The Sierra Nevada Children's Museum was founded by a grassroots coalition of community members, parents and educators in 1992. This group was inspired to address a need for hands-on education for children especially during our snowy winter months. The Sierra Nevada Children's Museum opened its doors next to the 7-Eleven store on Donner Pass Road in Truckee.
A local children's advocacy group began testing our kindergartners on a national test for appropriate development. They found that over 60% of our 5-year-olds were scoring below average on gross motor skill development. Because of these findings, the Sierra Nevada Children's Museum partnered with community members to build our current KidZone Museum facility, which includes an indoor play structure.
KidZone Museum Founding Partners- Community Collaborative of Tahoe Truckee
- First Five Nevada County
- First Five Placer County
- Tahoe Truckee Unified School District
- Truckee Donner Recreation and Park District
- Truckee Donner Public Utilities District
- Truckee Family Club (aka Truckee Family Connection)
- Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation
- Susan Ray and Judy Thomas, Founders
- Rich Welsch
- Steve Gross
- Michele Franke
- Mary Hetherington
- Hillary Humphreys, First Volunteer Executive Director
- Barb Wilkinson, KidZone Museum Executive Director Emeritus