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Recently, I watched the 2007 film, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, and noticed that all of the qualities in the movie that create a sense of magic—are here in the museum as well.
The film is about a toy store that is owned by a 243-year-old man, Mr. Magorium. No regular toy store, but a magic one—brought to life by the imagination, discovery, and curiosity of those that visit.
They are the magic.
Stepping Stones is a ‘living environment’, the same as The Wonder Emporium toy shop. A place that fosters imagination, discovery, and curiosity everyday.
As I watched the movie, I thought about how our experiences within the museum are so similar to the film. The immersive seasonal experiences like ‘Firefly Forest’ or ‘The Great Wind Dance’, and projector walls throughout our galleries, foster imagination. Just as the rotation magic closet does in the film, children are urged to imagine what new realities are possible based on what’s around them. bell hooks said, “Without the ability to imagine, people remain stuck, unable to move into a new place of power and responsibility” (Imagination, pg. 61-62). Stepping Stones Museum for Children creates environments where imagination is endlessly possible.
The museum sparks curiosity because of its position as a safe space for discovery for kids and their caregivers. Curiosity and discovery are qualities that can dissipate in adulthood due to the stresses of life. But, Henry the Accountant’s journey in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium shows us how to rediscover our curiosity in adulthood. Going from cookie-cutter businessman to a curious explorer, Henry exemplifies an adult in our museum. At Stepping Stones, caregivers find themselves discovering and being curious with their little ones.
Daily puppet variety shows allow kids and their adults to be exposed to a new and fun process. In doing so, they are safe to explore and ask questions while being entertained. Each year, the Stepping Stones pre-school program, ELLI, chooses a ‘big idea’, focusing their activities on said theme and conducting developmentally appropriate programs around it. The 2026-2027 school year focuses on curiosity! With that, there is an opportunity to think more about how our museum urges visitors to be curious. ‘Tasty Thursdays’ gives visitors a chance to taste and discover new foods, while being curious about our garden and greenhouse.
The ELLI curriculum says it best, “We bring curiosity to life through play-based, hands-on, sensory-rich, child-led experiences, where children build knowledge by touching, testing, predicting, and describing what they discover” (2026).
Discovery means that we are present, with enough curiosity that we feel safe to learn. The museum understands that, and fosters spaces to make discovery possible. The open floor layout leading from one gallery to another allows a continued journey of discovery. We recognize puppetry as a creative process of discovery, and community arts as an expedition of curiosity. Play Pretend Storytimes act as a mystical, collaborative, attainable reality.
In understanding how our experiences impact visitors, no matter the age, we are able to maintain and continuously develop a ‘living environment’. Our museum is ever-changing, tactile, and experiential. It allows for new and continued sparks of imagination, curiosity, and discovery in a safe space. Just as Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium did, we keep the magic alive so that children and their caregivers will always have a place to wonder.
