Doña Ana County has a new children’s museum for families to visit and explore with their young ones. But there’s something unique about Ngage New Mexico’s Vamos Niños interactive museum: It’s on wheels. Dozens of families lined up at Young Park in Las Cruces as part of the museum’s launch event.
Kimmi Cravens, development coordinator for Ngage New Mexico, explained the need for a dedicated children’s museum in the southern part of the state.
“We realized many years ago that we needed a way to connect our families to different resources and supports that are in the community for them. And we thought the best way to do that and the best way to get families out was to build a children’s museum, because our county in Doña Ana County is nearly 4,000 square miles, and it’s so massive, and there are so many barriers to transportation, we realized that doing a brick and mortar [museum] might not best serve as many families as possible.”
The mobile museum is a transformed 44-foot RV divided into four separate exhibits ranging from interactive workbenches and microscopes, to music and bubbles. Geared toward preschool aged children 3-5 years old, Cravens said Vamos Niños is still in its early stages, with plans for expansion in the future.
“It’s so amazing to see eight, nine years later that this idea and these dreams that so many educators in our community had is now real, it’s a reality for everyone,” she said. “I think it’s really important to teach families that play is learning. And kids learn through play and different experiences. And they can come play in a children’s museum. To them, it just looks like playing, but they really are learning and developing their skills and all the domains of their education while they do it.”
According to a2023 report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, New Mexico ranks last among all states in childhood well-being. According to Valeria Holloway, a volunteer for Ngage, the goal of Vamos Niños is to bridge gaps for New Mexican children and bring science, technology, and art exhibits to kids in underserved areas of the state.
“Children [aged] 0-5 need to have early childhood education no matter where they’re from, whether rural or urban or suburban. And if they don’t, they’re already five years behind when they get to kindergarten. So we need to do our best to make sure that those children are taken care of.”
Holloway said she hopes the museum enables young visitors to nurture a love for learning, especially in areas of the state where resources for a dedicated children’s museum aren’t readily available. The mobile children’s museum has already been to visit Hatch, Anthony, and Las Cruces, with plans to book more events around the county in the coming months.
