InfoFlash
Great Lakes Children's Museum

September 2012

In This Issue
Kids Safety Day
Family Fundraiser
Toddler Time
InterActive StoryTime
Duplo Primo Blocks
Museum Store
Sponsor Newsletter?
Coming in October
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 September Programs...
Kids Safety Day, Crawfish Boil Fundraiser, Toddler Time, InterActive StoryTime & More!
6th Annual Kids Safety Day
Saturday, Sept 15 - 12 pm to 4 pm

  KSD 2010

On Saturday, September 15th, the Museum will be hosting our 6th Annual Kids Safety Day from 12 pm to 4 pm. Safety events such as this are a great way for children and the adults in their lives to learn about how to keep themselves safe. Plus they're loads of fun! Join us for this interesting and fun event, with vehicle tours, safety demonstrations, and give-aways. To see photos of the past four Kids Safety Days click here.

 

The primary purpose of Kids Safety Day is to help children and families learn to protect themselves from preventable accidents and injury.

Children are fascinated by safety vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances. Kids Safety Day utilizes kids' natural interest in these vehicles and equipment to help them learn about their own safety while exploring the real thing and participating in demonstrations about bike helmets, life jackets, electricity, and more. Another benefit is that children who are exposed to first responders in a fun and festive environment might be less frightened if they have the misfortune to encounter them in an emergency situation.

 Blue Cross/Blue Shield

There will be free admission to the Museum throughout the day. This year, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Blue Care Network of North Michigan are again helping sponsor Kids Safety Day, making the event and free admission possible.

Crawfish Boil Family Fundraiser
Thursday, October 4 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Crawfish

School is back in session, but there are still plenty of ways to enjoy the special pleasures that North Michigan has to offer us. 

 

Please join us for a fun family event at the Grand Traverse Yacht Club Thursday, October 4 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm to help raise money and assist us in launching the first-ever Great Lakes Children's Music & Arts Festival

 

We will have a traditional crawfish boil for the adults and kid-friendly food for the children. Special hands-on activities will be offered for the children who come. There is no charge for the food, drink, and entertainment, however a minimum $50 donation per family is suggested. A cash bar will be available for adult beverages.

This is an exciting time for the Great Lakes Children's Museum and this music and arts festival will become a flagship annual event. We are fired up to provide more family-inspired events in our great community. Providing a fun, positive view of the arts for our kids is one of the greatest gifts we can give.

 

The online registration system will go live next week. Check our website to register or look for your Evite invitation. 

September Toddler Time Schedule
Fridays, 10 am to 12 pm

Toddler Time is offered 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.

 

Hand Prints Look How Much I've Grown, September 14 

Children will create a lasting record of their size, by making a handprint on a frame-able piece of fabric.

 

Bean Bag Fun, September 21

Children will fill their own bean bag with beans. We sew the bag closed.Children will have fun tossing their bean bag thru hoops and into baskets.

 

Apple Daze, September 28

Red ones, green ones, yellow ones! How many apples can you pick? Children will participate in simple counting & sequencing games around our apple tree.

September InterActive StoryTime Selections
Stories with a Twist! Wednesdays at 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.

 

InterActive StoryTime is on Wednesdays at 11 am.

 

Owen, by Kevin Henkes, September 12

Owen had a fuzzy yellow blanket that he took with him everywhere he went. What happens to the blanket when Owen goes to school?

 Bed Hogs

Bed Hogs, by Kelly DiPucchio

September 19  

Each night the hogs pack into bed, they squeeze, and groan and grunt.Underneath them all "Little Runt" has something to say.

 

Six Dinner Sid, by Inga Moore

September 26

This is a tale of one clever cat that finds a way to get fed six times a day!

 

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

Looking for Duplo Primo Blocks
Primo DuploDo have some unused Duplo Primo blocks at home? We'd love to add them to our collection in the Great Lakes Room.

 

Duplo Primo blocks have a rounded top and have had various names: Duplo Primo (1995-1996), then Lego Primo (1997-1999), and Lego Baby from 2000. 
 
We would welcome your donation of some round-top Duplo blocks for our youngest visitors.

Museum Store Featured Item - Floor PuzzlesSolar System 

The Museum Store has a great selection of floor puzzles, including our Solar System floor puzzle. You'll need lots of "space" to assemble this beautifully illustrated 48-piece puzzle of our solar system. Extra-thick cardboard jigsaw pieces are built to last, and their easy-to-clean surface will keep your puzzle looking new. 36"L x 24"W. Recommended for ages 3 and up.

 

We also have USA, Canadian and World maps, as well as animal floor puzzles with dinosaurs, horses and safari animals. 

 

Made by Melissa & Doug.
 
Members always get 10% off in the Museum Store.
Looking for a Constant Contact Sponsor
Does your business use Constant Contact? You could sponsor our newsletter at no cost to you, through Constant Contact's Care4Kids program. Our previous generous sponsor, Hanna Bistro, closed last spring. 

Call or email the Museum if you'd be willing to let us "piggy-back" on your Constant Contact subscription.
Coming in October
In addition to the family-friendly Crawfish Boil fundraiser described above, we be offering our first Member Night of the season on Friday, October 19 from 5:30 to 7:30.
 

As with all Member Nights, there will be complimentary refreshments for you and your family. Also, each member child may bring a guest free of charge. This is a members-only event. However, you can renew or take out a membership the night of the event.

Children aren't coloring books

You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors 
~ Khaled Hosseini