The Wildtorium is a children’s museum where the rule is — look, but do touch — explore, imagine, create and learn. 

Inside the Wildtorium at 120 Financial Dr. in Kalispell, excitement is heard through the chatter and clatter of children playing, creating, pretending and imagining with family and friends. 

“We’re not a school, and we’re not a playground. We’re something wonderfully in between,” touts the museum. 

On one side of the room is a recreation of a white spaceship that nearly touches the ceiling. Inside the seat and a lit-up control panel and a blast-off button before one makes the trek upward. Tucked in the corner behind the spaceship is mission control.  

Across the room is a fire lookout where a father helps his son into a firefighter costume. The fire lookout features a walkie-talkie that communicates with the spaceship and binoculars to search for wildfires or grizzly bears in a forest scene on a far wall.  

In the middle of the room is an art station where 3-year-old Nora earlier made tissue paper bouquets with her mother, Roseanne Lockhart, during their first visit to the Wildtorium.  

“She’s been very content the past couple of hours,” Lockhart said. 

These are just a few of the interactive and educational exhibits at the museum that has been open for a few months, with more in the works. 

Lockhart said she’s been following the Wildtorium on Instagram and found some time during the busy summer to stop in. 

“I imagine we’re going to be here a lot,” Lockhart said, especially during the winter when looking for indoor children’s activities. 

Giving a quick tour of the different stations, Wildtorium Manager Constance See stops at one of the Wildtorium’s popular exhibits, the Creation Station, a woodworking station complete with real saws, hammers, nails, vises and blocks of wood. She said it's a favorite of both younger and older children. 

“We’ve got 2-year-olds sitting on grandpa’s lap or mom’s lap using the tools,” See said. 

See then scrolled through photos of projects children have made, from bird houses, picture frames and sculptures, including one of a fisherman wearing a cupcake liner as a bucket hat and holding a pipe cleaner fishing rod. 

“They create out of nothing using their imagination,” See said. “It’s just — oh so wonderful.” 

The Wildtorium is a place of opportunities for children to have the proverbial lightbulb moment of learning how things work, figuring things out, planning and problem-solving alongside their parents and often grandparents, See said.  

Brittney Crest, executive director of the museum, echoed a similar sentiment. 

“Our exhibits are intentionally hands-on and open-ended. A child experimenting with a flyer in the wind tunnel is encountering ideas about airflow, weight, shape and motion. Building with blocks becomes an exploration of balance, structure, spatial reasoning and engineering. In our Creation Station, children use real tools alongside their grown-ups to plan, build, problem-solve, and figure out how materials work,” Crest said. 

“That's the kind of learning we want Wildtorium to encourage — curiosity that starts with ‘I wonder what will happen if ...’ and gives a child the space to find out,” she added. 

As manager, See gets a glimpse into children’s imaginations unfolding, sharing one 5-year-old aspiring astronaut’s explanation for who she was talking to at the top of the spaceship exhibit.  

“She said, ‘Well, we’re going to Jupiter and there’s people there waiting for us. We have to hurry up because we have to stop at Mars,'" See said with a smile. 

The Wildtorium continues to build new interactive exhibits and is taking the fun outdoors, where turf is being installed by volunteers for an exhibit where children can learn about water flow with a water table as one of the main features. 

“It’s going to be the North Fork, South Fork and Middle Fork — a recreation of the three rivers. And then we are going to have a climbing wall and a dinosaur dig box,” See said. 

IN DECIDING what ideas come to fruition is driven by education, purpose and community interest. 

“Initially, when we began this journey, we had visions on what we’d like to offer. Themes we were looking for. Something with gross motor skills; something science specific; something geared toward toddlers,” Crest said.  

“The hardest thing is we have all these ideas,” she said. “How it ends up is conversations with the community.” 

Currently there are about 36 donors — community members, families, nonprofits and businesses who have contributed to Wildtorium’s exhibits and overall mission. 

"This was truly built by the community for the community,” Crest said. “We weren’t based on having one title sponsor or a huge donor.” 

The children’s museum has been a work in progress for nearly a decade. 

“The idea began back in 2017 with local parents and educators who felt there was something missing in the Flathead Valley: a children's museum where kids could learn through play, exploration, building, experimenting and simply being curious,” Crest said. “But I think the need goes deeper than needing more things for kids to do." 

While she said there are plenty of sports, camps, and recreational activities in the valley, Wildtorium founders and board members were looking for something different. 

"What is harder to find are places intentionally designed for families to do something together — where the adult isn't dropping a child off or watching from the sidelines, but is actually part of the experience,” Crest said. 

The Wildtorium started out as traveling interactive exhibits under the name Glacier Children’s Museum. Deciding the name could be limiting, the children’s museum was rebranded as the Wildtorium. 

“I have a 10-year-old, and he could tell you he’s not a child,” Crest said. “One thing is Wildtorium opens up intrigue. Intrigue is a big part of it. And when children want to talk about it, we know it’s something great,” she said. 

Crest is well-versed in education and experiential learning. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in education and a master's in curriculum science and taught middle school math and P.E. for a decade before moving into early childhood education as the former director of Foxtail Forskola, an outdoor forest preschool in Whitefish and then co-founded The Skola, a private nature-based elementary school also located in Whitefish. 

Board president Rhea Simonson brings a passion for “strengthening children and families through community offerings and supports,” according to her bio with the museum. The Columbia Falls-based therapist holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and child development and psychological services. 

Board Vice President Jeremy Ashby, “an engineer by trade,” according to his bio, works with community members, nonprofits and businesses that come to the Wildtorium with ideas and concepts to devise exhibits. 

Wildtorium is open Wednesdays through Sundays. Day passes are $12 per person. Children under 1-year-old are free. Six-month memberships for unlimited visits for one adult and one child are available for $115. The Wildtorium also hosts field trips and birthday parties. 

For more information, call 406-607-6713 or email [email protected] or visit wildtorium.org.  

Reporter Hilary Matheson can be reached at 406-758-4431 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support. 

    Emmi-Jean twists knobs and turns dials on a control panel in a NASA-related hands-on exhibit at Wildtorium in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

    Kiki listens to a pair of headphones inside the control center of a rocket ship in a NASA-related exhibit at Wildtorium in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

    Lane Miller tosses a ball inside a rocket ship in a NASA-related exhibit at Wildtorium in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 20. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

    Tristan Miller and Elaina Stern send colored cloths and items through forced-air tubes at Wildtorium in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 20. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Colter designs a track for marbles to follow at an exhibit at Wildtorium on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

    Lane Miller and Elaina Stern design a track for marbles to follow at an exhibit at Wildtorium in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

    Colter designs a track for marbles to follow with Corinne Kuntz, owner of The Birds Nest Early Learning Village at Wildtorium on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Lane Miller and Elaina Stern twist knobs and turn dials on a control panel in a NASA-related exhibit at Wildtorium in Kalispell on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)