Community of Curiosity

Welcome to the Milwaukee Public Museum's newest virtual programming!

Every month, we'll bring you new videos, activities, and information about one of our beloved exhibits. You're sure to be included in a community of people curious about the natural world and are ready to explore when you enjoy our monthly programming from home!

In addition, on this page you'll find dynamic content previously featured on our Discover MPM at Home webpage, for your continued enjoyment with friends or family.

Don't forget to check back each month for new exhibit-themed content. Tap into your curiosity and have fun! 

Monthly Themes

September: Flora & Fauna 
October: Rainforest Biodiversity
November: Native American Heritage Month

Discover at Home

Fun Things To Do

We’ve got plenty of fun things for kiddos to do with their adults! Check out our monthly theme pages for more.

• Test your dinosaur vocabulary with this crossword puzzle
• Connect the dots
• Color our Torosaur or a butterfly
• Pose with Museum yoga
• Name a dino using puzzle pieces (Instructions | Puzzle | Record)
• Make flashlight constellations
• Build a diorama
• Enhance your sensory experience 
• Write a haiku
• Practice sustainable habits
• Match dinosaurs with the food they eat
• Preserve an apple mummy
• Play a memory card game
• Be an archaeology detective
• Participate in a community science project
• Complete a backyard BioBlitz 
• Match paleontology tools to their use
• Write your own exhibit label
• Play mummy trivia (then check your answers)
• Try a science experiment in the kitchen
• Draw a friend using the Canon of Proportions
• Play senet
• Compare and contrast arthropods
• Draw insects
• Design butterfly wings
• Write a story
• Find missing words to learn about metamorphosis
• Explore ideas in From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Helligman
• Compare mammoths and mastodons
• Create a silly "MadLibs" style story
• Play a mummies-and-fossils sorting game
• Explore Ancient Egyptian colors
• Use photos to write a story
• Play the symbol guessing game

Lifelong Learning

Adults: You’re never too old to learn something new!

MPM Untold
Get an inside look at the Museum’s collections and research when you watch MPM Untold, a series that tells you the stories you don’t know. Then, test your new knowledge with our quizzes!

• Japanese Oni - Video | Quiz
• The Dromaeosaur - Video | Quiz
• A New Genus - Video | Quiz
• The Silurian Reef - Video | Quiz
• The Object Loan - Video | Quiz
• The Jumping Spider - Video | Quiz
• The Hellbender - Video | Quiz
• Charles Darwin's Research - Video | Quiz

What Our Curators Are Reading

• Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen
• Damn the Old Tinderbox!: Milwaukee’s Palace of the West and the Fire that Defined an Era by Matthew Prigge
• A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold
• Aztalan: Mysteries of an Ancient Indian Town by Robert Birmingham and Lynne Goldstein

Question with an Expert

• Did butterflies live with dinosaurs?
• How are museum objects conserved?
• How are MPM scientists continuing research at home?
• Can you find dinosaur fossils in Wisconsin?
• How does MPM care for its live collections?
• What is an arthropod?
• What is a Collections Manager?
• What is a Registrar?
• What type of research is done on MPM's Anthropology collections?

Who doesn’t enjoy some friendly competition? Test your MPM knowledge remotely against your friends and family with questions on your favorite exhibits, labels, and research! 

Trivia #1 Trivia #2 Trivia #3 Trivia #4 Trivia #5 Trivia #6 Trivia #7 Trivia #8 Trivia #9 Trivia #10 Trivia #11 Trivia #12

Planetarium at Home
MPM's original Daniel M. Soref Planetarium productions are now available online! Explore the skies with Planetarium Director Bob Bonadurer.
Watch Now

Miss the live Planetarium experience? Register for Virtual Wisconsin Stargazing!
Buy Now

MPM Insights

What will you find… behind the scenes?

Google Street View
Miss Granny, Snake, and the dinos? They all miss you, too! Visit MPM virtually on Google Street View.
Explore

Google 360
Check out a 360-degree view of our labs and learn some fun facts. You may find a surprise guest hidden in each room! 🐍

• Icthyology collection
• Birds and Mammals collection
• Botany collection
• Butterfly specimen collection
• Amphibian and Reptile collection

Green Roof
Check out this timelapse video of the Museum’s Green Roof construction. 

Creating an Exhibit
Discover just what goes into creating an exhibit as we look back at the process used to create Crossroads of Civilization and A Tribute to Survival.

We received an urgent report from our Museum Security staff that our dinosaurs are lonely! Can you send us something to cheer up our dinos? A drawing, a photo, a song... Anything, please! 

Learn How

Animal Crossing Virtual Museum 

Have you been playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons during isolation? Our staff were thrilled to find many of the specimens you can collect can also be found in MPM's collections!

Explore

Share with Us

Tell us what you found the last time you were at the Museum, or share your favorite shots of yourself or your family doing Community of Curiosity activities.

Use #MPMWhatWillYouFind on social media for a chance to be featured!

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