming everyday materials into imaginative architecture.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• San Diego Air & Space Museum: San Diego cultural institution and fellow San Diego Museum Council member. Competes for the same regional family/school visit market and membership wallet share in the San Diego metro.
• San Diego Zoo: Flagship San Diego family attraction and San Diego Museum Council partner. Competes for the same family tourism, membership, and group-visit spending in the San Diego market.

Direct peers

• Children's Creativity Museum: San Francisco-based children's museum focused on technology- and art-driven interactive installations, including teamLAB work. Strongest direct analogue in mission and content strategy to The New Children's Museum.
• Boston Children's Museum: One of the oldest and largest children's museums in the U.S., combining hands-on exhibits, art, and cultural programming with school and family audiences. Highly comparable in operating model and programs.
• Children's Museum of Indianapolis: The largest children's museum in the world, operating immersive, themed exhibits and broad educational programming. Directly comparable in audience (children and families) and operationally similar nonprofit museum model.
• Children's Museum of Atlanta: Atlanta-based children's museum with hands-on exhibits, art programming, and dedicated early-childhood offerings. Operates a similar admissions-plus-membership model and serves comparable family and school audiences.
• Children's Museum of Houston: Major U.S. children's museum offering interactive exhibits, school programs, and family programming with a significant focus on underserved-community access. Comparable scale and mission emphasis.
• Please Touch Museum: Philadelphia children's museum with immersive, hands-on exhibits for young children, including dedicated early-childhood spaces. Direct peer serving the same audience with similar mission-driven programming.

Broad incumbents

• Exploratorium: San Francisco-based interactive science and art museum serving families and school groups. Broader than a children's museum but overlaps significantly on hands-on, inquiry-driven exhibits for similar audiences.

Emerging players

• KidZania: Global chain of indoor role-play "city for kids" attractions emphasizing immersive, hands-on experiences. Overlaps with the museum's experiential learning value proposition for families and school groups.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/newchildrensmuseum

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The New Children's Museum