There's a life-size dollhouse you can walk into. A row of vintage arcade cabinets, fully playable. Lego bricks, Lincoln Logs, and every generation of Mr. Potato Head lined up side by side.
Toytopia will open to the public May 9 at the Peoria Riverfront Museum — and the exhibit's premise is simple: The way we played as children says something about who we become.
Renae Kerrigan is the museum's curator of science and led the exhibit's development. She said there's something in the collection for every generation.
"I know that generations of families are going to come in here, people of different ages, and they're all going to find something to connect with."
Kerrigan points to research by toy historian Chris Byrne, who will appear at the museum this weekend, on what play actually does for us.
"Every child is born a scientist, investigating the world around them through experiential play. It is practice for tomorrow," Kerrigan said.
The 5,000-square-foot exhibition runs through Sept. 7. It's part of the Peoria Riverfront Museum's America 250 series, a yearlong program tied to the nation's semiquincentennial.
The exhibit originated in Sacramento before arriving in Peoria, where museum president and CEO John Morris said it's been given new context.
The museum has a rule, Morris told the crowd gathered for Friday's press preview: everything it brings in has to be first, best or only.
Two major community sponsors helped bring the exhibit to Peoria. Jenna Wiesner, client community relations director at PNC Bank, and Meg Zakrzewski, president of OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois, both spoke at Friday's opening.
Zakrzewski said walking through Toytopia brought back her own memories and made her think about the children in her hospital's care.
"In our hospital, play becomes something even deeper. It helps a child facing something scary, [...] it helps ease anxiety. And it creates moments of normalcy in environments that don't feel normal."
The exhibit also features a giant floor piano and a Zoltar machine, both made famous by the Tom Hanks film Big — a nod to the way toys cross over from childhood into shared cultural memory.
That crossover, Kerrigan said, is the point. A boy who spent his childhood playing with Barbies grew up to design costumes on Broadway. A kid with a balancing toy became a WNBA champion.
Play, she argues, is never just play.
"Learning through play is how all humans are built to learn," Kerrigan said.
Toytopia runs May 9-Sept. 7 at the Peoria Riverfront Museum. The exhibition is included in the price of admission. General admission is $20 at peoriariverfrontmuseum.org.
