ROCKFORD – The insatiable curiosity of Curious George – the little monkey who has captured the imagination and hearts of millions of children and adults for more than 75 years – comes to life at Discovery Center Museum. The new exhibit, Curious George: Let’s Get Curious!, will introduce young children to Curious George’s world and lead visitors on a fun, meaningful interactive adventure. 

“A Curious George exhibit targeted to children ages three through seven can augment learning in this critical time period,” said Sarah Wolf, executive director of Discovery Center Museum. “The science and math activities in the exhibit will provide a rich and meaningful context in which these skills can be learned and developed in a fun and engaging way.”

Based on the familiar characters in H.A. and Margret Rey’s classic stories published by Houghton Mifflin, the new Curious George exhibit inspires young children’s natural curiosity as they explore early science, math and engineering through hands-on interactive play. The immersive exhibit environment takes place in the neighborhood where Curious George lives with his friend, The Man with the Yellow Hat. Visitors will recognize familiar characters and places featured in the classic stories and the television series on PBS KIDS. The exhibit is in both English and Spanish.

The Curious George: Let’s Get Curious! exhibition runs through May 13. Admission is $11 per person for the public (including museum general admission); admission for museum members is $1. The exhibition is sponsored locally by Lowe’s Rockford Distribution Center; Smith Charitable Foundation; Dean Alan Olson Foundation; and Illinois Bank & Trust. Local media sponsor is WTVO/WQRF. It is sponsored nationally by Minnesota Children’s Museum and 3M.

Inside the Exhibit:

Apartment Building: Operate wheels to move George on pulleys from window to window. Climb the fire escape and climb inside to play with color, light and shadow.

Sidewalk Produce Stand: Play customer or salesperson and explore shape, sorting, weighing and counting with fruit and vegetables.

Construction Site: Design a building, make use of a bounty of building materials and get to work constructing different structures and using machines to move materials.

City Park: Enjoy the urban green space: rest or give a hug to a full-size George and take a picture!

The youngest visitors will enjoy the busy wall activities for babies and toddlers.

Mini Golf: Use pipes, ramps, funnels, turntables, bumpers and force to experiment with physics and engineering as you putt through three holes of mini golf.

Space Rocket: Step up to the rocket Curious George took on his space adventure. Snap a picture with George in his space suit.

Farm: Take a vacation to the country and visit the farm. Experience cause and effect and use wind power to move yard art like whirligigs, windmills, windsocks, and wind chimes. Build your own whirligig and care for the farm animals.

Museum Within the Museum: Learn new things about George when you visit the Museum within the Museum. Follow H.A. and Margret Rey’s work, their escape from France to safety during World War II that saved the Curious George manuscript, and Curious George throughout the years.