Children's Museum of Manhattan Premieres New 'Adventures with Dora and Diego' Interactive Exhibition on May 20 Inspired by Award-Winning Nickelodeon Preschool Series Go, Diego, Go! and Dora the Explorer

Children's Museum of Manhattan Premieres New 'Adventures with Dora and Diego' Interactive Exhibition on May 20 Inspired by Award-Winning Nickelodeon Preschool Series Go, Diego, Go! and Dora the Explorer

New Multi-Sensory Exhibit Transports Kids to Dora's House and Diego's Animal Habitats; Teaches Kids about Latino Culture, Science and Animal Facts

NEW YORK, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 20, the Children's Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) opens the brand-new "Adventures with Dora and Diego" exhibit, the nation's only museum exhibition inspired by the popular characters from the award-winning Nickelodeon series, Go, Diego, Go! and Dora the Explorer. CMOM, Nickelodeon and the animated series' creators Chris Gifford and Valerie Walsh have collaborated to create a multi-sensory environment that transports kids to the shows' familiar settings like Dora's house, Diego's Animal Rescue Center and a tropical rainforest. The bilingual exhibition uses various interactive elements to help educate young visitors about Latino culture, science and animal facts.

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"CMOM is thrilled to be the home of the country's only museum exhibition inspired by Dora and Diego, two characters who motivate children every day to learn more about the world around them," said Andrew Ackerman, Director, Children's Museum of Manhattan. "This new exhibition echoes the character's spirit of education and exploration with CMOM's mission to prepare young children with the social and academic skills needed for school and lifelong learning."

"CMOM has created an incredible, tactile experience for preschoolers that allows them to play and learn with Dora and Diego in a three dimensional world," said Brown Johnson, President, Animation, Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group and CMOM Board Member. "The new animal habitats are sure to satisfy all of the young rescuers and scientists out there, delivering the leather back sea turtles and blue morpho butterflies that our smart TV audience has come to love."

On May 18, CMOM will host a special gala fundraiser that will include live appearances by costumed Dora and Diego characters and an exclusive preview of the exhibition to raise funds for the museum's 48 community outreach programs in and around New York City. For ticket information, visit www.cmom.org.

The "Adventures with Dora and Diego" exhibition is comprised of two separate Diego and Dora environments. Features of the exhibition include:

-- Animal Habitats: This Diego-themed installation features a cut-out of
the animal rescuer and Baby Jaguar. Kids can explore a cave, cloud
forest, beach and rainforest that house various animals in need of
rescue. The habitats include problem solving tasks like helping a Blue
Morpho butterfly find its way out of a cave and helping to clean up a
polluted beach so sea turtles can lay their eggs.
-- Diego's Animal Rescue Center: At Diego's Animal Rescue Center, kids can
climb a set of stairs and are greeted by Alicia. Visitors can look
through Click, Diego's part locator, part telescopic camera friend, and
see images of animals in the rainforest, peer through a spotting scope,
and use the computer station to view photographs of animals and learn
facts about Latin American animals.
-- Diego's Animal Care Station: Kids learn how to feed and care for
animals in this section of the exhibition which features a
"stethoscope" to hear animal heartbeats and a light table where kids
can examine the x-rays of various animals. Additionally, there is a
"footprint rubbing station" where kids can use paper and crayons to
create their own rubbings and use them to identify animal footprints in
the exhibition.
-- Dora's Fiesta: This exhibition helps kids learn problem solving skills
while taking them on an adventure that requires them to cross the lake
to get to a party at Dora's house. Along the way, kids must build the
walls of Rainbow Bridge while also helping Dora's friends Boots, Tico,
Benny, and Isa get to the party.
-- Dora's House: Inside the house, visitors find Dora's friends dressed
for a fiesta. Kids can become a part of the festivities and learn
different skills including: how to play musical instruments -- drums
and xylophone; how to cook Latin American foods, or the words to
Spanish songs as they listen to the radio in Dora's room.

"Adventures with Dora and Diego" replaces CMOM's "Dora the Explorer" exhibition which opened in December 2004. Following the launch of the original exhibition, CMOM experienced a substantial increase in attendance and membership.

The new exhibition will also be a base for CMOM's extensive outreach efforts such as programming in community centers, hospitals and after-school programs across the city. CMOM will host a regular series of workshops and activities to support the themes in "Adventures with Dora and Diego," including weekend art programs where kids will be able to decorate mini pinatas, make fiesta birthday hats and create rainforest animal puppets. CMOM presents workshops, exhibitions and performances created by a team of professionals and scholars to provide educational opportunities that help kids from diverse ethnic, economic and cultural backgrounds develop their minds during their most formative years.

The "Adventures with Dora and Diego" exhibition opens May 20, 2008 at the Children's Museum of Manhattan located in The Tisch Building at 212 West 83rd Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam.

About Children's Museum of Manhattan

Founded in 1973, the Children's Museum of Manhattan is New York City's leading cultural institution dedicated solely to kids and families. CMOM inspires children and their families to learn about themselves and a culturally diverse world through unique interactive exhibitions. CMOM presents a full range of activities, exhibitions and special performances that stimulate children of all ages. Through multidimensional programs that reach deep into the community, the Museum serves New Yorkers from all backgrounds. For details on all of CMOM's programs, please visit www.cmom.org or call 212.721.1234.

About Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go!

Dora the Explorer is a play-along, animated series starring Dora, a seven-year-old Latina heroine whose adventures take place in an imaginative, tropical world filled with jungles, beaches and rainforests. In each episode, Dora and Boots invite the audience to participate and help solve a problem to continue the adventure. In Go, Diego, Go!, Diego, with help from his friends, high-tech gadgets and viewers at home, identifies and locates animals in trouble and takes viewers on various adventures. Since their debuts on Nick Jr., Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! quickly became the top preschool series on commercial television and Dora the Explorer currently ranks as the number-one preschool show on all of television.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, now in its 29th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 96 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than 13 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA; VIA.B).

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Photo: NewsCom:

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Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, or Thamar Romero,
+1-212-846-7491, both of Nickelodeon; or Philip V. Ramirez, +1-212-784-5713,
of GROUPGORDON, for CMOM

Web site:

http://www.nick.com/
http://www.cmom.org/

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