Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Holyoke, that is! We hope everyone will join us in welcoming Santa and Mrs. Claus to the Children's Museum at Holyoke on Saturday, December 5th. From 10:30 am until noon, we will be hosting a meet and greet with lots of fun activities. Come and get your picture taken with the famous couple, decorate a delicious Christmas cookie, craft an ornament, learn how to make your own beautiful snowflake, play a song with some musical jingle bells, design and build a topper for a Christmas tree, and listen to Santa and Mrs. Claus each read their favorite Christmas story. Santa will be reading The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, and Mrs. Claus will be reading Fancy Nancy: Spendiferous Christmas by Jane O'Connor. It's not often that these two find the time to travel from the North Pole to meet all of their adoring fans, so definitely take advantage and join the festivities! All activities are included in the price of museum admission.

The Think and Play Series for Preschoolers returns on Friday, December 4th. December is all about winter! Join us for songs, art, and stories to celebrate everything amazing about our coldest season. Snowflakes, ice, and snowmen... oh my! We will also be learning to write our own wintry poetry, so wear your thinking cap! Think and Play begins at 9:30 am, and admission is $6.00 per family (free for members). Anyone arriving after 10:00 am is subject to regular admission prices.

The Holiday Season is Upon Us!

The holidays are looming, and that ushers the Children's Museum into its busiest time of the year. A combination of yucky weather, visiting families, and time off from school is a triple delight that brings in the crowds! We strive to be open as much as possible during this time of year so that as many people as possible who want to visit us have the opportunity to.

This brings us to the confusion over vacation and when exactly the Children's Museum is open. As a rule of thumb, the museum is open whenever school is closed, barring major holidays. This means that althou

gh we are usual

ly closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, we are open if school is out. So for the upcoming holidays, here is a schedule of museum hours:

Thanksgiving

Wednesday Nov. 25th: 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

Thursday Nov. 26th: CLOSED

Friday Nov. 27th: 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

Saturday Nov. 28th: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Sunday Nov. 29th: 12:00 pm- 4:00 pm

Winter Break

Monday Dec. 21st: 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

Tuesday Dec. 22nd: 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

Wednesday Dec. 23rd: 10:00- 4:00 pm

Thursday Dec. 24th: CLOSED

Friday Dec. 25th: CLOSED

Saturday Dec. 26th: 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

Sunday Dec. 27tth: 12:00

pm- 4:00 pm

Monday Dec. 28th: 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

Tuesday Dec. 29th: 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

Wednesday Dec. 30th: 10:00 am- 4:00 pm

Thursday Dec. 31st: 10:00 am- 2:30 pm (First Night Jr. Event, closing early to give families time to walk over to the Visitors' Center for the New Year Count Down and Ball Drop)

Friday January 1st: CLOSED

Keep an eye out for the Children's Museum's WISH TREE. It will be appearing soon, and we will be hanging "wish stars" from its branches detailing small items that the museum needs to help keep its exhibits, programming and activities running (markers, paper, etc.). As we strive to make our museum and staff performance better and brighter, we could use your help with some of the little things. So pick a star, and make a wish come true for us (and in turn, for YOU!) (picture source: freevectors.net)

Please join us Saturday, December 5th for our Meet the Clauses event. Listen to both Santa and Mrs. Claus read their favorite stories, have your picture taken with them, decorate a fancy cookie, make an ornament or tree topper, and learn how to make a beautiful snow flake. This event runs from 10:30 am until noon and is free with museum admission, so don't miss it! (photo source: cdn-write.demandstudios.com)

Finally, we want to remind everyone of the approaching annual fundraiser: First Night Junior. This will take place on Thursday, December 31st from 10:00 am until 2:30 pm. An admission price of $6.00 per person includes entry to the museum, unlimited rides on the Merry-Go-Round, Ed Propielarczyk's Magical Moments, Roger Ticknell's renowned music and storytelling, balloon sculpting, face painting, and much much more. Come meet your favorite WGBY characters, and don't miss the ball drop finale over at the Visitors' Center at 2:30! Advance tickets will be available for $5.00 per person. Because this event is a fundraiser, memberships and library passes are not accepted. Call the museum at (413) 536-7048 or the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round at (413) 538-9838 for more details! (photo source: .nyc-architecture.com)

*There will be NO Think and Play Series for Preschoolers this Friday, November 27th*

Ruff Ruffman, Santa, and Preschoolers... Oh My!

