HIT Entertainment is partnering up with the Minnesota Children’s Museum to create a new traveling exhibit focused on Thomas & Friends that will launch next summer and is slated to tour for 10 years.

The exhibit will launch next June and begin its 10-year tour of children’s museums across the country. This is the first time Thomas & Friends is being offered as a museum experience in the US.

The Thomas & Friends exhibit will be designed, developed and built by Minnesota Children’s Museum. Master toy partner Fisher-Price is the presenting sponsor for the exhibit. The exhibit combines play opportunities with important concepts in science, technology, engineering, and math. These subjects are woven and layered throughout the exhibit.

A 1,500-square-foot interactive version of the Island of Sodor that will allow children to climb aboard a full-size model of Thomas the Tank Engine is the centerpiece of the exhibit. Children can pretend to be conductors and engineers and build their own trains and race them along a giant track.

The Minnesota Children’s Museum has developed, designed and toured a total of 19 travelling exhibits since 1997, reaching more than 15 million children’s museum visitors in more than 100 cities throughout the US, Canada and Mexico. The Museum currently tours 11 exhibits, including Adventures with Clifford The Big Red Dog and Curious George: Let’s Get Curious!