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Get ready to explore with Dora and Diego at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis in the new exhibit Dora & Diego—Let’s Explore! The exhibit features beloved characters Dora and Diego from Nickelodeon’s hit preschool series Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go!, along with their friends Boots, Map, Backpack, Isa, Tico, and of course Swiper, now in their own exhibit for your preschooler to explore as they learn and play along. 

This new, interactive traveling exhibit, created by The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis in partnership with Nickelodeon, and presented by the WellPoint Foundation, will make its debut at The Children’s Museum Feb. 5-Aug. 14 before embarking on a 5-year traveling exhibit tour.

Dora and Diego — Let’s Explore! is based on the animated children’s series, Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! Dora the Explorer follows the adventures of the 7-year-old Latina heroine Dora and her friends in an imaginative, tropical world. Go, Diego, Go! stars Dora’s 8-year-old cousin Diego, a bilingual animal rescuer who protects animals and their environment. The exhibit gives children and their families the opportunity to go into the worlds of Dora and Diego to engage in problem-solving and active play. Young children will play along as they join an adventure and learn how to solve problems, be a good friend, and care for animals and the environment. Spanish vocabulary will be incorporated throughout the exhibit to introduce Spanish-speaking skills to preschool children.

Dora the Explorer is a ground-breaking children’s series that draws kids into an interactive quest using a variety of learning techniques in every episode. Dora and Diego—Let’s Explore! will carry the play-along theme throughout the exhibit as children are encouraged to actively play while they solve problems, share and learn about the natural world.

The exhibit is funded in part by a grant from the WellPoint Foundation. The WellPoint Foundation’s support of Dora and Diego — Let’s Explore! provides underwriting for preschool field trips to the museum for youth populations identified as most at risk for childhood obesity. Information about healthy, active lifestyles is available to parents via the exhibit’s Family Guide and website, and free school curriculum is available to teachers as well. 

Dora & Diego—Let’s Explore! will be open through Aug. 14 at The Children’s Museum. Be sure to bring your little explorer to play along with Dora, Diego and their friends so they too can say “We did it!”

Favorite friends and places from episodes of Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Do! are incorporated in the exhibit including: 

The Purple Planet

Visit the Purple Planet with Dora and Boots and explore purple houses! Two Purple Planet houses invite young visitors to climb inside and slide down or enter to pretend-play with miniature versions of Dora, Boots, and their friends on the surface of the Purple Planet. 

Rocket Ship

Dora’s outer-space friends want to go back to the Purple Planet and need help getting there. Aboard the Rocket Ship, preschoolers are invited to put on a spacesuit, pilot the ship, assemble a space map, and test their memory with images of colorful planets as they help Dora and Boots take their outer-space friends home. 

Constellations

On the way to the Purple Planet, Dora and Boots encounter some interesting star groupings. Children and their families are invited to help identify the patterns made out of stars by inserting star shapes to light-up a constellation. 

Isa’s Garden

Dora’s friend Isa the Iguana demonstrates how to take care of flowers, plants, and animals. Preschool visitors can tour Isa’s Garden to pick flowers, interact with bird, butterfly, and insect puppets, and pretend-fly with toddler-sized bird and butterfly wings. Even the littlest visitors will enjoy smelling the flowery scents and picking soft-fabric posies. 

Tico’s Tree and Car

Dora is a good friend to Tico the squirrel and young visitors are invited to be a good friend to Tico too. Tico needs help picking nuts from the tree for a family picnic. Children can play along with Swiper to swipe the nuts and watch as they shoot up and over to fill Tico’s basket. Tico’s car is in need of fuel! Visitors can help Tico fill up his car with nuts so he can begin his journey. 

Pirate Ship

In the Pirate Ship, preschoolers can join the Pirate Piggies crew and dress like a pirate to pretend-play along sailing the ship and divvying up the treasure. Visitors can raise and lower the Pirate Piggies’ flag, look through the telescopes to spot the treasure chest and then divvy up the coins into the Pirate Piggies’ banks and help them share the treasure. 

Animal Rescue Center

Young children can practice caring and helping rainforest animals in Diego’s Animal Rescue Center. Preschoolers can be an animal rescuer, like Diego, as they diagnose and address an animal’s problem from the ‘Scanner’ bed, bandage and apply cold packs at the ‘First-Aid Station,’ and brush stuffed animals at the ‘Care Station.’ 

Rainforest Maze

Preschoolers will explore a rainforest to locate rainforest animals. Active play is encouraged as children swing across the Bobo Brothers’ monkey bars, climb or crawl through a fallen tree, climb across Jaguar Mountain, and jump or hop across the River Rocks.