Children’s Discovery Museum gets $1 million for new agriculture exhibit

Posted on March 19, 2025
Leaders from McLean County took a photo with the donation check. (Photo courtesy: Children’s Discovery Museum/Facebook)

By WMBD TV

NORMAL – The Children’s Discovery Museum in Normal announced Wednesday it will be using a $1 million gift to build a new agriculture exhibit next year.

The gift from the McLean County Farm Bureau was accepted by the museum at the annual McLean County Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Awareness Breakfast, a museum news release stated.

“This is the largest single gift the Museum has ever received, and it makes perfect sense that it would come from the agriculture community that drives so many parts of the Central Illinois economy,” Museum Executive Director Beth Whisman said. “It’s been exciting to work with the McLean County Farm Bureau and other ag partners to design a new exhibit that accurately reflects the landscape today.”

The gift will go towards a new exhibit called “From Farm to a Healthy Me” and will double the size of the existing agriculture exhibit opened in 2006.

The new exhibit is expected to feature:

  • A ball drop maze representing the journey of grain from the field, through trucks/barges, grain elevators, and processing, to the world
  • An “Ag Lab” connecting agronomy, weather, soil and STEM concepts of science, technology, engineering and math
  • A colorful grocery store complete with a bakery, pizza kitchen and deli counter with hands-on interactives for ag based food and household products
  • A dynamic food truck with changing themes and menus to fit seasons, family traditions and cultures
  • Pigs, cows and chickens
  • Two drone simulation activities
  • Dedicated toddlers play space themed with pollinators and specialty crops grown in Illinois

McLean County Farm Bureau Board President Brian Dirks said he is excited to see how the new exhibit will help grow the community’s understanding of food and farming.

“Our gift to help update and renovate the agriculture exhibit represents one piece of our ongoing commitment to supporting agricultural education in our community,” Dirks said.

More information on the Children’s Discovery Museum is available here.

WMBD TV can be reached at [email protected].

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