Mankato doesn’t really need a children’s museum. Or a civic center or ballfields or theaters, for that matter.

Sure would be nice to have one, though. Just like it’s nice to have a civic center, ballfields and theaters around here.

Children’s museums are meant to be more than a way to kill time with your kids. Well-designed museums offer play that inspires creativity, learning and social skills.

In Mankato the co-founders of the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota, Linda Frost and Mary Jo Hensel, are both veterans of early childhood-family education programs. As educators, they are familiar with the activities that stimulate curiosity and motivate learning in young children. The beauty of a well-designed museum is that kids just think they’re having fun while they’re picking up key skills.

Children’s museums serve a dual purpose in communities: to draw visitors to the area for periodic visits and to offer local families a regular place to visit (especially in the bitter, cold winter or hot, humid summer).

The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota has been formed but is still in the planning stages with no site plan yet for a building. The board has done its research, visiting children’s museums in smaller cities in Wisconsin and Iowa and taking all the steps it needs to get this project under way.

Planners of the local museum want to give some of the exhibits a regional flavor, such as a quarry/construction zone, a farmyard, fishing boats as well as an arts studio and science wing.

The biggest obstacle, which is no surprise, will be raising $2 million to construct a building. As like all big projects in recent years, private donations and grants rather than government subsidies need to be where the bulk of that money comes from.

The museum has a long road ahead when it comes to reaching its goal, and it would be wonderful to see a wealthy donor step up and write a chunky check. But community members need to keep in mind as well that lots of small- to medium-size donations can add up to a big amount.

A local children’s museum would be a big asset to this community, which is growing enough that a new elementary school is being built. And just as River Hills Mall draws shoppers from around the region, a museum could very well draw the same way, bringing valuable tourism dollars into the community.

To learn more about the museum, visit www.cmsouthernmn.org