NEWS! at the Museum
Click a link below to learn more.Caring for Community
Memory makers: Old fun times become the next generation's new fun times
The Peripatetic Family
Seeing is Believing: The Emperor visits the Children's Theatre
Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine present Cinderella and The Emperor's New Clothes this winter
Nonprofit mergers one way for small groups to make it
Children's Museums "Exhibit" Educational Outreach
Children's Museums Work To Stay Germ-Free
At Maine museum, playtime is the rule
Portland has a new place to play!
CMTM fall season begins with auditions on 8/29/09.
CMTM receives $3,000 for cultural arts programming from Target.
CMTM is the recipient of a $1,250 award from the Portland Rotary Charitable Fund.
Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine receives $10,000 endowment grant
Have a Ball is back!
Welcome to our new website
Zero tolerance lead policy
Research on the importance of play
Camera Obscuras fascinate new generations
Two dozen volunteers descended on the Children's Museum and Theater of Maine on Thursday. They went to work weeding flower beds, freshening the paint on a scaled-down pirate ship, applying finish to picnic tables and dismantling the aging Taj Mahal clubhouse.
The volunteers were among more than 1,000 people from various companies and organizations who turned out for the United Way of Greater Portland's 18th annual Day of Caring.
Click for the full Portland Press Herald article.
Childhood's rites of passage change with the seasons in New England, but not with the years.
It wouldn't be Maine without lobster boats. And the Children's Museum has a pint-sized vessel perfect for young visitors. The replica lobster boat allows kids to play captain and haul in traps. "We feel each children's museum in the US should represent its home place and speak to the community in which it exists," said Suzanne Olson, executive director.
Click for the full Boston Globe article.
Not that you'd ever mistake Portland for Brooklyn, not with that gorgeous, rugged scenery, but the Maine town's population of scruffy artists, young families, and ardent locavores seems awfully familiar.
After taking in downtown's must-stops,there's a great children's museum next door to the Portland Museum of Art.
Click for the full New York Times article.
Emperor Fredrick has a wardrobe problem: The "commonness" of his fabrics makes Empress Sophie cringe, and his people turn away from his speeches with disappointment and disdain for his duds. He is, in brief, "in dire need of an image makeover."
Click for the full Portland Phoenix article.
Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine present Cinderella and The Emperor's New Clothes this winter
02.02.2010
02.02.2010
The Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine will be performing two classic children's tales to life in the upcoming months: Cinderella and The Emperor's New Clothes.
Click for the full Broadway World Maine article.
Here's the challenge facing the people who run small not-for-profit agencies: Find a new way to stay alive or die.
This is one model for how small groups can make it through this recession and come out of it better organized for the future. Last year's merger of the Children's Museum of Maine and the Children's Theatre is another.
Click for the full Portland Press Herald article.
In the most popular outreach program of the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine, students come face-to-face with a 45-foot, life-size replica of a humpback whale -- and even take a walk inside it.
Click for the full Education World article.
Children's museums are a place where kids -- and their parents -- are encouraged to touch anything and everything. But as they do that, they could be spreading germs.
At the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine in Portland, Lucy Bangor said in addition to having a cleaning crew come in each night, they put their hard props in the dishwasher every night and put their soft props, like stuffed animals, in the washing machine every night.
Click for the full WCSH 6 article.
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Do you want to slide down the fire pole? Or milk the cow? Can I take your picture on the boat, holding the lobster?
At the interactive Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine, where tots to teens are not only encouraged, but expected to touch everything, such questions are common.
The museum, located on Free Street in the arts district of this compact city of just over 64,000, puts little ones front and center. Here it's all about playing and exploring.
Click for the full Boston Globe article.
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Huge slabs of granite dominate the knoll; you can jump from one to the next, scrambling to the top.
Close your eyes, and you might be hiking the Cathedral Trail in Baxter State Park or jumping across the rocks at Mackworth Island. Upright logs and granite columns sunk into the ground could be towering pines or dockside pylons.
For the kids who use the new Deering Oaks playground, the adventures will be limited only by imagination.
Click for the full Portland Press Herald article.
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Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine will embark upon its first full theatrical season since the merger of the Children's Museum with the Children's Theatre last November. Auditions to cast young actors in the season's fall show, Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like, will take place on Saturday, August 29th at 1pm. The Museum & Theatre will cast about ten children between the ages of nine and sixteen to perform the tale of an orphan boy and his unexpected ally who team up to save a city from wild horsemen.
Theatre Artistic Director Reba Short expects the audition turnout to be double what it was last year. "Since we made our permanent home here at the Museum, we've grown our presence in the community with strong productions, summer camps and workshops," explains Short, who was on staff at the Theatre prior to the merger. "Kids are seeking creative ways to explore who they are; parents are seeking enriching activities that don't require an overwhelming financial commitment. A lot of families are discovering that children's theatre is an activity that works for everyone."
Other shows in the 2009-2010 season will include Cinderella, The Emperor's New Clothes and The Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings; all were selected to underscore the season's theme, "Things Are Not What They Seem." In response to audience requests for season tickets, CMTM has introduced a Season Flex Pass, offering families sixteen tickets at a discounted rate. Flex Pass tickets can be used for any show or combination of shows throughout the season.
