Halloween Eve

Tonight is Halloween Eve and the celebration is set to take place here at the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. This will be my first Halloween here, and from what I've been told, it's one of the funnest times to visit the Museum. I guess what I'm looking forward to most are all the costumes - kids and their adults will be visiting us in their finest Halloween outfits, kind of a preview for tomorrow night's activities.

Pretty much all of the Museum staff members are wearing costumes today. My boss, Nancy, is a vending machine. Our boss, Janet, is either Peter Pan or Robin Hood, depending on who you think she is. Jack is Captain Hook. I'll try to get a picture of them dancing together or something to post out here.

Me? I'm Batman before the crime. Meaning, actually, that I didn't wear a costume. I forgot.

Now I'm going to try and post some pictures of our staff for you to enjoy!

Election Results Are In!

Our special Dr. Seuss election is over, and the results are:

• Sam-I-Am – 56 votes (39%)
• Horton – 50 votes (34%)
• Cat in the Hat – 39 votes (27%)

Two write-in votes were cast for Fox in Sox.

Now if any of you can correlate these “candidates” against the national ones, maybe we have an indication who our next President will be.

Dr. Seuss and the Election

This week we have an interesting addition to the Children’s Museum – a selection from the national Artwork of Dr. Seuss exhibit. Most of your favorite characters are on hand, proudly displayed on our second floor. This is the first such exhibit we have. The artwork is on loan from the Pinnacle Art Group in Hudsonville, Mich.

To make it even more interesting for the kids – although I’m not sure we need to do much to make Dr. Seuss more interesting – we’re holding a small election, giving the children a chance to vote for their favorite Dr. Seuss character. They get a chance to vote for the Cat in the Hat, Sam-I-Am, and Horton.

We have printouts of each candidate on a table, giving children a chance to color them then drop them in a corresponding box.

Voting ends after our Halloween Eve event (Thursday, Oct. 30). We’ll announce the favorite character Friday.

Oh! And if you can make it to the Museum this Thursday night, the Cat in the Hat, with Thing 1 and Thing 2, will be making special appearances!

Halloween at the Children’s Museum

One of the most popular events at the Museum is our Halloween Eve Celebration. Of course, children are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes, but what makes the evening so much fun is the fact that so many adults wear their own costumes. It’s just neat when kids and their grownups have so much fun together – and that’s what happens all the time here at the Museum.

At our event, which is Thursday, Oct. 30, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., the children will enjoy special tattoos, glow-in-the-dark painting, and, of course, trick-or-treating!

And because our Halloween fun is on a Thursday night – which we call Thursday Family Nights – admission is only $1 per person. That’s a deal you can’t beat anywhere, especially considering that in addition to the holiday fun, the rest of the Museum will be available for all the play you can muster – including our special To the Rescue exhibit.

Museum staff members have also been invited to dress up for the event. I’m real interested to see what some of these folks come up with. As for me, well, my costume is top secret – maybe I’ll post a picture of it afterwards. But we’ll just have to wait and see.

I’m curious, what are you and your children planning to dress as for Halloween?

To the Rescue Remains a Hit!

Every year, the Children's Museum puts on display its To the Rescue exhibit. Here children can "drive" a fire truck, ambulance, or even a helicopter; run a Command Center to map out rescue routes; and learn all kinds of safety tips in the Fire Safety House. (Parents will likely learn a few things as well.)

I'm particularly pleased to see all the dogs safely tucked away in the safety house each night -- rescued by the children throughout the day. (It must be exhausting for the dogs!)

To the Rescue is a role playing bonanza! The kids play EMTs in the ambulance, dress as fire fighters in the fire truck, and "splash" out to the helicopter's rescue raft (where I've also seen plenty of dogs safely resting). What's incredible is that when you see them in action, you see them fully engaged in whatever activity they are pretending. In a sense, they are EMTs and fire fighters and other rescue workers. The transformation is quick and a delight to watch.

There's no wonder why tens of thousands of children visit To the Rescue every year. It's up and running right now through Nov. 16!

Have you and your kids played at To the Rescue? What was your favorite experience?