Follow the Corn: Children's Discovery Museum Opens Hands-On Agriculture Exhibit for Families

Corn is everywhere and most kids have no idea. It's in the food they eat, the products in their home, and the fields that stretch across Illinois. The Children's Discovery Museum in Normal, Illinois is changing that with its brand-new "From the Farm to a Healthy Me" exhibit, which opened April 9, 2026.

The 5,786-square-foot second-floor exhibit replaces AgMazing, which had been a fixture for nearly 20 years. Executive Director Beth Whisman says the update was long overdue not just in content, but in how kids get to learn. "We're connecting kids from the cornfield into the grocery store," she explains. "What's in the household products? What's in the food they're eating?"

Corn takes center stage as one of the exhibit's eye-opening reveals. Through hands-on interactives, children trace corn from the field all the way to the grocery store shelf discovering just how many everyday foods and products come from this single crop. It's the kind of learning that sticks because kids can see it, touch it, and experience it for themselves.

The exhibit goes beyond corn too. A ball drop maze shows the journey of grain through trucks and elevators to the wider world. A kid-sized grocery store, pizza kitchen, and bakery connect agriculture to the meals families share. And an Ag Lab brings together soil science, weather, and STEM concepts in one interactive space.

"The daily life that kids lead doesn't typically show them where agriculture touches their lives," Whisman says. This exhibit pulls back the curtain and for many families, a trip to Children's Discovery Museum will never let them look at a corn field the same way again.

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