Say “Hello” to Your Friends…

Happy birthday to Ann M. Martin, author of The Baby-Sitters Club series! Many girls grew up reading this series, including yours truly. In a way, The Baby-Sitters Club series is similar to the goal of the Children’s Museum of Memphis—the books were fun and enjoyable, but definitely offered opportunities to learn. Personally, I learned about diabetes, various tourist attractions in New York City, and Newberry-award-winning books from reading the series. Ann M. Martin’s books brought joy to many young lives, and we salute her!

Celebrity Block Party

Back-to-School Celebrity Block Party
Saturday, August 13, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

CMOM is rolling out the red carpet for a back-to-school Celebrity Block Party! Spongebob, Dora & Diego, Spiderman, Dorothy, Toto, Tinman, Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and others all come together for a party to remember. Pose with your favorite characters for pictures and collect autographs. Cast your vote for best character in the Kids Choice Awards. We will also have games, face painting and balloon art. Admission is free for museum members and $15 for non-members - museum admission is included! Don’t forget your camera!

25 Things!

25 Things to Do!

Back by popular demand! Please find a list of 25 things to do at CMOM this summer.

1. Stick your hand in the tornado.
2. Build a building and make it fall down at the earthquake table.
3. Withdraw money from the ATM at the bank.
4. Play chess with a giant chess board in Playing Together: Games (which will be at CMOM until the end of July).
5. Challenge your mom or dad in a game of Checkers.
6. Put on a puppet show for your friends in the Bookatarium.
7. Watch the train (and the knights standing guard) above Sir Dance-A-Lot.
8. Listen to thunder in The Perfect Storm.
9. Play Rangoli in the Art Smart Studio.
10. Create a masterpiece out of recycled materials in the Art Smart studio.
11. Swivel your hips and sing along to Elvis’ Hound Dog in CMOM-TV.
12. Greet a CMOM staff member at the CMOM castle (also known as the Admissions Desk).
13. Make the hot-air balloon go up in the air.
14. Tinker with a bunch of lights, doorknobs, and doorbells in Your House, My House.
15. Play Human Bingo on Sunday at 3 p.m.
16. Count the number of slides in the museum—then slide down them!
17. Play a Guessing Game with Grandma Willow in the Treehouse.
18. Explore gravity and motion with Totally Tubular.
19. Take your picture with our very own Lady Liberty statue.
20. Learn about the history of the Mississippi River.
21. See a gigantic pen, pencil, and paintbrush.
22. Fly a plane in the Wind Tunnel.
23. Learn (and sing along to) the Booster Seat song.
24. Count the number of cows in Andy Warhol’s Cow (located in the Art Smart Studio).
25. Crack the code in the Bank’s safe.

Patricia Polacco

Yesterday was the birthday of Patricia Polacco, the wonderful and prolific children’s book author. Her works include Mr. Lincoln’s Way, The Keeping Quilt, Chicken Sunday, and Mrs. Katz and Tush. Mrs. Katz and Tush in particular is a Storytime favorite here at CMOM. It’s the story of the bond between an elderly Jewish woman, a young African-American boy, and a cat who’s “such a person.” The last time I read this book at Storytime, I got a little choked up as I read the last page (don’t judge). Happy belated birthday Ms. Polacco. You’re “such a person!”

Friday and Saturday Summer FUN Hours.

We decided to scale back our Summer of Fun hours.

Until July 31, CMOM will be open Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. We will be open from 9 am. until 5 p.m. Sunday - Thursday. Come to CMOM and beat the heat!

Andy Warhol!

At Friday's Fabulous Fine Art, we created replicas of Andy Warhol's (1928 - 1987) U.S. Dollar Sign, 1982. Fun fact: Andy Warhol's nephew, James Warhola (Andy dropped the "a" from his last name), has written children's books about his famous uncle: Uncle Andy's and Uncle Andy's Cats.

Fabulous Fine Art is every Friday at 10 a.m. Next week's artist is Georges Seurat. We hope to see you there!

Games!

Last week we opened an old favorite here at CMOM, The Games: Playing together exhibit! This exhibit is all about different games from around the world and through time. Some of these games are favorites that everyone knows how to play like checkers, and then new games like Pig-in-a-pen and Mancala. As visitors play together they learn about cooperation, build skills, gain knowledge and share memories. Games of strategy, math, luck and physical coordination are all featured. These games show how fun it is to play with others and also to learn about games you never knew existed! There is definitely a game for everyone! We hope that you will join us for this fabulous fun exhibit that will be here till July 31st!

The featured games include: Nine Men's Morris, Checkers, Chess, Tic-Tac-Toe, Pig-in-a-Pen, Sequence, Boc-Tin, Dominoes, Mancala, Skittles, Dutch Shuffleboard, Table Ice Hockey, Hopscotch and Senet.