The Grand Rapids Public Museum recently announced its newest traveling exhibit, AlgreMENTE | Happy Brain: Celebrating Early Connections, opening Saturday, November 14.
The new addition is a bilingual Spanish/English exhibition that seeks to educate visitors about early brain development in young children. AlegreMENTE | Happy Brain transports visitors of all ages to a whimsical forest filled with families of all kinds, both human and animal. The exhibit focuses on the basics of early brain development using interactive features including a light-up tilt table, a dance studio, a creative storytelling game, and a fun infant area.
“AlgreMENTE | Happy Brain will be a welcome addition to our exhibit mix,” said Kellie Rosekrans, Director of Marketing at the GRPM. “We strive to be a welcoming and accessible place for all, and that includes our community’s youngest learners. This exhibit offers hands-on play that supports early brain development and enables families to make connections.”
Developed and produced by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), AlegreMENTE | Happy Brain offers a fully immersive, interactive exhibit where kids play and adults learn about how simple, everyday interactions build social-emotional, language, cognitive, and motor skills for a lifetime. This enables caregivers to explore alongside their children, discovering they’re equipped with everything they need to support early brain development and build healthy connections.
“Since strong, positive relationships and interactions with caregivers and parents are the most important part of early brain building, we were really focused on how to make the exhibition inviting for all ages,” said Cecilia Nguyen, exhibit developer at OMSI. “In particular, we wanted to provide a lot of opportunities for grownups to interact with their young children.” In order to create a fully immersive environment, OMSI collaborated with illustrator Johanna Kim to develop original characters, settings, and illustrations.
“When I was young, I loved listening to my mom’s stories. Her words came to life in my mind, sparking images, sounds, and even smells that fueled my imagination. I hope that visitors to AlegreMENTE | Happy Brain have a similar sort of experience,” said Kim. “Ultimately, the characters are, like my mom’s words, a springboard for kids and their caregivers to play, explore, and invent their own unique narratives.”
AlegreMENTE | Happy Brain will remain at the GRPM through May 2, 2027, and is included with general admission. Kent County youth age 17 and under visit the GRPM free every day. Visitors can plan their visit and purchase tickets at grpm.org.
