Grand Rapids Children's Museum Launches New LEGO® Space Exhibit, Cosmic Contact!

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[Grand Rapids, MI] August 26, 2026 – Families can prepare for liftoff as the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum (GRCM) opens  an all-new LEGO® exhibit, Cosmic Contact. Visitors are invited to explore engineering, imaginative play, and creativity through an exhibit filled with hands-on, space-themed building experiences.

Cosmic Contact encourages children and families to explore hands-on LEGO® challenges where they can build, test, and explore the wonders of outer space–one brick at a time. Visitors are encouraged to design space stations, discover alien worlds, engineer new inventions, and solve creative missions.

“Through play, children are empowered to experiment, ask questions, and think creatively,” states Maggie Lancaster, CEO of Play at GRCM. “This exhibit provides an opportunity for families to collaborate, test their ideas, use their imaginations, and discover that there isn’t just one right way to build or solve a challenge.”

This exhibit was designed by GRCM in collaboration with award-winning studio Gyroscope and local fabrication company Meta4mat with a large-scale LEGO® mural created by local LEGO® artist Jack Edison. This innovative new exhibit is the first public collaboration with Gyroscope, who is currently working alongside GRCM to create the visitor experience plan as GRCM explores a future location for the museum’s STEAM Lab project.

"The best ideas happen when people imagine together. Cosmic Contact is the result of a love of LEGO®, deep listening, and the extraordinary creativity of Grand Rapids children, bringing art and science together in ways that spark curiosity and wonder,” states Tim Phillips, Chief Creative Officer of Gyroscope. “This new exhibit is an exciting preview of the bigger project we are working on together, a shared vision to create not just a new version of the Grand Rapids Children's Museum, but a new model for children's learning."

Interactive exhibit experiences in Cosmic Contact include:

Meteor Impact: Visitors can build their best spacecraft or structure, then put it to the test to see if it can withstand a simulated meteor strike before watching the action replay in slow motion. Then, visitors can rebuild and see if their next design can withstand the impact.

Mission control: Children can role-play aboard a space station while exploring colorful translucent LEGO® bricks on glowing light tables, creating cosmic designs on the windows, and admiring a LEGO® mural created by LEGO® artist Jack Edison.

Star Gate: Visitors can step through the Star Gate to the Research Station and enter a world where gravity works a little differently. Builders can experiment with creating on walls, overhead, and at every angle as they discover what it’s like to create in space in the Gravity Workshop.

Cargo Bay: Visitors are invited to stock up on LEGO® bricks, build their latest inventions, and display their creations for fellow space explorers. Creators are invited to add to our ever-growing collaborative LEGO® mural!

SpaceScapes: A DUPLO® building area perfect for our youngest space explorers to build, stack, and explore with bricks.

Cosmic Contact officially opened to the public on Tuesday, August 11, and is included with regular museum admission. This is a permanent exhibit at the museum.

For information and to plan your visit, visit grcm.org

About the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum

GRCM provides hands-on, play-based learning experiences for children. Located at 11 Sheldon Avenue NE in downtown Grand Rapids, the museum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering creativity and imagination through play. GRCM offers hands-on exhibits and educational programming designed for children ages 0-10 and their caregivers. Regular admission is $12.00 per person and $11.00 for ages 65+. Admission for teachers, healthcare and frontline workers, and active military members is $10.00. Through Museums for All, admission for EBT and WIC cardholders is $1.75 per person for up to 12 people per card. Museum members and children under 1 receive free admission. Summer and school-year hours vary; visit grcm.org for details. Follow GRCM on social media on Facebook / Instagram / LinkedIn.

About Gyroscope

Gyroscope is an award-winning design studio dedicated to creating inspiring environments for learning, play, and discovery. The studio provides visitor experience planning, exhibit design, graphic design, public art, and architectural programming services for museums, libraries, visitor centers, and other community spaces. Through a fearless spirit of collaboration, Gyroscope helps organizations strengthen community connections, champion inclusion, and transform bold ideas into meaningful, engaging experiences.

About Meta4mat

Meta4mat is a graphic-centric fabricator of mobile and static environments. We serve a unique space that begins with interior signage and décor, through custom fabrication, all the way to complete experiential spaces. We seek to serve as a bridge between your ideas and skilled execution. Our customers include graphic designers, A & E firms, museums, retail, and corporations, spanning a broad range of disciplines.