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Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine announced that it has been awarded a $3,000 grant from Target. The award from Target is a one-time gift to fund a cultural arts performance series for Portland area elementary school students.
The performance series will be part of a multicultural arts program that has been offered in and around the We Are Maine exhibit for the past four years. We Are Maine uses video testimonials and cultural games, foods and traditions to highlight connections between Maine families and countries around the world. Target's gift will fund visits from professional musicians, dancers and performers from around the world, as well as admissions for students and educators.
Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its income to the communities it serves. Target stores carry on this tradition by making local grants and supporting volunteer initiatives. Target is proud to partner with the Museum & Theatre to make the arts education affordable and accessible for families and communities nationwide.
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The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine is the recipient of a $1,250 award from the Portland Rotary Charitable Fund. The funds were proceeds of a raffle for a private tour of the Bahre antique auto collection. Rotarians George Crockett, Russ Burleigh and Rick Snow led the fundraising effort.
In these challenging economic times, it's especially important to receive community support, says Suzanne Olson, Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine Executive Director. We're delighted to use Rotary funds to support learning through play for all young children and families.
Winners of the raffle enjoyed a private tour of the acclaimed Bahre collection in Paris Hill on June 13th. The Museum & Theatre's next major fundraising event will be their 4th annual golf tournament to be held on September 21st at Nonesuch River Golf Club.
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Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine announced that it has been awarded a $10,000 grant from Robert and Dorothy Goldberg Foundation, a private foundation. The award from the Goldberg Foundation is a 1:1 match to the $10,000 the Museum & Theatre raised during the 2009 fiscal year in support of its endowment fund.
"Building for a bright future, preparing for growth that's just as important for the Museum & Theatre as it is for the children who visit us," says past Board President John Massengill. "We're committed to inspiring the children who learn with us today and to inspiring generations to come. The Goldberg Foundation's support of the endowment helps us honor that commitment."
The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine is a non-profit organization. The Museum & Theatre's endowment fund helps position the organization strategically for long-term sustainability. The funds are restricted and invested to generate revenue in the future.
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How do balls move? What makes them travel along a track, up and down hills, or off a jump? Find out on July 3rd at the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine when it opens its new permanent exhibit: Have A Ball.
Have A Ball made its original debut in 2006 as a temporary exhibit in the Museum's traveling exhibit space. The concept and design for the exhibit were originally inspired by the book Raceways: Having Fun with Balls and Tracks by Bernie Zubrowski. Over the past three years the Museum featured the exhibit twice more, each time improving on its original concept and design.
During its last installment, visitors made it clear to the staff that Have A Ball needed to be a permanent fixture at the Museum. To meet this demand the Museum has done the most extensive overhaul to date to create a brand new experience for the repeat visitors while still maintaining elements that had made it so popular.
Have A Ball is an interactive exhibit that teaches children of all ages about the physics of movement with balls. Narrated by Daisy, a curious pug dog, children are introduced to science vocabulary while being asked to test hypotheses and formulate conclusions.
Popular components include an adjustable ramp that lets children jump a ball into different cups by changing the slope and a challenging ramp with a rotating cup that teaches kids that timing is everything. New to Have A Ball is a twin ball launcher that lets children launch balls through tubes to the ceiling onto two different suspended ramps that wrap around the room.
The exhibit opens in the lobby gallery July 3rd for the First Friday Art Walk and is scheduled to remain up through the 2010 season.
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Here you will find information about the organization, our programs & performances and our commitment to our community.
We are putting the finishing touches on our new website this week. When complete, the website will provide options to donate and buy memberships online, request reservations for birthday parties and group visits, and sign up for special programs. Please take a look and enjoy all the new features!
We hope to see you soon at the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine!
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Zero Tolerance: Detecting Lead in a Children's Museum
03.03.2009
By: Suzanne Olson and Suzanne Eder, Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine
Hand to hand: Quarterly Journal of ACM (Spring 2008) Children's Museum: Clean and Safe Places to Play
03.03.2009
By: Suzanne Olson and Suzanne Eder, Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine
Hand to hand: Quarterly Journal of ACM (Spring 2008) Children's Museum: Clean and Safe Places to Play
The Children's Museum of Maine Board of Directors and staff believe that the Museum has the responsibility and opportunity to serve as a thought leader in early childhood learning in our community and beyond. When news of toy recalls surfaced in the fall of 2007, we began a serious discussion about how we as an institution focused on the children should respond to this concern. We asked ourselves if the products we make available to young children in our exhibits, as well as our store merchandise, were free of lead. This question and the pursuit of its answer have taken us on a journey far more complex and emotional than we ever imagined...
Click here to read the full article on page to of the Hand to Hand Spring 2008 Issue
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Books:
- The Genius of Play: Celebrating the Spirit of Childhood
Sally Jenkinson, Hawthorn Press, Early Years Series - Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
Richard Louv, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (a division of Workman Publishing)
Articles:
- The Shape of Play Today - Kitetails Article, Winter 2007
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PORTLAND, Maine - What if you could stand in a windowless room yet see the surrounding outdoors. Could you observe wildlife or people going about their business, without them knowing you are there? It's possible with an optical instrument called a camera obscura.
Click here to read the full article in the Boston Globe
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