The Promising Practice Award Reimagined was presented to 15 children’s museums nationwide, including the Children’s Museum of Wilmington.

The program is in association with the MetLife Foundation and the Association of Children’s Museums, according to a press release.

“This exceptional grant allows us to add a technological component to our outdoor play space that will encourage parents and children to use their smartphones and tablets for nature-inspired educational tools,” Richard Lawson, executive director of the Children’s Museum of Wilmington, said in the release.

The museum won the award to refit its outdoor space, allowing parents and children to download nature-centric apps and scan QR codes to access information about plants or items in the space, Lawson said in an interview. Now under construction, the new outdoor technology exhibit will be available this fall.

“We’re putting in an urban arboretum,” Lawson said. “We want it to be an interactive experience.

“Promising Practices across the country is looking for added value, what will enhance the experience. A national award is a great thing – we’re competing against big places like Discover Place.”

Lawson, who has been at the museum for seven years, said every year the facility tries to do something significant.

“We redid our science area for STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] three years ago,” he said. “We got a major grant from Live Oak Bank to allow parents and children from preschool, kindergarten, first grade from Freeman, Gregory and Sunset Park [schools], and some kids from downtown to come to the museum for free.

“The Thomas Bus Company gave us a new bus. We gave the school system all the insides such as motor and brakes. We put a science area in the back of the bus.”