It is time for our annual Fall cleaning!

We will be closed from Monday, September 6 through Tuesday, September 21 to enable us to clean, paint, tweak, and scrub our exhibits and walls and floors... and as much of the ceiling that we can reach!

But before we close for housekeeping, we will be participating in Holyoke's Block Party on Sunday, September 5. This second annual Block Party is sponsored by C.R.U.S.H., and in addition to children's activities, there will be live music, food, and all sorts of entertainment. Join us for the fun of it all! The Block Party will be in Veteran's Park in downtown Holyoke. Free to the public.

Other September events: our good neighbor in Heritage State Park is having a fundraiser: on Friday, September 17 the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round will host "Mountain Park Memories" at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House starting at 6:30 p.m. Live music, games, memorabilia, and great auction items! For more information, visit their website holyokemerrygoround.org. Support our friends!

Coming up in October: we will have a tag sale on October 16! Come search our tables for bargains and "must-haves" from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the upstairs space near the picnic area. Make us an offer we cannot refuse!

On October 23 we once again will participate in Discover Holyoke!, a city-wide event showcasing the city's arts organizations sponsored by Passport Holyoke.

And stay tuned for information on a Halloween event in the Park, our own second annual fundraiser "Fancy Steps 2010" on Saturday, November 13, which promises to be bigger and better, and much more...!

Summer is in full swing, and the museum is THE place to be! Get your face painted, try your hand at making paper, create a puppet or an airplane, paint a picture, but save time to explore the museum's exhibits!

We are fortunate to work once again with the Youth Workers from the New England Farm Workers Council, as well as the teens from the City of Holyoke's Summer Youth Program; these wonderful teenagers are with us through August, and they are the ones who are making all these extra creative activities possible, and at no extra cost to our visitors!



Our preschool program, "Ready to Grow" is continuing, and August is all about "Celebrating Being Me!" Our Littlest Explorers ages 0-5 will enjoy the storytime with Ms. Beth and all the activities and games that go with the story. Admission to the Friday program at 9:30 a.m. is $6/family (members free) for preschool aged children only and their caregivers; once the program has started regular admission prices apply.

REMINDER: We will be doing our Fall cleaning in September, so we will be closed to the public September 6-21.

Father's Day Rocks!
June 20
And who better to show this than musician Craig Harris who will show Dads (and others) how to Drum Away the Blues from 2 to 3 p.m. at Holyoke's Heritage State Park Visitor Center, right across from our museum.

Sunday, June 20 will be the final installment of Holidays in the Park with a Father's Day celebration from 1-3 p.m. Dads ride free on the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round and get in free to the Children's Museum; there will be a free snack at the merry-go-round, and a craft activity upstairs in our building.

Noche de San Juan
Sunday June 27

a free festival in the park from 3-7 p.m.

We are proud to be a part of the first annual festival celebrating Noche de San Juan and the Puerto Rican culture in Holyoke. Traditional music will be played by local bands Orquest la Perfecta and Criollo Clasico, vendors will be selling traditional food, and artisans will be displaying and selling their masks, carvings, and other wares. The Merry-Go-Round, Volleyball Hall of Fame, and Children's Museum will be open until 5 p.m. There will be volleyball games, a bike show, and lots of fun activities for kids and their families!

BatterUp with Wally
June 27


Visitors wearing Red Sox gear will get half price rides on the Merry-Go-Round, and half price admision to the Children's Museum, and famous mascot Wally will be available for photos from 11:30-2 at the Merry-Go-Round, where there will be balloon sculptures and other fun activities from 10-5. Help our Park neighbor raise money to preserve those gorgeous horses!

KIDS IN ACTION!
begins June 30:

Our summer weekly workshops begin on Wednesday June 30 from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Drop off your child for a fun-filled 3 hours of activities, museum playtime, and a special craft, all for just $18 (members $15). Signup for 3 days and get a discounted rate of $50 (members $40)! Every day will be different, and the theme changes weekly. The first week will be Things that Fly and kids will start by building their own hovercraft (not full sized, thank you very much). Make sure you pack your child a lunch so the energy level stays high! Call 413-536-7048 ext 101 to enroll your child TODAY!

