PBS Fort Wayne invites you to join us for our 12th Annual Explorer Day at Parkview Field from 10 AM - 2 PM on Saturday, June 13!

Explorer Day is our annual free event celebrating families, fun, and hands-on learning with partnerships from area businesses, non-profits, and PBS KIDS.

Your family will enjoy this fun day packed with educational activities, games, and a chance to meet some real PBS KIDS characters and your favorite PBS Fort Wayne Pup, Ryder! With dozens of local businesses and non-profits being caring neighbors by bringing engaging activities to Parkview Field, there will be something for everyone to enjoy!

Save The Date to Grab your stroller or wagon, load up the kids, aunts, uncles and grandparents and join us at Parkview Field! 

Don't Miss These Community Partners Joining Us At Explorer Day 2026:

3Rivers Federal Credit Union • Ambitious Archers • My Robo Think • American Red Cross • Anthony Wayne Council Boy Scouts • Basche's Martial Arts • Better Business Bureau • Beyond Words Speech Therapy • Bricks & Minifigs, Fort Wayne • Canterbury School • CareSource • Chick-Fil-A (Coliseum Blvd.) • Citilink • Community Transport Network (CTN) • Crazy Pinz • Dare To Dream Ranch • Daughters of the American Revolution • DeKalb County Visitors Bureau • Early Childhood Alliance • Fort Wayne Area Home Schools • Fort Wayne Ballet • Fort Wayne Center for Learning • Fort Wayne Children's Choir • Fort Wayne Community Schools • Fort Wayne Youtheatre • Hope's Harbor • Indiana University Fort Wayne • Iris Family Support Center (formerly SCAN) • Joyful Creations Studio • Junior Achievement • Kainos MicroSchool • Korte Does it All Plumbing, HVAC & Electrical  • Manchester University – E-Sports • Maple Seed Farms • Matthew 25 Health and Care • Monica Riecke - Realtor • My School Options • National Down Syndrome Society • Neighborhood Health Clinic • Neighborhood Health Women, Infants & Children • Pizza Hut • Pontiac Street Market • Pulled & Pressed Screen Printing & Embroidery • Purdue Fort Wayne College of Visual & Performing Arts • Purdue Fort Wayne Engineering, Technology and Computer Science Outreach Program • Ruoff Mortgage • Science Central • Southwest Montessori Academy • Summit Physical Therapy • The Goddard School of Fort Wayne • The Plex • True North Kid-Venture • Unique Cherubs Family Childcare • United Art & Education • Western & Southern Financial Group • Whimsy Faces by Olivia • World Baseball Academy • Youth For Christ

 PNC-MOBILE LEARNING ADVENTURE-FEATURES

1. Passport – Children will receive their own passport booklet to take with them throughout the activation, where they can receive a sticker for every station they visit.
2. Match Board – While children wait in line, they can familiarize themselves with some of the occupations available at the MLA photo station by matching the job name with its pictures and tools.
3. Making Choices Disc Run – This activity helps parents and caregivers teach their children about “wants” vs. “needs” as a foundation for making good financial choices.
4. Paper Hat Occupation Station – At this station, kids will select and decorate a paper hat that corresponds with our available occupations at the photo station.
5. Spinners - While kids wait in line they can use their imagination with some of the occupations available at the MLA photo station by spinning the different sections to create a profession.
6. Costume Wall – Children will choose an occupation to dress up as what they’d like to be when they grow up (examples include a firefighter, chef, artist, and more). Their photo will be taken at the photo station.
7. When I Grow Up Photo Station – Kids will have their photo taken in their costume, with a custom occupational background! The photo will be printed right there in the MLA for kids to take home in a Grow Up Great frame.
8. Story Telling Tree – This station will encourage dialogue between the parent and child as the child will answer the following prompt by writing on a lead and attaching it to the tree: “When I grow up, I want to be ___ because ___.
9. Giveaway Table – Tote bags will be given to each family filled with educational resources for caregivers.

This event is supported by PNC Grow Up Great®

PNC Grow Up Great is the PNC Foundation's signature program. It is a $500 million, multi-year, bilingual initiative that began in 2004 to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. As part of this initiative, the PNC Foundation has earmarked funds for grants to nonprofit organizations that work to improve school readiness by providing support in areas such as: vocabulary development; social-emotional learning; math; science; and the arts.

By focusing our support on high-quality early childhood education, we aim to positively impact school readiness and contribute to stronger, smarter and healthier children, families and communities.

If you’d like your business  to participate in 2026's Explorer Day on June 13th as a vendor or one of our sponsors, 

contact  our Corporate Development Department at  corporatedevelopment@wfwa.org.