D-backs unveil Children's Museum exhibit, give $100K

PHOENIX -- The D-backs unveiled their Move It! exhibit at the downtown Children's Museum of Phoenix on Saturday and the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation donated $100,000 to the museum as part of its Grand Slam Grants program.

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the exhibit, which provides children with a place to learn through play and movement, was attended by club president Derrick Hall and D-backs reliever J.J. Putz.

"Through our foundation, we're very proud of the impact we've been able to have with our grants and Grand Slam Awards and we give away so many of those each year," Hall said. "[We donate] anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000 with the grants and then our Grand Slams, where we give four or five each year of around $100,000 each.

"We can make quite an impact at places like the Children's Museum, where we now have this Move It! exhibit which kids can enjoy throughout the year. From an exploratory or educational standpoint, this is a perfect place for us to be attached to because of their focus on youths and because they're our neighbor right up the street [from Chase Field.]"

The exhibit provides innovative design and the use of repurposed materials invites active exploration, imaginative play and thought-provoking discoveries as well as physical activity of both fine and gross motor skills. Elements of the exhibit include the Willie Maze, Diamond, Dugout, Snake and the Bases that incorporate baseball themed items, the D-backs said in a press release.

"The Children's Museum is an amazing place," Putz said. "They just have so much room for activities and they've got some really creative exhibits. The kids love to come here and run around and go crazy but I think they're actually learning something while they're running around."