INDIANAPOLIS — New pieces of the past are coming back to life at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis through the "Dinosphere®: Now You’re in Their World" exhibit.
New fossils, footprints, murals and more await visitors when the three story exhibit opens March 19. The exhibit originally opened in 2004 and has been closed for the past year as they transformed and expanded the current space.
"It's a really incredible thing to be able to help tell the story and get visitors thinking about the lives that these animals lived and what questions we want to ask so we can learn more," Monica Ramsey, director of exhibits, said. "That's the whole point of Dinosphere - looking at fossils [and] their clues that tell us about dinosaurs. We're learning a lot and continue to."
Museum staff, including paleontologists, have spent the last five years digging up the dinosaurs from their site in Wyoming, creating a story around them and getting them ready for the exhibit.
"We have a couple of different quarries that we dig in a couple different areas and that's where we found these two sauropods and we've also found a baptanodon, which is a marine animal that has really big eyes," Ramsey said. "It's just amazing to see the diversity."
Visitors will also be able to ask the paleontologists questions at their Paleo Prep Labs.
"Just because we put some animals on display now doesn't mean that it stops. We have more fossil material that we're going to be working on [and] learning more about the dinosaurs, sharing those findings and having other scientists come and work with us," Ramsey said. "Visitors can come right up to a window and talk to the paleontologists and understand what they're doing [and] be able to touch bones."
Other staff will be throughout the exhibit and several programs will be offered.
The Museum is also holding a Jurassic Jubilee on March 18 with food, dancing and a preview of the exhibit.
-
IPS announces 2026 Summer Meal Service locations
Indianapolis Public Schools will start its Summer Meal Service program on June 1, offering up to two meals a day to children 18 or younger, regardless of whether or not they are enrolled in school.
No serious injuries reported after car crashes into apartment building
A woman and her one-year-old child were injured after she crashed her car into an apartment complex on the south side of Indianapolis.
Student, parent say all-day school phone ban easier than it sounds
Gov. Mike Braun on Wednesday morning held a ceremonial bill signing in Whiteland for Indiana's all-day school cellphone ban, which takes effect July 1, in time for the 2026-2027 school year.
Pato O’Ward shares mentality as he looks for first Indy 500 win
Pato O’Ward has been so close to winning the Indianapolis 500. Despite the heartbreak in the past, O’Ward still treasures his time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