The Grand Opening of our much anticipated Fetch!Lab will be this Saturday, November 21st! Ruff Ruffman will be here in person to meet all of his fans, we will be giving out goody bags and holding a drawing for free museum memberships, and there will be fun activities going on all throughout the day (10:00 am to 4:00 pm). Please stop by and say hello! Because WGBY has provided generous support for our newstation and Fetch!Lab, any WGBY members (in addition to Children's Museum members) will receive free admission if they present their card or newsletter.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and Ashley will be celebrating on Friday, November 20th with a sweet surprise! The Think and Play Series for Preschoolers has been talking about family all month, and our family unit will be wrapped up with fun Thanksgiving festivities. What other holiday is more about family?! Publish your own book about what makes you feel thankful, make (and eat!) a delicious mini-pie, and laugh along at our read-aloud of I Know an Old Woman who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson. The program will begin at 9:30 am. Admission is $6.00 per family (free for members). Anyone arriving after 10:00 am will be subject to regular admission prices.

This year, the Children's Museum will be hosting a meet and greet with Santa and Mrs. Claus on Saturday, December 5th from 10:30 to 12:00. Meet the Clauses and have your picture taken with them, hear Santa read Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg or Mrs. Clause read Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O'Connor, decorate fancy cookies, make a Christmas ornament, and help decorate our museum Christmas tree! This event is free with the price of museum admission. (photo source: istockphoto.com)

Our raffle and bake sale for Brenda Parent, our coworker who has been on extended medical leave, were a huge success! We want to thank each and every one of you that contributed. Your donations have allowed us to really help Brenda in her time of need! Thank you, thank you, thank you (picture source: virtualhug.wordpress.com)

T'is the Season for Giving

This month, the Children's Museum is focusing on giving back! Our raffle to raise money for Brenda Parent, our administrative manager who has been recovering from serious surgery, is set for its final drawing on Saturday, November 14th. Please join us (not to mention, buy a raffle ticket!!) for the bake sale also taking place that day that will benefit Brenda. In addition, we are also participating in City Wide Charity Day in Holyoke. Bring in a canned food item, gloves, hats, scarves or gently used coats for our donation box anytime before November 14th and receive $1 off each admission before November 14! All items collected will be distributed to the needy in the Holyoke community. (picture source: caaneo.ca)

Please don't forget that we are OPEN on Wednesday, November 11th VETERAN'S DAY! Come play with us =-)

This Friday, November 13th, join us for our Think and Play Series for Preschoolers. It is Ashley's second installment in her Family! Series. Sometimes families grow and expand. How does the addition of a new baby make everyone in a family feel? Learn about new babies and changing families, and sing and play with our special guest, Velvet St. Amand from BabySigns, who will be teaching us different ways to communicate our feelings! The program begins at 9:30 am. Admission is $6.00 per family (free for members). Anyone arriving after 10:00 am is subject to regular museum admission prices.

30 Days hath September... April, June, and NOVEMBER!

We have begun displaying our raffle prizes at the museum, so definitely come in and check out some of the beautiful baskets that staff and board members have put together. The ticket sales are coming in slowly- and we're hoping that word of mouth can help increase the numbers! Please help us to raise money for our dear friend and coworker, Brenda Parent, who is on extended medical leave! The final drawing (and bake sale!) will take place at the museum on November 14th. (picture source: http://gardeningwithchildren.files.wordpress.com)

Last week, our Think and Play Spooktastic Celebration was a huge success! Unbelievably cute witches, knights in shining armor, magicians, cheetahs, lions, princesses... costumes of all kinds poured in for a fun celebration of all things Halloween. Ashley wants to thank everyone that came! And if you have pictures that you wouldn't mind sharing (for the blog, for bulletin boards, etc.), we would LOVE to have them! Just send them to Ashley at ar_barton@yahoo.com. This week, Friday November 6th at 9:30 am, we are kicking off our Think and Play for Preschoolers Family! series. What is a family? Do animals have families too? Learn about different kinds of families and their members, and enjoy family themed songs, games, and stories along with a special floppy-eared animal guest! Is your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino is our featured book of the week. Admission is $6.oo per family (free for members). Anyone coming after 10:00 am is subject to regular museum admission prices.

Another date to put into your calendar: the grand opening of our Fetch!Lab. WGBY is helping to sponsor our Fetch!Lab and newsroom, so join us on November 21st for a celebratory opening. Ruff Ruffman will be visiting to make sure we've done a good job and to say hello to all of his fans! More to come on this event... so stay tuned! (picture source: pbskids.org)

*Also remember- the museum will be OPEN on Veteran's Day, November 11th*