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The Halle Heart Children’s Museum is dedicated to combating the childhood obesity epidemic that plagues Arizona youth by teaching children to choose healthy lifestyles. Opened in 1996 and renovated in 2010, the Halle Heart Children’s Museum is the only interactive cardiovascular learning facility in the nation and is operated by the American Heart Association.

Each year more than 30,000 children and adults visit the museum and are educated in a fun, interactive environment about how to make healthy food choices, become more physically active and say no to smoking.

In 2015 the Halle Heart Children’s Museum launched public hours for the first time ever. The museum is open to the general public Monday through Friday from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is $5 for all guests age 4 and older, and free for visitors age 3 and under.

For the first 18 years of its existence the museum was only been open for school field trips and for private tours by appointment only. However, a grant in 2014 from Tempe-based Insight, Inc. enabled the museum to offer self-guided tours by installing video kiosks.

The museum has a host of activities, educational art and eight major exhibit areas, including:
 * Follow Your Heart. In this exhibit kids learn all about the circulatory system, from arteries to veins to the heart itself, which is a muscle, an organ and a pump.
 * All Creatures Great and Small. People are mammals like most animals, and all mammals have four-chambered hearts. In this exhibit, visitors learn amazing facts about how the human heart compares to the heart of some favorite animals.
 * The Beat Goes On. Like any muscle, the heart needs exercise to keep it in shape. Students learn what kinds of exercise work best and then get to see just how fast their heart can beat after jumping, running in place and doing jumping jacks.
 * Marketplace. The human body only needs 60 grams of fat per day. In this hands-on exhibit kids learn how to read food labels and go shopping to select a healthy meal.
 * 9-1-1 Theater. In this area of the museum visitors learn to recognize the signs of a heart attack and get a lesson in what to do if they see someone in distress.
 * Kitchen Café. Healthy cooking is fun and easy. In the museum’s commercial kitchen children learn how to make heart-healthy meals that are tasty too.
 * Goldman Theater. In this realistic 60-seat movie theater kids can watch a movie that helps them understand how to make smart food choices and avoid outside influences like advertising and peer pressure.
 * Stay on Course. In this exhibit children learn about the dangers of tobacco and smoking and learn how smoking causes decreased blood flow through the arteries.

The Halle Heart Children’s Museum is also a unique venue to host an event. The museum has plenty of low cost options for meetings, birthday parties, or receptions. In addition to its public hours, the museum hosts a wide variety of group tours by appointment. Groups of 15 or more can book a private tour by one of the museum’s professional “heart guides.” These tours are ideal for school field trips, scout troops, moms or dads groups, and summer camps. In fact, school visits are free of charge and in some cases even the cost of the bus is reimbursable.

As a program of the American Heart Association, the Halle Heart Children’s Museum is a 501©3 nonprofit and admission and other direct costs may be tax deductible. For information on group tours or to make a reservation call (602) 414-2800, email the staff at hhcm@heart.org or submit an online form at www.hhcm.org.