March Museum Movie – Happy Feet 2

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Great Lakes Children's Museum

On Saturday, March 17, we continue our partnership with our friends at the State Theatre. Each month, we offer a short entertaining and informative video before the 25¢ Saturday Kids Matinee. In March we’ll open for the animated feature Happy Feet with a short science video of special robot fish that attract interaction from live fish.

Made possible through the NPR radio program Science Friday and Interlochen Public Radio. Movie goers who bring a ticket stub to the Great Lakes Children’s Museum on March 17 will get half off the price of admission. (This discount is available only on the same day as the movie.)

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February Museum Movie – Rango

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Great Lakes Children's Museum

On Saturday, February 11, we continue our partnership with our friends at the State Theatre. Each month, we offer a short entertaining and informative video before the 25¢ Saturday Kids Matinee. In February we’ll open for the animated feature Rango with a special short of compiled video from animal cams, tracking the activity of animals from their point of view, including from behind the ears of a nine-banded armadillo in the desert southwest.

Made possible through the NPR radio program Science Friday and Interlochen Public Radio. Movie goers who bring a ticket stub to the Great Lakes Children’s Museum on February 11 will get half off the price of admission. (This discount is available only on the same day as the movie.)

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Funday Sunday – Other Cultures

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Great Lakes Children's Museum

Funday Sunday returns for 2012. Except where noted, these popular family-friendly programs are offered in two sessions, beginning at 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm. Funday Sunday is included with the price of admission. The programs are appropriate for children of all ages, with adult help for children under age 5.

Central America – January 29
The Great Lakes Children’s Museum is teaming up with the International Student Club at Northwestern Michigan College to bring you and your children a cross-cultural exploration. Students from the Club will come to the Museum to share their Central American culture and heritage with us. There will be a special reading of Conejito, an English-language Panamanian folktale and special activity to accompany it, as well as Spanish language games.

New Orleans – Mardi Gras – February 12
The Great Lakes Children’s Museum continues its cross cultural exploration with an age-appropriate Mardi Gras experience. Karen McCarthy, French teacher from the Pathfinder School will lead songs and talk about some the heritage of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We’ll have a pretend parade in the Museum with beads and doubloons. Children and families will be able to make a fancy mask—Mardi Gras style.

Ireland – St Patrick’s Day – March 11
Explore Irish culture and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day as a family with music, stories and fun. Sing some traditional Irish songs. Learn about the adventures of gentle giant, Finn McCool (Fionn mac Cumhaill). Make a leprechaun shamrock to wear on St. Patrick’s Day. Decorate a potato to create a homemade Mr. Potato Head.

Turkmenistan – March 18
The NMC International Club will present another Funday Sunday at the Great Lakes Children’s Museum. Nargilya Gasanova, from Turkmenistan, will read a story, and share the culture and experiences of her homeland. Nargilya came to Frankfort as a high school exchange student and chose to return to northern Michigan for college.
This program will be offered in only one session at 3:00.

More to come…

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Gala Fundraiser

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Great Lakes Children's Museum

Join us for “Walk on the Wild Side,”  our 2012 gala fundraiser.  It will be held on Saturday, February 25 at 6 pm at the City Opera House. This will be our 14th annual gala fundraiser supporting hands-on learning and fun for our community. For much more information go here or click on the Fundraising Events section of the website menu under “Support Us.”

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January Video – Cephalopods

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Great Lakes Children's Museum

January’s Museum Movie featured a short video called Where’s the Octopus?, showcasing the amazing science camouflage and cephalopods. If you can’t see the embedded video below, you can see the video here.

Roger Hanlon, Senior Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts has some amazing footage of octopi transforming themselves.

This cool science video is made possible through two partners, the NPR radio program Science Friday and Interlochen Public Radio, our local NPR affiliate.

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Martin Luther King Day

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Great Lakes Children's Museum

On Monday, January 16, the Traverse City Area Public Schools are scheduled to be closed for Martin Luther King Day. As with any time that the Traverse City schools are scheduled to be closed on Monday, we will be open at the Great Lakes Children’s Museum, which is normally closed on Mondays.  We are offering special activities for both younger and older children. For Martin Luther King day we will have a variety of special activities developed around the themes of peace and diversity.

Several stations will be set up with activities designed to encourage children to think about communication, cooperation, conservation, and imagination. We will also work collectively to make a big peace pole with the word “Peace” in different languages. Activities will be offered from 11 am to 3 pm.

