We’re all familiar with the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child.”
Here on the South Fork, that “village” consistently gets a big boost from the Children’s Museum of the East End, a Bridgehampton institution that offers hands-on exhibits and educational programs for kids.
CMEE came to be in the late ’90s by eight local moms with young children who felt they were lacking support. According to Liz Bard, co-president of the museum, those eight moms bonded over their mutual feelings of isolation and need to connect with peers on the East End “like so many new parents,” she says.
According to Bard, the mothers started playgroups in each other’s homes, which spread to community centers, church basements and a traveling museum. Then, through “a tremendous amount fundraising,” Bard says, and a donation of land, their efforts culminated in a campaign to open a permanent space in Bridgehampton, where the museum stands today.
CMEE accommodates children as young as six weeks old ranging all the way up to pre-teens. With over 70,000 individuals visiting the museum each year, Bard says the museum has always been nimble and skilled in listening to the community, responding to any needs that children or families may have in order to remove barriers to play.
“In 2020 we became a food pantry,” she says. “A few years before that, we started bilingual music and literacy programs for babies and those programs kind of evolved as the kids got older. So, I think our ability to really listen to our members has been what’s enabled us to kind of remain important and relevant.”
Now in its 20th year, CMEE, as it’s colloquially known, and the facility and grounds it inhabits is getting a little TLC itself, as phase one of its “Dream. Discover. Do” campaign is nearing its end. The efforts include a new playground and outdoor exhibition space, slated to open in late June. Partnering with LaGuardia Design Group of Water Mill along with Hampton Yards landscaping team of Bridgehampton, the 9,000 square-foot space will feature climbing, swinging and spinning areas as well as sand play and a playful forest, according to a press release.
“As landscape architects, we are often tasked with thoughtfully placing buildings and structures to minimize their impact on the surrounding environment,” says Daniel Thorp, partner at LaGuardia Design Group. “Our role with planning the new playground was no different. CMEE’s site presented a unique challenge given its sloping terrain and sensitive woodland edges.”
According to Bard, the nonprofit has been fundraising for a few years for the playground, breaking ground on construction in March.
“[It’s] so much more than we mothers envisioned and yet exactly what we hoped it would become: a magical place for all members of our community to share the joy of watching their children expand their life experiences,” says one of the founding moms, Lucy Muhlfeld Kazickas, of CMEE. “And also, a place for parents to make new friends, exchange ideas and create new communities and relationships.”
General admission starts at $19 per person, with memberships costing $300 a year. During the summer months, CMEE will be open every day from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
