Cayton Children’s Museum: Playspace as “Town Square”

The same equation tests parents hundreds of times: What’s the solution to inclement weather plus young children? 

Those lucky enough to live in communities with children’s museums know these sanctuaries of the imagination vanquish rain, boredom, and hopelessness of all stripes. Beacons of hope disguised as “a place to play.”

Not that play needs to be cloaked. Decades of research prove that unstructured flights of fancy, free-ranged imagination, and internal worldbuilding are essential for brain development. 

Mr. Rogers called play “the work of childhood” and insisted that, regardless of background or circumstance, all children deserve a place to play, learn, and thrive.

In Santa Monica, we’re lucky to have the Cayton Children's Museum, which opened in 2019, only to close a few months later due to Covid. The next few years taught us all more than perhaps we wanted to know about childhood development and, by their absence, the importance of third spaces devoted to freedom of expression. 

Both Cayton’s board and the community wanted to incorporate the lessons learned from the pandemic to create a space that lived up fully to its mission. To enact the informed, impassioned vision for early childhood education, the museum reopened in January 2024 with Thomas Sullivan—in collaboration with community partners, innovation in programming, and a steadfast commitment to inclusivity—at its helm.

A theatre major, Thomas began his career in the arts, the generator behind much of the successes in early childhood education. He considered focusing on museum studies. As a child, he had been inspired by the way museums fostered curiosity, learning, and connection. Children’s museums, in particular, spoke to him because of their ability to blend educational content with hands-on play, creating an environment where children and families could engage with the world in a truly dynamic way. 

At Bank Street College of Education in New York City, Thomas chose to pursue graduate work in Museum Education, spurred by his belief in children’s museums holding unmatched potential for educational impact. 

Thomas's expertise and commitment to early childhood education expanded, informed by his work at prominent institutions like the New York City Natural History Museum and the Frick Collection, where he gained nuanced insight in shaping content, size, and audience. 

As Director of Education at the DuPage Children's Museum in the Western suburbs of Chicago, a museum serving around 340,000 kids per year, Thomas built a reputation for offering an engaging and interactive learning experience for children under the age of five, an age group that had always been a particular passion of his. His ability to create a flexible learning environment that blended educational goals with creativity became a cornerstone of his approach. 

Thomas was part of the team at DuPage that designed the Questioneers traveling exhibition, based on the bestselling children's book series by Andrea Beaty, which includes Rosie Revere, Engineer. 

Later, as Executive Director of the Westchester Children's Museum in Rye, NY, Thomas similarly oversaw a significant growth trajectory, helping the museum's attendance increase from 25,000 visitors to over 115,000 annually, in just two years. 

When Thomas moved to Los Angeles in January 2024, it was a chaotic and difficult time. The region was in the throes of devastating wildfires, skies filled with smoke. Cayton had reopened in January 2022; he was hired in January 2024. “My family and I moved from CT, where it was snowing real snow, to LA, where it was snowing ash,” Thomas says wryly. “But it was also a time of deep reflection about the role of children's museums in their communities, particularly in times of crisis, and that galvanized me,” he says. “Between the pandemic and the wildfires, the mission to create a children's museum that could serve as a kind of town square felt like a mandate.”

Oddly, despite Los Angeles’s massive population, the city lacked a large-scale children’s museum. Even Omaha, Nebraska, boasts a bigger facility than Los Angeles. Thomas saw this gap in the cultural landscape of Los Angeles as an opportunity for growth and change.

As the region grappled with destruction, Thomas and his team moved forward with creating a space where families, especially those in affected areas, could heal, learn, and play. He set to work creating an outreach program, including free admission for families impacted by the fires in the Palisades zip codes, which provides a refuge in a time of uncertainty.

Under his leadership, the museum expanded its reach with programs designed to address the specific needs of the community. The museum's "Teddy Bear Project" became a symbol of comfort and support, and free community gatherings were hosted to provide safe spaces for families to connect, learn, and find joy. 

The museum's initiative to host free programs, including story times and art activities, reflected Thomas’ belief that all children, regardless of their circumstances, deserved access to a place where they could grow through open-ended play and social interaction. These programs also aligned with Thomas’ broader mission of creating public learning spaces that were deeply connected to local government and non-profit partners, recognizing the importance of civic engagement in building stronger communities.

This vision took root and began to flourish, and the learning—like all education—works both ways. Programs like the UCLA Early Childhood Research Pop-Up create ongoing engagement with local researchers, which then feeds back into innovative programming that continually ups the fun and educational experiences offered by the museum.

A key pillar of Thomas's leadership approach was his ability to create both short- and long-term impact. In just two months, he successfully turned around the museum’s financial stability, allowing it to thrive even amidst the challenges of a post-pandemic world. He also launched a Playmakers Gala to raise funds and awareness, as well as creating outreach vehicles that will bring museum experiences directly to communities. The museum’s commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and free programming cements its ongoing success.

By Fall 2025, the museum has grown its membership base to over 2,400 families, up from 1100 in early ‘25, with annual attendance well beyond comparably-sized Children’s Museums in other US Cities - over 150,000 visits. Through data collection and feedback, Thomas and his team successfully relaunched school programs, expanded seasonal staffing opportunities, and continued building relationships with key partners such as local non-profits, government agencies, and educational institutions. The impact was clear: the museum was no longer just a place for children to visit—it serves as a hub for the entire community.

Thomas remains steadfast in his belief that a children's museum should be a "town square" for families—offering daily drop-in programs, free access to learning experiences, and a place where the entire family engages in the joy of learning. 

That’s the other part of the research on play: adults need it to thrive as well. 

In reflecting on the landscape of children’s museums, Thomas recognizes that the challenges of early childhood education are far from over. The work of connecting children to safe, imaginative spaces to learn and grow continues to be a struggle in many regions, especially in underserved communities. 

With over 300 children’s museums now operating across the country—each contributing in its own way to the development of young minds—the movement continues. A week ago, the Cayton’s recent and reimagined Playmaker's Gala, held for the first time at home in the Museum itself, raised over $425,000! 

As Santa Monicans, we need not look farther than our own backyard. Go to caytonmuseum.org and join in the fun!

Jessica Cole