Cleaning Protocols and Public Health

Wash your hands! (Courtesy CDC)

The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine is dedicated to creating a safe, welcoming, and clean educational environment for our visiting children and their families. In response to the heightened concerns about public health, we would like to share our cleaning protocols with our membership and the public.

First, please know that our policy is consistent with advice from the US CDC and Maine CDC about best practices in keeping public spaces safe:

• All four floors of our facility are professionally cleaned each night. In addition, Museum & Theatre staff members wash and disinfect toys and props daily and disinfect exhibit surfaces in heavy traffic areas throughout the day. Dirty toy bins throughout the exhibits allow parents and caregivers to safely set aside toys that have been in children's mouths; these toys are then disinfected nightly by staff. We ask you to follow this policy closely.

• Due to increased health risks during the spring flu season–and particularly this year with the rapid spread of the coronavirus–we have intensified our cleaning and disinfecting protocols to increase the frequency throughout the day of disinfecting hard surfaces such as tables, chairs, exhibit components, handrails, and door knobs.

• Hand sanitizer is available to the public throughout the building and is especially accessible at the Front Desk for visitors to use as they come and go. We ask you to wash your hands/your child’s hands or use hand sanitizer during your visit.

• We will continue to assess our cleaning practices and follow current public health advice to keep our visitors and staff safe and healthy.

As a reminder, we recommend these tips from the CDC. The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to virus or illness. However, as a reminder, there are everyday preventive actions to help prevent the spread of diseases, including:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash and wash your hands.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

Visit cdc.gov for more information.

Questions can be directed to Lily O'Brien Gilbert, Director of Visitor Engagement, at lily@kitetails.org or 207-828-1234 x243