What Is Imagine Nation Children's Museum and Preschool in Connecticut?

Imagine Nation is a combined children's museum and early learning center in Connecticut, where the museum studios and the preschool curriculum are integrated rather than run as separate operations. It suits families with young children — especially ages 6 weeks to 5 years for the school, and the museum studios for hands-on family visits — and it's worth knowing before you go that the museum side welcomes walk-ins while the preschool side runs on a registration and school-year schedule.

What Imagine Nation actually is

Imagine Nation, A Museum Early Learning Center describes itself as the first preschool in the country to fully integrate its preschool curriculum with a children's museum, and the only Reggio Emilia inspired school operated as a division of a Boys & Girls Club. That dual identity is the main thing to understand: it isn't just a museum with a preschool attached, or just a preschool with a play space. The two share the same studios.

The museum side is built around hands-on, interactive environments — the site describes 12 such environments in its museum studios, with programs including art, culinary, science & energy, and more. The preschool side is a NAEYC accredited, year-round Early Learning School serving children ages 6 weeks through 5 years old.

Museum studios: what families can do

The Museum Studios are open 9:30AM–4:30PM, and the site states they are now open to the public with walk-ins welcome. The current model offers both guided, facilitator-led experiences and self-exploration opportunities for children.

Beyond open studio time, the museum runs:

• Workshops
• Community outreach programs
• Field trips
• Birthday parties
• Special family events

If you want to know what's happening on a specific day, the site points you to its calendar — or you can simply stop by, since walk-ins are accepted.

The preschool side

If you're evaluating Imagine Nation as a preschool rather than a museum outing, these are the details the site provides:

Students use the Museum Studios regularly as part of the curriculum — the site notes early learners and teachers have access to the studios as an extended classroom.

How to plan a visit

1. Decide which side you're visiting. A family outing to the Museum Studios and an inquiry about preschool registration are two different processes.
2. Check the calendar if you want a specific program. Workshops, field trips, birthday parties, and special family events are scheduled; open studio time is not.
3. Confirm hours before you go. The stated Museum Studios hours are 9:30AM–4:30PM.
4. Match the visit to your child's age. The studios are designed for hands-on exploration by young children; the preschool serves 6 weeks to 5 years.
5. For preschool, ask about registration and the sliding fee scale. Registration is a listed step on the site, and the fee scale depends on gross household income and family size — so the cost question is answered individually, not from a posted rate.

Common questions

Do I need to book ahead for the museum? The site says walk-ins are now welcome, so advance booking isn't required for general admission — but scheduled programs and parties are separate.

Is it only for preschoolers? No. The Museum Studios are open to the public as a family destination, while the Early Learning School is the registered preschool program.

What makes it different from a typical children's museum? The integration with a Reggio Emilia preschool curriculum and its operation as part of a Boys & Girls Club. The studios function as an extended classroom for enrolled children and as interactive environments for visiting families.

What ages is it best for? The preschool explicitly serves 6 weeks to 5 years. The museum studios are built around hands-on environments for young children, so it fits families with early-childhood-aged kids rather than older children looking for rides or large-scale attractions.