Less than three years ago, the idea of bringing a children’s museum to Merced began to blossom. Since Mayya Tokman and Angelo Kyrilov, both UC Merced professors, opened the doors of Kids Discovery Station, they have seen more than 65,000 visitors.
After successful pilot exhibits in 2018 at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center and the Merced Library attracted over 3,000 visitors in five weeks, it was clear that children in Merced needed a place where they could play, learn and discover. As parents themselves, Tokman and Kyrilov were inspired by their son, whom Tokman describes as “an extremely active little boy.”
“I don’t think I sat down until he was 4 years old,” she said.
As faculty, the couple travel to conferences and would often find themselves making the trips as a family. Their favorite activity in any city was visiting the local children’s museum. On international trips in Canada and Europe, and while traveling closer to home in California, they were able to visualize the concept they wanted to bring home to Merced.
“I was interested in building something long-term,” said Tokman. “You need to have a plan of how to make it sustainable.”