 

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January Museum Movie

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Great Lakes Children's Museum

On Saturday, January 14 at 10 am we’ll be hosting another Museum Movie with our friends at the State Theatre. The 25¢ Kids Matinee is Dolphin Tale, a story centered on the friendship between a boy and a dolphin whose tail was lost in a crab trap. Dolphin Tale is based on a true story of when a bottlenose dolphin was rescued in December 2005 off the Florida coast and taken in by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

We’ll be exploring another side of marine life and oceanography with an astonishing Science Friday video short about the masters of camouflage—octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. Our science movie features a truly fascinating exploration of how cephalopods disguise themselves. When you see this video, you won’t believe your eyes!

 

Movie goers who bring their ticket stub to the Great Lakes Children’s Museum on January 14 will get half off the price of admission. (This discount is available only on the same day as the movie.)

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December Video – Snowflake Safari

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Great Lakes Children's Museum

December’s Museum Movie featured a short video called Snowflake Safari, showcasing the amazing science behind the countless beautiful forms of snow. See the video here.

Cal Tech snow scientist, Ken Libbrecht, talks about the fun of looking at snow outside under a magnifying glass and notes that Michigan is a great place to study snow flakes. All you need is a magnifying glass and a warm coat. For more awesome photos and videos on snow visit Ken’s Snow Crystal site.

This cool science video is made possible through two partners, the NPR radio program Science Friday and Interlochen Public Radio, our local NPR affiliate.

If you can’t view the embedded video, go to Snow Safari at Science Friday.

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Museum Movie at the State

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Great Lakes Children's Museum

On Saturday, December 17, we begin a new partnership with our friends at the State Theatre of Traverse City. On a periodic basis, we’ll offer a short entertaining and informative video before the 25¢ Saturday Kids Matinee. On the 17th at 10 am, we’ll open for the popular holiday film, Elf, with a special video about snow.

This will be made possible through two other partners, the NPR radio program Science Friday and Interlochen Public Radio, our local NPR affiliate. Join us for an interesting and fun video followed by a morning with the earnest and charming Buddy the Elf on the big screen.

Movie goers who bring their ticket stub to the Great Lakes Children’s Museum on December 17 will get half off the price of admission. (This discount is available only on the same day as the movie.)

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Holiday Happenings

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Great Lakes Children's Museum

Over the Christmas break we will be offering all kinds of special programs for school-age and preschool children alike. Unique activities will be offered from 11 am to 3 pm each weekday.

Countdown to Noon 2010

A perennial favorite is our Countdown to Noon on December 31 (more details below). To give everyone time to finish their projects, this activity starts right at 10 am, when we open. We spend two hours decorating the ball, filling the time capsule, and making hats and noisemakers. At noon we drop the freshly decorated ball and balloons from the ceiling to great fanfare and cacophony. Join us for the family-friendly celebration of the New Year.

Feed The Birds, Monday, December 26
Bring the birds up close to your window by making them treats to eat. We will be using oranges, seed, ice cream cones, cereal, peanut butter, dried fruit, and more. Yum tweet yum!

Snow Fun, Tuesday, December 27
Have some fun experimenting with and learning about snow and ice. Make and take a snow-”flakey” craft or two.

Tell Me A Story, Wednesday, December 28
A story will be read every hour on the hour, followed by an activity to go with it. Special showing and telling of Katy and The Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton at 11 am and 2 pm.

Michigan Mitten Day, Thursday, December 29
M is for mitten! Come and learn about our great state with a mitten scavenger hunt in the museum and “mitts”-on activities in the Great Lakes Room. Bring a pair of new mittens or gloves and we will donate them to Boots for Kids.

Snow Fun, Friday, December 30
Have some fun experimenting with and learning about snow and ice. Make and take a snow-”‘flakey” craft or two.

Countdown To Noon, Saturday, December 31
It’s midnight somewhere! Ring in 2012 at the Great Lakes Children’s Museum! Come anytime after 10 am to decorate the big ball and make noise makers and party hats. The countdown and ball drop will be at noon. That’s a whole 12 hrs before Time Square! Craft activities and time capsule making continue until 3 pm. To see more photos of our 2010 Countdown to Noon, visit our Flickr page.

Get Crafty! Monday, January 2
Are you just itching to make something? We will set out an extravaganza of craft supplies for you to experiment with. Everything from craft sticks to pipe cleaners! We will provide a creative assortment of scraps and really cool stuff for you to use to express your creativity.

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