Time is flying by and soon our nature exhibit will be dismantled, packed, and loaded onto a truck... SO VISIT US SOON!

There will be an opportunity to bid adieu to the crickets, loons, coyotes, and frogs, rake up a last bunch of leaves, and build a home for a gnome before it scurries away...

AND

try to eat like a bird, track animal footprints, and meet some real live critters from the Zoo at Forest Park on Friday, June 11 from 5-8 p.m. when we host a "Families in Nature Night" as the send off celebration of Out on a Limb, adventures with nature and art exhibition.

There will be stories, and crafts, free hot dogs, and lots of fun!

Members: $5; non-members $10.

Please rsvp so we don't run out of dogs...

Spring is here, the rains have come (and hopefully gone for awhile!) and flowers are beginning to appear once again outside picture books. With Spring come changes and we are excited about the changes at our Museum! We have many new 'faces" to introduce, and new happenings to announce.

Please welcome our new Ready to Grow preschool teacher, Miss Beth, who will guide our littlest explorers on a journey through April showers into May flowers. Our Friday morning program for children ages 0-5 and their favorite grownup begins at 9:30 with a story, followed by special crafts and a snack. Special price is $6 per family (no field trips), members free. Regular admission prices apply for arrivals after the program begins.

April 2: The Rain Came Down, by David Shannon is a fun loving book about the chaos caused all over town by falling rain. (craft: make a rainstick!)

April 9: I Love Bugs by Philemon Sturges follows a boy as he finds and takes pictures of all kinds of bugs. (craft: create your own bug!)

April 16: The Earth and I by Frank Asch is a beautifully illustrated book about the beauty of earth and the importance of keeping it clean. (special "earthy" craft)

April 23: The Rainbow by Felicia Law is a lighthearted story where three furry friends discover rainbows and the weather that causes them. (craft: design a rainbow mobile)

April 30: To Be Like the Sun by Susan Marie Swanson shows the journey of a seed as seen through the eyes of a little girl as she watches it grow and bloom. (plant your own seed to take home)

The Museum will be CLOSED on Sunday, April 4 for the Easter holiday, but please visit our neighbor, the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round, for their annual visit with one very familiar bunny.

COMING UP SOON:

April 19-23 10 a.m. - 1 p.m: Junior Explorers Club, Register your child for 1 day, 2, 3 , 4, or all 5! $25 per day or $100 for all 5 days. Discounts for siblings or members.

May 2: the Future Begins Here 2010! Silent and Live auction at Holyoke Mall, benefitting the Holyoke Public Library, Holyoke Rows, The Equestrian Center, and the Children's Museum at Holyoke.

We have been busy at the Children's Museum! "Ready to Grow," our preschool program, has proven popular. Miss Celia has researched fun activities for our littlest visitors; join us Friday mornings at 9:30 a.m. for storytime, crafts, and a snack. $6 per family until 9:45, then regular admission applies.

Our February fundraiser made us realize that we need more family fun nights. More than 100 people joined us for an evening of fun crafts, exotic lizards, and campfire treats (without the campfire!). Stay posted for details on another family fun night. We promise more animals!

"Holidays in the Park" 2010 continues with a wearing of the green. Our own staff member Allison Bigelow, and fellow dancer Jaime Hoppock, will perform and demonstrate the finest in Irish Step Dancing on Sunday March 14th, at 2 pm in the Visitor Center of Heritage State Park. The performance is FREE and sponsored by Holyoke's Parks and Recreation Dept. Free sweets (maybe green) will be offered from 1-3 p.m. as well as a free craft activity at the Holyoke Merry Go Round. Ali and Jaime are students at the McDermott Dance Academy, and between them have more than 20 years of dance experience (considering they are both in high school, that is impressive!)

