Building Foundations for Eternity: The Salt Lake Temple Comes to Life for Kids

Children and families are invited to explore a new exhibit at the Church History Museum that focuses on the Salt Lake Temple.

The hands-on exhibit, titled “A Firm Foundation,” celebrates the 19th-century construction and 21st-century renovation of the Salt Lake Temple. Patrons will explore the power of strong physical and spiritual foundations. The exhibition is now open and will remain on view through 2027.

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“This exhibit will bring a big project like the Salt Lake Temple to a child’s level of understanding,” Primary General President Susan H. Porter said during a media event on Thursday, March 19, 2026. “They’ll have more of a sense that it’s not really about the building — it’s about strengthening ourselves in Christ. It will help them feel like they are participating in celebrating the strengthening of this temple. And then they can celebrate strengthening their lives.”

Each of the Church’s many temples is considered a house of the Lord Jesus Christ and the most sacred place of worship on earth. As houses of the Lord, temples differ from the Church’s meetinghouses (chapels). All are welcome to attend Sunday worship services and other weekday activities at local meetinghouses. The primary purpose of temples is for faithful members of the Church to participate in sacred ceremonies such as marriages, which unite families forever, and proxy baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors who did not have the opportunity to be baptized while living.

At the “A Firm Foundation” exhibit, patrons will explore the power of strong physical and spiritual foundations. The Salt Lake Temple’s foundation has undergone a complex seismic upgrade and will mark a six-month celebration beginning in April 2027. As former Church President Russell M. Nelson said last year, all are invited to the celebration to “learn about God’s plan for His children and rejoice in the love of Jesus Christ.”

Designed especially for children and families, the exhibition combines interactive building experiences with inspiring stories from the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Through engaging, hands-on activities, young visitors will discover how building our spiritual foundation on Jesus Christ helps us stand strong during times of challenge.

“When the renovation work began on the temple, and we talked about what exhibits would be good to have for when the temple reopened, my mind immediately went to the idea of a firm foundation,” said Tiffany Bowles, a curator at the Church History Museum. “Just as the temple foundation was needing to be strengthened, it's important for each of us to have a strong spiritual foundation. So that seemed like a good bridge between past and present.”

Families can test their engineering skills at an earthquake table, operate a kid-friendly crane, and experiment with a variety of building activities. These hands-on experiences illustrate that just as a temple needs a base that will not move, our lives need the steadying influence of the covenants we make with God.

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Guests can also watch an animated film about the Salt Lake Temple’s history and take a picture in an ox yoke. Throughout the gallery, children are reminded that while the building is impressive, the most important part of the temple is what happens inside — the sacred work of uniting families for eternity.

“I had a lot of fun playing with all the things and building things,” said Luke Zimmerman, who visited the museum with his family on Saturday, March 14, 2026. “I liked to build arches out of those little building blocks. I also liked to build the little house and then run it through the earthquake simulator. It’s really cool.”

His sister Kate enjoyed making stained glass.

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“It makes me excited because I get to see the stained glass and how much time it took for them to do that, and how long it took the temple to be built,” she said.

The experience, she added, makes her “really happy to go” inside the temple.

Their mother, Danielle, said each of her children was intrigued by the earthquake simulator.

“That was cool for them to see how important it is to have a strong foundation,” Danielle said. “Within the Church, we’ve learned about having a strong foundation for our whole lives, so I think it was cool for them to see that in action and get to test out how it worked.”

“It’s always a good reminder to see how much we were able to accomplish so long ago with so little tools or knowledge or resources,” added Colby, their father.

The exhibition also features meaningful historical artifacts, including the trumpet from the statue of Angel Moroni that fell during the March 2020 earthquake, as well as a cane that Brigham Young may have used to mark the temple site in 1847. These objects help illustrate the temple’s unique history.

“A Firm Foundation” invites families to learn, play, and build faith together.

“Children are critical members of the kingdom of God,” said Church History Museum Director Riley Lorimer. “This is both their past and their future. It’s important for the Church History Museum to always have a dedicated children’s exhibit and activities for children in all of our exhibits. No history of the Church or of the Salt Lake Temple is complete without the contributions of children.”

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About the Church History Museum

The Church History Museum, on the west side of Salt Lake City’s Temple Square, houses important artifacts documenting the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members and leaders, as well as a collection of works by many of its illustrious artists from 1830 to the present.

The museum and museum store are open to the public Monday, Friday, and Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Admission is free.