Education & Learning at the Imaginarium
Learning Through Curiosity, Creativity, and Exploration
At the Imaginarium, learning happens through doing. As an informal STEAM learning environment, we create hands-on experiences that invite children, families, educators, and community groups to explore ideas, ask questions, solve problems, and discover new ways of thinking.
Our goal is to make learning active, meaningful, and memorable. Through interactive exhibits, guided experiences, and theme-based activities, the Imaginarium helps learners connect curiosity with creativity, exploration, and real-world discovery.
What Is Informal Learning?
Learning does not happen only in classrooms. Some of the most meaningful learning happens when children are free to explore, experiment, collaborate, and follow their own questions.
That is what informal learning makes possible.
At the Imaginarium, children learn by interacting with exhibits, testing ideas, noticing patterns, trying again, and discovering how things work. These experiences are playful and engaging, but they are also rich with opportunities for thinking, problem solving, and growth.
Informal learning gives children space to wonder, create, and learn in ways that feel natural, joyful, and exciting.
Our Educational Approach
At the Imaginarium, our educational approach is built around active, meaningful learning. We design experiences that encourage children to think, explore, and make connections across STEAM in ways that feel accessible and exciting.
Hands-On Exploration
Children learn best when they can interact, build, test, move, and discover. Our exhibits and activities invite learners to engage directly with ideas rather than simply observe them.
Curiosity and Inquiry
We encourage children to ask questions, try new approaches, and investigate how things work. Curiosity is often the starting point for deeper learning.
Creativity and Problem Solving
The Imaginarium creates space for children to imagine, design, experiment, and rethink their ideas. These experiences support both creativity and flexible thinking.
Real-World Connections
Our exhibits and programs help learners connect STEAM ideas to the world around them, making learning more relevant, meaningful, and memorable.
Theme-Based, Guided Learning
One of the things that makes education and learning at the Imaginarium distinctive is that our activities are often organized around engaging themes that connect the entire experience.
Recent themes have included Journey to Mars, Black Excellence in STEAM, Earth & Oceans, and Halloween. Based on the theme, learners move through stations where they complete missions or tasks connected to the bigger idea of the day. This helps make each visit purposeful, immersive, and memorable.
Our activities are not only hands-on, but also intentionally planned. Each station is supported by an activity plan, and experiences are guided by graduate and undergraduate assistants from Mississippi State University. This combination of themed learning, structured activities, and university student facilitation gives the Imaginarium a distinctive educational model within informal learning.
We also welcome opportunities to work with teachers and schools to develop activities connected to themes, topics, or classroom needs.
Who We Serve
The Imaginarium is designed to support education and learning across a wide range of audiences.
Students
We provide engaging, age-appropriate experiences that help children explore STEAM concepts through interaction, movement, creativity, and discovery.
Teachers and Schools
We support school learning through guided field trips, standards-connected experiences, and educational resources that help extend learning beyond the classroom.
Families
The Imaginarium offers opportunities for children and caregivers to learn together through shared exploration, conversation, and play.
Community Groups
We welcome community partners and groups who are interested in meaningful, hands-on educational experiences that support curiosity and engagement.
How Learning Happens Here
Learning at the Imaginarium is active, social, and experience-based. Children do not simply move from one display to another. They interact with ideas, test possibilities, and learn by participating.
At the Imaginarium, learning may happen when a child:
- experiments with a design and sees what works
- works with others to solve a challenge
- notices a pattern or asks a new question
- revises an idea after trying something once
- connects an exhibit to something they have seen in everyday life
- discovers that learning can be creative, exciting, and fun
These moments may look playful, but they are also meaningful learning experiences that help children build confidence, understanding, and curiosity.
How Our Exhibits Support Learning
Each exhibit at the Imaginarium is more than an activity—it is an opportunity for discovery.
Our exhibits support learning by encouraging children to:
- observe and ask questions
- test ideas and make predictions
- create, build, and redesign
- collaborate with others
- connect imagination with problem solving
- explore STEAM concepts in interactive ways
Whether children are experimenting with motion, exploring digital creativity, testing designs, or interacting with collaborative technologies, they are learning through direct experience.
Learning Experiences at the Imaginarium
The Imaginarium offers a range of educational experiences designed to support curiosity, engagement, and exploration.
Guided Field Trips
Our field trips introduce students to a variety of hands-on stations and interactive exhibits that encourage exploration, collaboration, and STEAM learning.
Theme-Based Missions and Activities
Many visits are built around a central theme, with each station offering a mission, task, or challenge connected to that theme. This creates a shared learning journey that helps learners make connections across the entire experience.
Exhibit-Based Exploration
Children learn by engaging directly with interactive exhibits that invite experimentation, movement, creativity, and discovery.
Hands-On Activities and Challenges
Many Imaginarium experiences encourage learners to build, test, solve, create, and reflect in ways that make learning both active and meaningful.
Educational Resources and Support
We continue to develop learning materials and experiences that help educators connect Imaginarium visits to broader learning goals.
Informal Learning and School Learning
The Imaginarium is an informal learning environment, but that does not mean learning here is separate from school learning. Instead, it complements and enriches it.
Our experiences are designed to connect with important educational ideas while giving children opportunities to explore those ideas in more active, creative, and memorable ways. For teachers, the Imaginarium offers a place where classroom learning can be extended through inquiry, interaction, and hands-on discovery.
This balance is part of what makes informal learning so powerful: it supports educational growth while also giving children freedom to explore.
Why This Matters
Informal learning environments like the Imaginarium play an important role in helping children grow as thinkers, creators, and problem solvers.
These experiences can help children:
- build curiosity and confidence
- develop creativity and flexible thinking
- strengthen observation and problem-solving skills
- collaborate with others
- connect learning with real-world ideas
- see STEAM as exciting, meaningful, and accessible
When children are given opportunities to explore in active and joyful ways, learning can become something they not only understand, but also enjoy.
For Educators
The Imaginarium is committed to supporting educators by providing learning experiences that are engaging, thoughtfully designed, and connected to broader educational goals.
Our theme-based, guided model allows us to create experiences that are both exciting for students and meaningful for teachers. We are also open to developing activities around themes, topics, or classroom needs identified by educators and schools.
Whether through field trips, educational resources, or future partnerships, we see the Imaginarium as a place where school learning and informal learning can work together in meaningful ways.
Looking Ahead
As the Imaginarium continues to grow, so does our commitment to education, learning, creativity, and access. We are excited to keep developing experiences that invite children, families, educators, and communities to explore, imagine, and discover together.
Our vision is to continue building a place where learning feels hands-on, joyful, and meaningful—and where curiosity leads to new ideas, new questions, and new possibilities.
Connect With Us
We welcome conversations with teachers, schools, families, and community partners who are interested in educational experiences at the Imaginarium.
To learn more about our programs, field trips, theme-based activities, or partnership opportunities, please contact us.