the beginning
In 2014, a 42,000 sqft building opened in the middle of the country — Kansas — as a civic center for the local community and as an extension of the world-renown American Museum of Natural History's mission: educate the community with the latest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math through the discovery of our own nature. Earth. The planets. The solar system. The Universe.
And so the Museum at Prairiefire (MAP) was born.
Over the last decade, this small museum has developed into an epicenter of education for local and national communities and, in particular, early learners. Servicing schools and families throughout the KC Metro area with year-round programing in STEAM and project-based methodologies, the MAP is also now home to The STEAM Academy, one of the first in-museum preschools in the country.
But how do you get from a museum to a preschool, to…a puppet show? We didn't really get it at first, either. Until we met the crew.
the idea
Puppets, it turns out, have been a cornerstone of early childhood entertainment and learning for decades. For both children and adults. To veterans the reasons seem obvious.
Puppets hold a unique ability to suspend one's imagination right at the precipice of reality. It's like a safer, cuter, funnier person. Who you can talk about real stuff to. Incredibly real stuff. Like emotions. Or the body. Even climate change.
As fate would have it, crossing paths with expert puppeteers at the intersection of education and entertainment would become the very catalyst to creating Kikabou. A digitally accessibly, very-real puppet show and project-based learning lab to help parents, educators, and caregivers alike give their preschoolers the very best in STEAM and earth stewardship education.
WATCH FOUNDER FRED ON YOUTUBE