InfoFlash
Great Lakes Children's Museum

May 2012

In This Issue
Schedule Change
Discovery Center
Activities at the State
Schooner Manitou
Toddler Time
InterActive StoryTime
Museum Store Feature
Waves of Wonder
 

celebrating the childlike wonder
in all of us

 

 

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Great Lakes Children Museum

13240 S. West Bay Shore Dr.
P.O. Box 2326
Traverse City, MI 49685
(231) 932-4526

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Featuring May Programs...
Discovery Center Community Assessment, Schooner Manitou, Museum Movie, Toddler Time, InterActive StoryTime & More!
May Schedule Change
Because of the Memorial Day Weekend, there will be no Toddler Time on Friday, May 25. We hope that you and your family enjoy a great holiday weekend.

We'll be closed on Memorial Day (we are ordinarily closed on Mondays, except when the Traverse City schools are scheduled to be out). Starting on Monday, June 18 we will be open seven days a week, through Labor Day.
Discovery Center Assessment Complete

Discovery CenterThe Discovery Center ~ Great Lakes has completed a detailed and comprehensive community needs assessment process. Input from the Discovery Center partner organizations was collected during a planning summit on October 4, 2011, with 30 participants from all four partner organizations in attendance. Following that, five focus groups were held in November 2011 and February 2012. One of the focus groups was exclusively for educators from area public, independent, and charter schools. Fifty-eight individuals participated in the focus groups, which were held in the Activity Room at the Great Lakes Children's Museum. An online community survey was then created from the compilation of ideas generated in the five focus groups. The survey was launched in January 2012, promoted vigorously, and kept live for five weeks.

 

The results of the member summit, focus groups, and community survey are all aggregated in a report that is available on the Discovery Center Planning Blog. Or you can go directly to the final report by clicking April 2012 Community Needs Assessment.

 

We are now working with Cornerstone Architects to develop the best ideas from the member organizations and the community to create a new vision for the Discovery Center, including a new and expanded Great Lakes Children's Museum.

 

The Discovery Center is:

Great Lakes Children's Museum - Maritime Heritage Alliance

Watershed Center GT Bay - Traverse Area Community Sailing

State Theatre - Museum Movie
Sat. May 12, Museum Movie - Ant Bully - 10 am
On Saturday, May 12, we continue our partnership with our friends at the State Theatre. We will offer an entertaining and informative short video before the 25Saturday Kids Matinee. In May we'll open for the animated feature Ant Bully with a unique science video about the ability of fire ants to form rafts to survive floods.
 
The science video is made possible through Science Friday and Interlochen Public Radio. Movie-goers who bring a ticket stub from Ant Bully to the Great Lakes Children's Museum in the month of May will get half off the price of admission.
Schooner Manitou
We at the Great Lakes Children's Museum enjoy having the Martime Heritage Alliance and the The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay as neighbors at the Discovery Center ~ Great Lakes. There is a great mix of nonprofit organizations here on the Discovery Center campus.

Staring today, we have a new neighbor. The Traverse Tall Ship Company and the Schooner Manitou will be set out from the Discovery Center campus and launch from Traverse City Light & Power's former coal dock located across the street.

We are very excited to have this family-friendly activity join our neighborhood. The season starts out with educational School Ship programs twice a day on the Manitou offered by the Inland Seas Education Association. Then on Memorial Day Weekend the charter season opens to the public. Plan a visit to the Great Lakes Children's Museum and a cruise on the Schooner Manitou this summer.
May Toddler Time Schedule
Fridays, 10 am to noon 

Toddler Time is offered Fridays from 10 am to 12 pm. It is an opportunity for toddlers to interact with each other and learn through a variety of activities and experiences. Toddler Time encourages toddlers' natural curiosity, enhances fine and gross motor skills, guides appropriate social behaviors, and facilitates essential cognitive growth. Most importantly, it's fun! Toddler Time is included with the price of admission or the cost of your annual membership.

 

Come Right In!, May 4

There's a castle in the corner!  Find a rocket to explore. Come inside a cabin, rock a boat, and plenty more.

 

Wonderful Wheels, May 11

Wheels are rolling!  Children will manipulate cars & trucks on a small roadway.

 

Indoor and Outdoor Sidewalk Chalk, May 18

It will be a great day to decorate the sidewalk at the Great Lakes Children's Museum. We will create an indoor sidewalk to decorate as well. Make a piece of homemade sidewalk chalk to take home.

 

No Toddler Time, Memorial Day Weekend, May 25

 

Toddler Time is supported by a grant for the Oleson Foundation.

 Sidewalk Chalk 

 

 

April InterActive StoryTime Selections
Stories with a Twist! Wednesdays, 11 am
InterActive StoryTime features great works of children's literature and activities and crafts led by Museum staff and volunteers, which enhances the experience for children and deepens their understanding of the selected book.
 
Curious George Plants a Seed, Erica Zappy, May 2
Seeds grow plants.Curious George wants to find out what happens when you plant other things including a carton of orange juice and an umbrella.
 
Hey, Little Ant, Phillip and Hannah Hoose, May 9

Will the kid squish the ant on the sidewalk? Find out what happens.

 

Make Way For Ducklings, Robert McCloskey, May 16

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard grew tired looking for the perfect spot to raise their family. Stopping off for a rest in a city park, they were delighted to find everything they wanted.  Find out what happens when they try to cross a busy city street.

 

In The Tall, Tall Grass, Denise Fleming, May 23

If you were a fuzzy caterpillar crawling through the tall, tall grass on a sunny afternoon, what would you see?

 

Feathers for Lunch, Lois Ehlert, May 30

Who let the cat out? He is after the birds. Can he catch any? (This book can be used to teach accurate identification of 12 species of birds.)

 

InterActive StoryTime is underwritten through a generous Early Childhood Reading Grant from the Target Foundation.

Museum Store Featured Items - Springtime Fun

Garden hand toolsSpring is upon us and it's a great time to think about outdoor activities for the children in your life. The Museum Store has a fresh selection of items for outdoor play.

 

Young children love to work alongside of grown-ups and help with household activities. It gives them a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Our Kid's Gardening Hand Tool Set features three sturdy hand tools for helping out in the garden.
 
Net & Critter Gear
The Museum Store also just got in a
supply of Net & Critter Gear packages. The critter net has an 18-inch handle and a 7-inch net opening. The nets are bundled with three exploration accessories, including the innovative clear creature catcher. The set also contains the suggestion to carefully release your specimens after observing them.

Members always get 10% off
in the Museum Store
The software and service that delivers our newsletter is made possible, without cost, through Constant Contact's Care4Kids program (see below) and the sponsorship of Hanna Bistro in downtown Traverse City.

Children's games are hardly games. Children are never more serious than when they play.

 ~ Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)