Oak Park's Wonder Works Children's Museum made a splash over the weekend with its third annual Bubble Works event, slashing prices to allow a record number of over 1,000 bubbly enthusiasts to engage in soapy science fun, according to Chicago Tribune. Attendance ballooned compared to the previous year's 650 attendees after the museum lowered ticket prices to $15 for nonmembers and $5 for members, Vanessa Druckman, the institution's marketing and communications manager, relayed in a statement.
Druckman emphasized the decision to drop price points underscores the museum's dedication to providing accessible play-based experiences, with the reduced costs reflecting a significant dip from the prior year's $30 and $15 price tags for nonmembers and members respectively; "Our mission is to serve play-based opportunities to as many children as possible so we felt that we really needed to take a look at our prices and we radically decreased them," she explained. The outdoor extravaganza also featured food trucks for the first time including the Boba Truck and the Spoke Cafe cart, augmenting the festivity of balletic bubbles and liquid spheres that carried the sing-song fun throughout the two-day event.
Amidst the soapy escapades, kids interacted with the beloved Glowby the Bubbler, a performer and inventor, who dazzled the young crowd with new bubble-centric creations, Druckman detailed while celebrating his newest invention, a bubble snowthrower capable of crafting snowflake-like formations. The event also included a bubble pit sizeable enough to engulf children in foam up to their shoulders, establishing a veritable playground filled with bubble wands of varying sizes for scientific exploration and unadulterated delight, which aligns with the museum's philosophy of experiential learning through play.
Bubble Works wasn't solely about the ephemeral art of bubble blowing, it extended into educational territory with a tent dedicated to STEM activities, and Druckman highlighted bubbles as a universally adored activity that doubles as a conduit for introducing STEM concepts, with children having the chance to experience and test different things while watching a menagerie of bubbles. Furthermore, attendees had the opportunity to concoct their own custom bubble solutions, weaving creativity into the educational tapestry the museum laid out for its visitors, with details featured in coverage by Pioneer Press.
This playful scientific revelry drew participants not only from Oak Park but also from wider Chicago and Indiana, creating a magnified footprint for the museum which thrives on granting children permission to play freely and messily outdoors. Meanwhile, the museum looks forward to extending its outreach with confirmed participation in the upcoming Bonnie Brae 9/11 LemonAid charity stand, hoping to bring the same bubbling joy that colored Bubble Works into the heart of the community, Executive Director Rachel Weber informed reporters.
For those who missed the foamy fun, the Wonder Works Children's Museum has more in store with a summer membership option, running till September, and its Wonder Wheels event slated for October, promising further family-friendly exploits yet to come, as mentioned in coverage by WGN’s Gaynor Hall.
