BATON ROUGE - Heads of the capital city's Knock Knock Children's Museum take pride in ensuring that the building not only looks pristine but is as germ-free as possible. But as the outbreak of novel coronavirus continues to sweep the globe, Knock Knock's leaders are even more determined to maintain the building's cleanliness, making sure it's a safe and healthy environment for visitors. 

The museum's Executive Director, Peter Claffey said, “Playing with a purpose means that children and adults of all ages touch, hold, feel, and play with every surface, every block, every lever, and cable—basically every single thing in the museum—and that’s exactly what we want them to do. But for us, it means we have to be completely committed to our cleaning protocols.”

“There are no excuses when it comes to cleaning Knock Knock. We go from top to bottom multiple times a day to ensure all visitors, from babies to grandparents, are experiencing the cleanest, germ-free museum possible.”

On Thursday, the museum distributed a press release, detailing its cleaning policies.

In the document, Knock Knock's Manager of Visitor and Volunteer Services, Diana Barnes, says the entire museum is cleaned from top to bottom every single day with heavily used areas wiped with disinfectant clothes multiple times a day. She says even the Legos are disinfected and sanitized daily.

“We have procedures for every possible scenario, and we train our playworkers to respond quickly,” said Barnes. “It can be as simple as removing a toy that has found its way into a little one’s mouth for special cleaning later or as big as a potty accident that may require a learning zone to be temporarily closed. Our staff understands the consequences of failing to clean every surface in the museum properly.”

A list of the museum's daily cleaning procedures are listed below, followed by the recommendations that its staff makes daily application of to ensure personnel and visitor safety. 

Knock Knock Children’s Museum Daily Cleaning procedures:

-All hard surfaces from the car in the Go-Go Garage to every book in the Storybook Climber are wiped down thoroughly with disinfectant wipes. Playworkers constantly disinfect these areas throughout the day.

-Small items, like Legos, toy cars, plastic dishes and play food, etc. are sanitized and disinfected.

-Soft items, like aprons, uniforms, life jackets, and plush animals, are washed, dried, and sanitized daily.

-Door handles, chairs, benches, bathrooms are meticulously cleaned and disinfected.

-Floors are mopped and vacuumed.

-Items that find their way into little mouths are pulled and sanitized before being placed back in the learning zone.

Recommendations:

-Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer periodically throughout the day. Knock Knock has two free hand sanitizing stations available. They are located near the elevator on each floor.

-Wash hands frequently for at least 20 seconds. An easy way to remember is to sing the Happy Birthday song twice. Each bathroom has fun handwashing tips near each sink. Please be sure to help the little ones who may not understand how important this is to keep them and others healthy.