Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge offers Spring Break activities

 

Gardening, art, astronomy, and messy science experiments will be among Spring Break activities offered for children in first through fifth grades at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge from March 13-17.

The museum will offer morning activities from 9 a.m.-noon and afternoon sessions from 1-4 p.m. There will be a full day St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Friday, March 17, featuring an Irish lunch, “wearing o’ the green,” Highland games, and crafts, a press release said. Children may register for individual sessions, a day, all mornings, all afternoons, or the entire week.

The museum will also host “Wonderful Wednesday” programs from 11 a.m.-noon March 15 and 22. Kids love rocks, and on March 15, they can learn about rocks in our backyards. The East Tennessee Geological Society will have rocks, minerals, and fossils to explore.

On March 22, kids and families are invited to learn about dogs. Kristin Cummings, of the Smoky Mountain Animal Care Foundation, will bring her adoptable dog and talk about dog care, tips on how to approach a new dog, and the importance of dog adoption. The programs are free with admission.

Meanwhile, the Children’s Museum will be open for visits Tuesdays through Sundays during Spring break. Children may imagine they are astronauts in the Mars Rocket Room, explore how children lived in historic Appalachia, wander through a rain forest, delight in a child-sized playhouse, create a puppet play, board a miniature tugboat, splash in TVA Waterworks, and much more.

Here’s the schedule of activities for March 13-17:

• The Nature of Gardening, 9 a.m.-noon Monday, March 13—Children will learn the finer points of gardening: when and what to plant, how to nourish plants, the growth cycle of a seed, and how to use herbs and spices.
• Mad Math, 1-4 p.m. March 13—Children will build a catapult and calculate how far different objects can be chucked.
• Astronomy Aliens, 9 a.m.-noon Tuesday, March 14—Young astronomers will concoct night star playdough, play astronomy Jeopardy, construct moon phases, build a marshmallow constellation, and create an alien space ship.
• Cool Chemistry, 1-4 p.m. March 14—Young chemists will mix ingredients to make flubber, build a density tower, and create a glow in the dark bouncy ball.
• Poetry in Art, 9 a.m.-noon Wednesday, March 15—Children will read Ezra Keats’ “In a Spring Garden,” learn Haiku, write a poem about a creature in the garden, then create a collage for their poem.
• Science of Color, 1-4 p.m. March 15—Young scientists will learn the science of eruptions, create a glowing rainbow eruption, cook up a crystal flower in a shell, build a leprechaun trap, and engineer an egg tower.
• Letterboxing, 9 a.m.-noon Thursday, March 16—Children will try out this fun hobby that combines orienteering, art, and puzzle solving. After creating a stamp and logbook, they will solve the puzzle with clues and use navigational skills to find hidden treasure.
• Appalachian Jack Tales, 1-4 p.m. March 16—Children will join Sarah and Jonah in the Appalachian exhibit to learn about 1890s mountain life and Jack Tales, a historical way to tell stories. They will create a Jack Tale by brainstorming ideas for character, plot, setting, problem, and a resolution, then write the folktale together using their ideas and act it out on stage.
• St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, March 17—Children are invited to wear green and cook an Irish meal for lunch: bangers and lucky Irish potato mash, O’ Casey punch, and Irish apple cake. After lunch, they will create a sporran and Loch Ness puppet, play Highland games, and hunt for gold before taking the Loch Ness Challenge.

To register for a single class in the morning or afternoon, the rate is $25 for museum members, and $30 for non-members. A full day of classes is $50 for members and $55 for non-members. For all mornings or all afternoons during the week, the rate is $125 for members and $135 for non-members. For the full week, morning and afternoon, the rate is $210 for members and $225 for non-members. Children should bring a lunch if staying a full day.

For more information on these activities, see the Children’s Museum website here or call (865) 482-1074. To register online, see http://childrensmuseumofoakridge.org/classworkshopcamp-registration/.

The Children’s Museum is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Museum admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors ages 62 and older, and $6 for children ages 3-18. Admission is free for children under 3 and museum members. For more information, call (865) 482-1074 or see the website.

This press release was submitted by Kay Brookshire.

 

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