Speaking of St. Patrick's Day activities, the big Saint Patrick's Day Parade will be on Sunday March 21 in downtown Holyoke, so our museum will be closed for the day. Go watch the parade... I hear it is the second largest in the country!

We also will be closed on Easter Sunday, April 4, but if your children get restless, take them over to the Merry Go Round to meet a "certain bunny."

Stay tuned for news of our drop off workshop, "Junior Explorers," during the week of school break, April 19-23. Animal habitats, water wheels, a terrarium... topics guaranteed to keep your explorer happy! $25 per day, or $100 for all 5 days. Members receive a discount. Space is limited, so reserve a spot today; call us at 413-536-7048.

And May brings the popular auction and fundraiser, The Future Begins Here. More to come on that later!

Happy Valentine's Day! And President's Day! ... and winter vacation days...

We are ready to celebrate!

(photo from aussiegal on Fickr.com)

On Sunday, February 14, Our Funny Valentine - Shuffles the Clown - will perform her silly antics for free at Heritage State Park's Visitor Center at 2 p.m. The Children's Museum, Holyoke MerryGoRound, and Heritage State Park are offering "Holidays in the Park" starting with Valentine's Day. The Merry Go Round is offering a sweet treat, and we will have all the materials for our young visitors to make pretty (or zany) Valentine's cards, upstairs in our picnic area. Activities are free and from 1-3, Shuffles (courtesy of Clowntique) is from 2-3. (Admission to the museum is $6/person; $1 for a ride on the MerryGoRound.) We thank the Holyoke Parks and Rec. Department for sponsoring Holidays in the Park, 2010.

Monday, February 15 is President's Day and the beginning of many kids' winter vacation, and Earth Explorers' Week at the Children's Museum! Celia has created fun activities for each day, including a story. Join us Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. , all included in the price of admission! We will be open this week Monday through Saturday, 10-4 and Sunday noon to 4 then return to our regular schedule (closed Mondays and Tuesdays).

Why did we choose Earth Explorers for a theme? We went "Out on a Limb"! Our newest temporary exhibition, "Out on a Limb, adventures with nature and art," brings the outdoors indoors.. Children can climb into a "treehouse", make a gnome home, send leaves whirling through the air in our Whirlwind Tree, create a symphony of insect and weather sounds in the Forest Jam, and play a nature memory game at the storytelling table. The exhibition was designed and built by the Children's Museum of San Jose, and we will have it until June 10 after which it continues its journey to the Boston Children's Museum.

photo from Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose

How did we get such an incredible exhibit? We could not have done this without the support of an anonymous donor who stepped up to pay for the rental. Expenses for an exhibit don't stop there! Steve Corrigan of Mountain View Landscape understood that and contributed generously toward program and marketing materials. Jim Curran of Curran Construction showed up with Tim and Tobey and two forklifts, to unload the 53' truck, then move the empty crates onto a trailer provided by Steve Bakos of Griffin Express, who has donated the storage; and David Shultz of Sonoco sent his incredible and talented guys Henry and Bruce to help install the components, with the great assistance of Edgardo Perez and his student workers from the Farmworkers Union, and our regular - and wonderful - volunteer Norm Boulanger (who also took photos of the process which you will see in a later post). WE LOVE OUR FRIENDS!

And speaking of love, and friends, on Saturday, February 27 we are hosting our annual winter fundraiser, For Love of Nature.. and Our Museum! Join us from 5-8 pm to celebrate this wonderful exhibition and help us raise funds to bring more programs and exhibits to our museum. Meet Rae's critters from Teaching Creatures, build a birdhouse with our friends from Home Depot, make your own rainstick, "finger piano", and picture frame, munch on a hot dog or s'mores, and explore the outdoors, indoors! $10 per person; reservations are suggested. Our thanks to the Holyoke Credit Union for their generous sponsorship of Teaching Creatures! So join us for a night of fun and support your museum!