A Nonprofit with Deep San Diego Roots is Stepping onto a National Stage to Reshape How Families Experience Mathematics.

Through museum partnerships, MathHappens Foundation offers math play spaces for families in 19 locations in 10 states that are open every weekend.

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES, April 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- MathHappens Foundation will be featured at this year’s InterActivity Conference, a leading international gathering of children’s museums, educators, and cultural institutions, taking place April 21–23 in San Diego.
At the conference, the organization will showcase its growing national initiative: Math Rooms—immersive, hands-on environments designed to make math engaging, creative, and accessible for children and families now available every weekend in 19 museum locations in 10 states across the country. With 25 additional partners using MathHappens materials, their reach has extended to a total of 44 locations including in the US Virgin Islands and Panama since being founded in Austin, TX in 2014.

Math Rooms invite children to explore mathematical thinking through puzzles, visual patterns, spatial reasoning challenges, and open-ended problem-solving. The environments are intentionally playful and flexible, allowing learners of different ages and abilities to participate at their own level while encouraging curiosity, collaboration, and persistence.

“This started as a simple question—why isn’t math a bigger part of the education programming at museums?” said Lauren Siegel, Founder and Executive Director of MathHappens. “Finding, and in some cases literally making the answer to that question is what we do. What began as an effort to better understand how math activities could be a part of offerings at museums and public spaces twelve years ago has grown into a national program with 100 employees providing 450 hours of math enrichment every year.”
“Museums educate differently, seeking connection with their communities and offering rich interactive experiences that engage the whole family. When people are given the space to explore, collaborate, and be curious, math becomes something they want to engage with. That shift changes everything,” said Siegel.

Deep Roots in San Diego
MathHappens maintains strong ties to San Diego through its leadership and collaborators. As a young child, Siegel moved to La Jolla, CA. Her father, Garth Murphy, became the first person to earn a PhD from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Some of Siegel’s favorite places to learn were the museums in Balboa Park, and she ended up working at the Museum of Photographic Arts as a teen. After living in Chicago, Dallas, and now Austin, Siegel is especially excited to bring MathHappens’ Math Room to her hometown.

A key collaborator joining MathHappens at the conference is Yana Mohanty, PhD, a San Diego–based mathematician and the inventor of Geometiles, an innovative tool that allows children to explore geometry through hands-on building. Geometiles are a popular addition to Math Rooms, and Mohanty frequently collaborates with MathHappens to bring these experiences to new audiences. Her work aligns closely with the organization’s mission to make abstract concepts tangible, creative, and engaging.

Public Opportunities for San Diego Families:
While the conference itself is not open to the public, San Diego families are invited to experience Math Rooms at two special events (included with admission)
• Saturday, April 25 (11 AM – 3 PM): San Diego New Children's Museum
• Sunday, April 26 (11 AM – 2 PM): Fleet Science Center
Math Room programming will continue at both locations throughout the year.

About MathHappens Foundation
Started by the Siegel Family in Texas, the MathHappens Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming how people experience mathematics. Through Math Rooms, open-source tools, and creative collaborations, the organization brings joyful, meaningful math experiences to communities across the country. By reimagining math as something visual, tactile, and playful, MathHappens aims to make mathematical thinking accessible to everyone. Learn more at https://www.mathhappens.org/

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Lauren Siegel
MathHappens Foundation
lsiegel@mathhappens.org
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