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!

Vacation!

The Children's Museum at Holyoke's vacation schedule is beginning this week. We will be having extended hours and will be open 7 days a week until January 2nd (the schedule will then revert to regular business hours). The vacation schedule is as follows: Monday through Saturday 10:00 am through 4:00 pm and Sunday 12:00 pm through 4:00 pm. However, we are closed on December 24th, December 25th, and January 1st. (picture source: comeniuspaths.netfirms.com)

Another exception to the vacation schedule is New Year's Eve, December 31st. The First Night Jr. event will be happening in Holyoke Heritage State Park from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. The museum will be open from 10:00 am until 2:30 pm, and a special ball-drop finale will be happening at 2:45 pm at the Visitor's Center. Advance tickets are $5.00 (can be purchased from the museum) and include tons of fun activities (see previous post), and tickets bought at the event are $6.00. Come and celebrate with us! (picture source: mlive.com)

Ashley would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to all of her regular Think and Play attendees! She has had so much fun getting to know all of the kiddos and watching them all learn and grow each week. The Think and Play Series for Preschoolers will be taking a short break as Ashley will be leaving the Children's Museum at Holyoke at the end of December. But please stay tuned to the blog to find out when the program will be beginning again! (picture source: msnbc.msn.com)

THANK YOU!

Recently, our water table has been given a facelift... and if I may say so, it was a much needed one! We are fortunate enough to have a water table that is a replica of the CT river and are able to use something fun as a very valuable teaching tool. However, we did not have the funding to make our CT river look as beautiful as we had hoped...

But the Beavers Club has come to our rescue (AGAIN! They also installed our beautiful wooden benches and fence as well as our Tot Lot). Check out these amazing shots of the time and hard work that these men donated to us!
And voila! A beautiful, new look to go along with the rest of our updates. All of us here at the Children's Museum at Holyoke would like to whole heartedly thank the Beavers Club for being so generous! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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As you plan out your holiday vacation time, please don't forget about our New Year's Eve celebration for children and Heritage State Park Event, First Night Jr. It takes place on December 31st from 10:00 am until 2:30 pm. Tickets are $6.00 per person (or $5.00 per person if bought in advance) and admission includes entry to the museum, unlimited rides on the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round, Ed Popielarczyk's Magical Moments, Roger Ticknell's renowned music and storytelling, balloon sculpting, face painting, and much much more! Come and meet your favorite WGBY characters and trek over to the Visitor's Center at 2:30 to watch our ball-drop finale. It's the best New Year's celebration for children in the Valley, so don't miss it! Tickets are on sale now! Also, Click here to see our extended holiday vacation hours! (picture source: smileosmile.com)

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Finally, join us this week for Ashley's Think and Play Series for Preschoolers where children will learn about animals in the winter! On Friday, December 11th, find out where all the animals go during winter! Learn about animal homes, animal adaptations, and some animals that just LOVE the cold. We will be making our own polar bear puppets to take home. The program will begin at 9:30 am, and admission is $6.00 per family (free for members). Anyone arriving after 10:00 am will be subject to regular admission prices.

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.