Dairy farmers across western Iowa announced their support of the Children’s Museum of Siouxland with a $20,000 donation for the development of an interactive dairy exhibit in the new museum. The donation was announced as part of the Iowa Dairy Day activities at the Clay County Fair in Spencer.

The Children’s Museum of Siouxland is on track to become northwest Iowa’s premier education and tourism draw, providing an interactive, hands-on learning environment to children, families and schools of the tri-state area. “This generous donation will help us create a way for children ages 6 months to 10 years old understand how milk, ice cream, cheese and important dairy items make their way from the farm to our plates,” says Executive Director, Kari Kellen. As children use their imagination, and role-play, they experience life as a farmer and learn how the farm, farm equipment and dairy animals give us our food. Children will be able to sit on a milking stool and milk a fiberglass cow into a pail. Visitors will also be able to interact with a modern milking machine. Kellen goes on to say, “Western Iowa Dairy Alliance truly understands the importance of giving and early-childhood education, we’re proud to partner with local dairy farmers to provide an engaging opportunity to learn about agriculture through play.”

“We’re excited about the opportunity to share information about dairy farming with thousands of children and their parents each year,” said Nancy Jones, Spencer dairy farmer and president of Western Iowa Dairy Alliance. “Milk and dairy products provide protein and nutrients to fuel healthy children, and the dairy industry is an important economic driver in Siouxland. We’re happy that the museum will be helping children understand the entire food chain in a fun, interactive way.”

Jones added that Western Iowa Dairy Alliance looks forward to working with ongoing programming at the Children’s Museum of Siouxland after the initial construction phase.

WIDA represents dairy farm families and dairy industry partners across the western half of Iowa and focuses on efforts to reach out to consumers with information about modern dairy farming, as well as providing education opportunities and a voice for dairy farmers.