Arms-On Enjoyable at Church History Museum

Children and households are invited to discover a brand new exhibit on the Church History Museum that focuses on the Salt Lake Temple.

The hands-on exhibit, titled “A Firm Foundation,” celebrates the Nineteenth-century building and Twenty first-century renovation of the Salt Lake Temple. Patrons will discover the ability of robust bodily and non secular foundations. The exhibition is now open and can stay on view by early 2028.

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Each of the Church’s many temples is taken into account a home of the Lord Jesus Christ and essentially the most sacred place of worship on earth. As homes of the Lord, temples differ from the Church’s meetinghouses (chapels). All are welcome to attend Sunday worship providers and different weekday actions at native meetinghouses. The major goal of temples is for trustworthy members of the Church to take part in sacred ceremonies akin to marriages, which unite households perpetually, and proxy baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors who didn’t have the chance to be baptized whereas residing.

At the “A Firm Foundation” exhibit, patrons will discover the ability of robust bodily and non secular foundations. The Salt Lake Temple’s basis has undergone a fancy seismic improve and can mark a six-month celebration starting in April 2027. As former Church President Russell M. Nelson mentioned final 12 months, all are invited to the celebration to “learn about God’s plan for His children and rejoice in the love of Jesus Christ.”

Designed particularly for youngsters and households, the exhibition combines interactive constructing experiences with inspiring tales from the historical past of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Through partaking, hands-on actions, younger guests will uncover how constructing our non secular basis on Jesus Christ helps us stand robust throughout instances of problem.

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Families can take a look at their engineering expertise at an earthquake desk, function a kid-friendly crane, and experiment with a wide range of constructing actions. These hands-on experiences illustrate that simply as a temple wants a base that won’t transfer, our lives want the steadying affect of the covenants we make with God.

Guests can even watch an animated movie in regards to the Salt Lake Temple’s historical past and take an image in an ox yoke. Throughout the gallery, kids are reminded that whereas the constructing is spectacular, an important a part of the temple is what occurs inside — the sacred work of uniting households for eternity.

“I had a lot of fun playing with all the things and building things,” mentioned Luke Zimmerman, who visited the museum together with his household on Saturday, March 14, 2026. “I liked to build arches out of those little building blocks. I also liked to build the little house and then run it through the earthquake simulator. It’s really cool.”

His sister Kate loved making stained glass.

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“It makes me excited because I get to see the stained glass and how much time it took for them to do that, and how long it took the temple to be built,” she mentioned.

The expertise, she added, makes her “really happy to go” contained in the temple.

Their mom, Danielle, mentioned every of her kids was intrigued by the earthquake simulator.

“That was cool for them to see how important it is to have a strong foundation,” Danielle mentioned. “Within the Church, we’ve learned about having a strong foundation for our whole lives, so I think it was cool for them to see that in action and get to test out how it worked.”

“It’s always a good reminder to see how much we were able to accomplish so long ago with so little tools or knowledge or resources,” added Colby, their father.

The exhibition additionally options significant historic artifacts, together with the trumpet from the statue of Angel Moroni that fell in the course of the March 2020 earthquake, in addition to a cane that Brigham Young could have used to mark the temple website in 1847. These objects assist illustrate the temple’s distinctive historical past.

“A Firm Foundation” invitations households to be taught, play, and construct religion collectively.

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About the Church History Museum

The Church History Museum, on the west facet of Salt Lake City’s Temple Square, homes essential artifacts documenting the historical past of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members and leaders, in addition to a group of works by a lot of its illustrious artists from 1830 to the current.

The museum and museum retailer are open to the general public Monday, Friday, and Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Admission is free.