Adventure Avenue

Put your curiosity in gear and navigate a winding outdoor roadway filled with sensory challenges! Adventure Avenue transforms the museum grounds into a bustling transit zone where children plan routes, haul cargo, and manage their own worksites using a fleet of heavy-duty Tonka trucks. This high-energy path provides tools and freedom for young explorers to test physical limits through movement, construction play, and outdoor discovery. 

Drive rugged trucks designed for digging and hauling across varied terrain. Crawl through durable tunnels that challenge spatial navigation and build confidence in tight spaces. Master the hand-pump system to send water flowing down through a rocky riverbed, experimenting with irrigation, flow, and cause-and-effect as you control where water travels. 

Whether negotiating roadway space with other drivers, roleplaying as construction managers coordinating big work projects, or simply enjoying the thrill of transporting materials from point A to point B, Adventure Avenue builds gross motor control, spatial awareness, and cooperative play in an active outdoor environment. 

    • The Truck Fleet: Authentic, rugged Tonka trucks designed for hauling, digging, and heavy-duty construction play 

    • Crawl-Through Tunnels: Durable structures that challenge young explorers to navigate tight spaces and build spatial confidence 

    • Water Pump System: A hand-pumped station that feeds a rocky riverbed, perfect for experimenting with irrigation and flow 

    • Technology: Utilizing simple machines, such as pumps and wheels, to move materials across the site 

    • Society: Negotiating roadway space and exploring professional roles like drivers, builders, and logistics managers 

    • Navigation: Planning and executing a course through a complex, multi-sensory environment 

    • Physical Abilities: Developing gross motor control and coordination while navigating winding paths 

    • Creative: Imagining career paths and "work site" scenarios through immersive, active role-play 

    • Spatial Awareness: Mapping out routes and understanding the scale of vehicles in relation to the environment 

Explore More 

This exhibit is located in Outdoor Discovery Area. Also explore: Mammoth Dig | Tumble Land 

  • Three women with two children sitting on a concrete bench outdoors at an amusement park, with some people and rides visible in the background.
  • A young boy in a green shirt crawling out of a black tunnel on a playground, with sand and a wooden platform underneath.
  • A group of seven people, including children and adults, sitting on a park bench outdoors on a sunny day, eating ice cream.
  • A young child crawling on a wooden play area, smiling at the camera.
  • A young boy and an adult playing in a sandbox with a toy dump truck, digging and shoveling sand outdoors.
  • A woman and a young child playing with a toy bulldozer on a sandbox at a playground.
  • A young boy playing with a yellow toy dump truck in a muddy puddle at a playground.
  • A young girl with brown hair wearing a floral dress playing at a wooden sand or water table on a playground.
  • A woman and two children playing with toy construction trucks in a sandbox at a playground.
  • Children playing with water from an outdoor fountain in a park on a sunny day.