Omaha Exploration

A much more frequent stop of ours when my son was younger was the Omaha Children’s Museum. OMC has been around much longer the Kiewit Luminarium having gotten its start in 1976 with a shoe box in the back of a station wagon.

The mobile museum operated under the philosophy of “I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.” By 1989 it found its permanent home at 500 S 20th Street in a building that had been home to Team One Ford dealership.

OMC has a variety of permanent and special exhibits that rotate on a periodic basis. Among its permanent exhibits is the popular Zooland, the playground animals from the old Richman Gordman’s, Imagination Playground, Art Smart Center, Charlie Campbell Science & Technology Center, Streck Science Showplace, STEAM cave, Susie’ Station, Sandy’s Splish Splash Garden and the Grass Patch.

In addition it has a carousel and train which require tickets to ride. It’s also hosts camps and is available for birthday parties. Food and drinks are available at the Rainbow Cafe.

In 2024 OMC announced that it will move to a new home at 8th and Douglas Streets. Its new location will be much more accessible and pedestrian friendly with it being in the middle Gene Leahy Mall on one end, adjacent to Heartland of America park and Lewis & Clark Landing and the Kiewit Luminarium on the other end. The new space is expected to open in 2028.

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