About Knock Knock Museum
Discover Our Story
Who We Are
A Museum on a Mission
Knock Knock Children’s Museum is a vibrant hub of creativity and exploration, nestled in BREC’s scenic City-Brooks Park. Our 26,000-square-foot facility features 18 interactive Learning Zones, sparking curiosity and learning in children from all backgrounds. With passionate educators and volunteers, we cultivate a love for learning through PLAY, aiming to shape creative thinkers and innovative problem solvers. Through hands-on activities, we empower children to develop critical thinking and communication skills and confidence, laying the foundation for lifelong learning.
The museum is specially designed to address the development of the whole child impacting our community by:
- Serving children, birth through age 8, and their families.
- Providing high-quality early learning experiences for all children, including an expanding population of children living in under-resourced and underserved environments or with physical or cognitive disabilities.
- Helping close the knowledge and experience gap in the early childhood years.
- Developing workforce & 21st-century skills exploration.
Learning Zones
Knock Knock Children’s Museum’s Learning Zones are anchored in research and evidence-based practices addressing all areas of development, designed to create teachable moments that will connect children’s everyday experiences to learning. Knock Knock’s focus is on the development of the whole child to increase early literacy skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) while expanding knowledge and raising interest in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) subjects and careers.
Foundation for a Lifetime of Learning
A Place for All To Play
We believe that every child deserves the opportunity to explore, learn, and grow in an environment that nurtures their innate curiosity. By offering a safe, welcoming, and stimulating environment, we empower children to develop critical thinking skills, cultivate their imaginations, and build confidence, setting the foundation for a lifetime of learning.
Initiated in 2004 by a determined group of women who wanted a special place for the children of Baton Rouge to thrive, project planning was fueled by a vision to enhance the community’s amenities for Capital Area families. An initial feasibility study revealed overwhelming community support for investing in children’s early learning and a best-in-class facility, focused on early literacy and hands-on learning.
Collaborating with nationally respected museum planners and early childhood education experts, the team convened community focus groups shaping the museum’s focus, engaged renowned education consultant, Jeanne Vergeront to draft a formal Learning Framework for the museum, and a strategic planner to create a sustainable business plan and Master Plan.
Major support from Founding Partners, the Irene W. and C.B Pennington Foundation and BREC (Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge), along with support from thirty Founding Members, ensured the museum’s initial development had the necessary resources and was guided by early-learning research, children’s museum best practices, and sound business principles.
We finalized a cooperative agreement with BREC in 2011 and selected Cambridge Seven Associates and award-winning Baton Rouge and Covington-based Remson Hayley Herpin Architects as the project’s architectural firm. We broke ground in 2015 and engaged 1220 Exhibits to build out our Learning Zones. Our doors opened on August 22, 2017. The pandemic hit the museum hard, forcing its closure for 447 days during 2020 and 2021. Thanks to generous donors and federal and state funding, the museum was able to bridge the gap caused by dramatic revenue losses and remain solvent. Post-pandemic, we are poised to return to pre-COVID visitation, membership, and philanthropic gift levels.
Mission & Values
We’re A Museum On a Mission
Knock Knock Children’s Museum is a community spark for engaging, playful learning experiences that inspire and support lifelong learning.
Our Knowledge of Children
We place children at the center of our decision-making. We ground our decisions in knowledge about children’s development and learning, children as individuals, and the social/cultural context in which they live.
Inclusive
We strive to be inclusive by making our museum relevant and accessible to all. We celebrate and value the cultural, social, and ethnic diversity of ALL children and the grownups that come to play and learn with them.
Relationships
We recognize that responsive interactions are critical for children and adults to achieve their fullest potential in the context of relationships that are built on trust and respect.
Playfulness
We recognize constructive, purposeful play as an important vehicle for learning across all ages. Interactions with peers, supportive adults and the environment are critical elements in children’s ability to learn through play.
Learning
We believe that all areas of early development (social/emotional, physical, cognitive, language) and learning (literacy, science, mathematics, engineering, technology, social studies, the arts) are important, interrelated, and grounded in play.
Excellence
We strive for excellence by committing our knowledge, expertise, creativity, integrity, and energy to achieving quality.
Collaboration
We are dedicated to working with other individuals, organizations and institutions, who recognize the importance of investing in young children for our community’s future.
Stewardship
We strive to be ethical and responsible stewards of our community’s financial, cultural, and environmental resources.
Visitor Experience
We strive to be a healthy, safe and welcoming place that people want to visit.
Continuous Improvement
We are a continuously evolving organization, making adjustments, and improvements based on data analysis.
Innovation & Creativity
We will spark innovation and creativity and view failure as an opportunity to grow.
Continuing Education
We are committed to supporting research-based learning opportunities for families, educators, caregivers, the community, and our staff.
Partners & Founding Members
Founding Partners
- The Recreation and Parks Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge (BREC)
- Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation
Founding Members
- The Albemarle Foundation
- All Star Automotive
- Amedisys, Inc.
- Andreeff Foundation
- Aza and Tim Bowlin
- Baton Rouge Coca-Cola Bottling, Inc.
- Brookwood Properties
- Capital Area United Way
- Catherine and Matthew Saurage
- Chad L. Prather, MD & Camile A. Silva
- Chip and Mi Mi Bankston – In loving memory of Graham Bankston
- Credit Bureau of Baton Rouge Foundation
- Douglas L. Gordon, M.D. Family
- ExxonMobil
- Junior League of Baton Rouge
- Knock Knock Founding Board of Directors
- Lamar Advertising Company
- Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry
- Mary Kay and Terrell Brown Kate and Tee Brown Mary Charlotte and Lloyd Collette Fund
- Peoples Health
- Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers
- SGS Petroleum Service Corporation
- The Boo Grigsby Foundation
- The City of Baton Rouge
- The Manship Family
- The McMains Foundation
- The Savoie Family
- Waters & Pettit Commercial Real Estate
Awards
2021, 2022, and 2023 – Voted Best Museum, 225 Magazine/Baton Rouge Business Report
2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 – Voted Best Place to Spend the Day with the Kids, 225 Magazine/Baton Rouge Business Report
2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 – Voted Favorite Museum, BR Parents Magazine
2019 – Named a Making Spaces Regional Hub for Maker Education
2018 – Good Growth Award, Baton Rouge Growth Coalition
2018 – People’s Choice Award, Baton Rouge Growth Coalition
2018 – National Philanthropy Day’s Board of Directors Award, Association of Fundraising Professionals
2018 – Museum of the Year, Louisiana Association of Museums
2018 – Facilities Award, National Association of County Parks and Recreation Officials
2018 – Happy Award, LSU Center for Community Engagement, Learning & Leadership
2018 – Silver Rose Award, American Institute of Architects, Baton Rouge Chapter
2018 – National Design Award of Honor, Society of American Registered Architects