This week’s Masters and Masterpieces was a success, despite the beautiful weather. I was concerned the sunshine and warmth would draw people away from the museum (even though we have a wonderful outdoor play area called the Wild Place). But instead children were coming in droves to make a thaumatrope or the chromatography I taught this week. Also, my fellow Stonehill seniors came for a special activity today because they are education majors.
Nobody is participating in the PHOTO CONTEST! What’s up with that? Do you not want the $100 value prize? GET ON IT!
Sorry if I don’t have much to talk about, but I didn’t get my coffee today. I actually woke up at 10am (I’m supposed to be here at 9:30) because I set my alarm for pm instead of am. How clichéd is that?
Oh by the way- Teddy Bear Day is this week. Check it out.

PHOTO CONTEST!

After much planning, The Children’s Museum in Easton is having a PHOTO CONTEST through the blog! I’m very excited about this, as the winner will receive an ACM Membership worth $100!!

Have you visited our museum and taken a spectacular picture of your child? Now you can use that to win a free ACM membership at the museum for one year! This $100 value can be yours with the Museums first ever spring photo contest.
Submit an original, non-professional photo of your children interacting with various exhibits at the museum, and send them to cme417@yahoo.com with the subject line reading “photo contest”.
Try to avoid posing, and have the pictures show natural interactions.
Themes and prizes for photo winners are:
-The Great Outdoors: Winner of a photo outdoors at the Museum’s “Wild Place” will receive $25 to the Museum’s gift shop
-Even Adults Have Fun: Winner of a photo of children and their caregivers together at the museum will receive $25 to the Museum’s gift shop
-Learning and Playing: Winner of a photo of children interacting with an indoor museum exhibit will receive $25 to the Museum’s gift shop.
-Best Photo: Overall best photo (anything at the museum goes) will receive an ACM Membership for one year: A $100 value that gives free access to the Children’s Museum in Easton as well as 110 museums across the country for 1 full year!!
Winners and updates of the photo contest will be posted and featured right here on the blog!

Images should be emailed in jpg format, 2 MB or smaller.
Please include:
-child(ren)’s name
-age
-caregiver(s)’ name
-address
-phone
-email
Up to three (3) photos may be submitted by each entrant. (Limit one prize per household.)

Entries must be received by May 1st at midnight.

For the full rules and regulations, check here.

Spring Fling Saturday

So finally it is here: Masters and Masterpieces starts tomorrow! Our spring fling tomorrow will kick it off with real bunnies and a magic show starring Bounce the Bunny and his assistant Awesome Robb. Country 102.5 visits as well. The whole week will be arts and crafts themed, and I will be working Wednesday and Friday mornings. So come down to the lowest level and make thaumatropes (A thaumatrope is an optical illusion toy. Hard to explain.) and other fun art projects. So the attractions and parking (from last weeks post. See below.) means you should definitely stop by.

The Bay State Parent blog is a cool site to see what’s going on in this area, and it has pro-Massachusetts articles such as, “Massachusetts is One of The Best States for Children,” which pleases me. They are having a contest for free tickets to the Children’s Museum in Easton (so we like them). Check it out!

My college (Stonehill) is having their own big spring weekend starting with a Third Eye Blind concert and a carnival. I’m pretty excited and I have had to wear an annoying 21+ wristband all week for the concert (if I take it off I void the wristband) so it’s about time.

Have a great Spring Weekend!

Don’t you hate driving into Boston sometimes? Both of my sisters live in the city and I find it very frustrating, not to mention trying to park. For April vacation week, going anywhere with your kids and trying to find a parking spot can be enraging. Unlike other museums (that won’t be mentioned), The Children’s Museum in Easton has FREE parking, both on and off the street. So along with Masters and Masterpieces, the parking should draw many to the museum this April vacation week.
Although the vacation week is our next event, I have to share some information for later this year that I am very excited about. Fellow intern Chris Cyburt acquired…

Image taken from Wikipedia

THE WEINER MOBILE.
This time-honored classic will be making its way to the museum on the August 1st. So you better ketchup to it. Wow. I apologize for my stupid jokes.
So now that I mentioned who acquired the meat wagon, you’re all wondering, “What does Chris Cyburt look like!?” Well, he is the one intern that doesn't seem to have had his picture taken. But don't worry, because he'll still be embarrassed. I found one on the internet:

Have a great weekend!

Here's the first Monday post for those of you out there who can't wait for Friday. 411mommy asked a very good question in comment: is a 9 and 10 year old too old to go to the Children’s Museum in Easton? The answer is yes and no. For most of the activities during the week on a normal day they would be on the higher end of the age spectrum. But for my FETCH!™ labs they would be perfect! I often sit around twiddling my thumbs and although I enjoy the frequent visitors who are five and under, many of them do not grasp the concepts and challenges offered in my FETCH! Labs. Older children would be ideal. I teach the labs Wednesday and Friday mornings.
Also, special occasions such as school vacation weeks are more oriented to the older crowd that are on break from school. This upcoming April vacation week is a perfect example. From April 19th-April 27th, Saturday to Sunday of the vacation week, our theme will be “Masters and Masterpieces.” We will be looking at artist like Andy Warhol and Georgia O’Keeffe, and having local artisans come to demonstrate their craft. Come by and make your own work of art! We kick off the school vacation week with our "Spring Fling" on April 19th.

Hooray. 3 comments on one entry and over 300 hits? I’m glad this blog can be as helpful as possible, even with a dead link. Michelle pointed out to me in her comment that my New England Mamas link wasn’t working. I apologize, and have fixed it so the article about discount museum passes can be viewed by all. I revealed to the Mamas (in a comment on their entry), the Childrens Museum in Easton is a great discount during these hard times of insanely high gas prices. Our membership has unlimited visits for an entire year for $60 (for 2 people), $70 (for 3 people), or $80 (for 4 people). For $100 we also offer the ACM reciprocal membership that offers entry to 110 children’s museums throughout the country for an entire year. To see a list of these museums, check here. We also offer free on and off street parking.

Chris Vacchi noted in his comment on my last post, I shouldn’t give him all the credit for the updated website, as several people contributed. I just wanted to embarrass Chris, though, so no one else needs to be mentioned. Again, if you're wondering what Chris looks like, see below.