Nickelodeon's Day of Play is coming back to Downtown El Paso, and this time SpongeBob SquarePants is bringing the slime. La Nube STEAM Discovery Center will host the national celebration on September 26, turning Main Street into a free outdoor block party packed with meet-and-greets, food trucks and hands-on science before anyone even steps through the museum's front doors.
According to KVIA, Nickelodeon organized the Day of Play event at La Nube as a high-energy celebration of movement, imagination and hands-on discovery, and the event returns to the downtown El Paso center this year. The outlet's report also covers the September 26 date. Per La Nube, the Main Street portion of the celebration will include SpongeBob SquarePants meet-and-greets, local food trucks, community booths and interactive sliming stations, all free to attend, while the museum's indoor exhibits still require general admission or a timed-entry ticket.
A National Campaign With Local Roots
The Day of Play traces back to October 2004, when Nickelodeon first suspended regular programming across its cable networks for three hours to push kids outside and away from the screen, according to Wikipedia. The campaign returned in 2023 after a four-year hiatus, the same source notes. La Nube says the Association of Children's Museums partnered with Nickelodeon on the 2025 Our World: Worldwide Day of Play, while NickALive! lists September 26, 2026, for the event. The organization coordinates event participation across hundreds of youth institutions nationwide, but La Nube's approach stands out by pairing that free outdoor street programming with its own indoor science exhibits, according to the same report.
Inside the $72 Million Cloud on the El Paso Skyline
La Nube is a 70,000-square-foot children's museum and science center in Downtown El Paso, a facility built at a cost of $72 million to deliver immersive science and art learning across nine dedicated zones. The building's rippling, barrel-vaulted roof was designed by international firm Snøhetta, working with local firm Exigo Architecture, according to Snøhetta. Oakland-based exhibit firm Gyroscope Inc. designed the interior learning zones, which include a climbing structure and a 6,000-square-foot water gallery named Flow, where visitors experiment with fluid dynamics, per Boss Display.
Today, La Nube operates as a public-private partnership between the city and the El Paso Community Foundation, according to the museum's own account of its history.
Built for Accessibility and Bilingual Families
La Nube incorporates barrier-free access and inclusive spaces, according to the El Paso Downtown Management District. Sensory and accessibility information is also available.
Affordability is also part of the pitch. The center offers $5 admission in person to visitors presenting WIC or SNAP EBT cards.
A Hub for STEAM Education Beyond One Weekend
That role extends into the classroom, too. In December 2025, El Paso Independent School District launched an Hour of AI initiative in partnership with Microsoft TechSpark and La Nube, aiming to bring computational thinking skills to local students, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of EPISD's AI guidance framework. It is a reminder that the same building throwing open its doors for SpongeBob and slime on September 26 has also partnered with EPISD on an initiative to teach computational thinking skills.
