The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is hosting a special fundraiser on Saturday, March 7, 5:30-7:30pm called “Family Light Night”, to raise funds to help support the creation and installation of a unique “Luckey Climber”—a 30-foot tall climbing sculpture featuring integrated and dynamic LED lights. The Climber will be installed inside the museum in the fall of 2026 but in the meantime the museum is generating excitement with special fundraisers, raffles and events like “Family Light Night.” “After we opened our ‘Little Farmers’ and ‘Play Loft’ exhibits last year, the only untapped square footage we have left to expand into is vertically,” shared CMNH President Jane Bard. “Our Climber’s light-up element inspired the theme for this fundraiser, and we’ll be spending the week leading up to the event installing all sorts of fun lighting effects inside the museum that you’ll only be able to see if you come to the fundraiser!”
The Museum’s Climber is being fabricated in the Luckey Climber workshop in Connecticut. Each climber is made of molded plastic platforms and encased in thousands of feet of vinyl-coated cable netting. The CMNH Climber will be the only one of its kind in New Hampshire, and the closest other Climber designed by the same company is located inside the Boston Children’s Museum.
With a budget of $751,000, the Luckey Climber exhibit represents the museum’s largest investment to date. “We know it will be worth the investment,” shared Bard. “The Climber will not only extend the age range of our visitors, enticing older kids to play, but will also support children’s physical and mental health through active play and risk taking.” The museum’s other fundraiser efforts include selling $200,000 worth of Tax Credits through the NH Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA) to NH businesses, as well as a “First-to-Climb Party” Raffle for a private two-hour Museum rental for a group of up to 60 people to be the first to experience the Climber after it’s installed in the fall of 2026. The party will include special crafts, party favors and has a value of $1,000. Tickets for that raffle are $20 each or 3 for $50 and sales are ongoing through the end of August.
The Family Light Night event is open to all ages, and will feature lots of activities including playing with glowing cloud dough, painting faces with glow-in-the-dark paints, trying a glow-in-the-dark scavenger hunt, creating glowing jewelry, and trying your luck at a “pluck-a-duck” mini raffle. Visitors will go home with a light-up party favor. Tickets are $25 per person or $20 for CMNH Members; Children under the age of 12 months are free. Early Access tickets include early entry at 5pm and an additional special glowing souvenir: $35 per person or $30 for Members. The snow date for this fundraiser is Sunday, March 8. To learn more or purchase tickets visit: https://childrens-museum.org/programs/family-light-night/
