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Volunteer

Thanks for your interest in volunteering at the Children's Museum of New Hampshire.  Volunteers play an important role in helping us meet our mission of engaging families in hands-on discovery. 

Everyone interested in becoming a CMNH volunteer should fill out this Application Form.

Important Things to Keep in Mind About Volunteering:

  1. All volunteers will be given a background check.

  2. All volunteers must be at least 15 years of age, and we require that anyone younger than 18 needs parental permission to volunteer.

  3. All volunteers must fill out this Application Form.

  4. All volunteers are asked to fill out this Waiver and Emergency Contact Info Form, which must be signed while in the presence of CMNH staff.

  5. You can also check for specific volunteer opportunities on VolunteerNH.org or on Project Happy App.

Below are the different Volunteer opportunities available.

Weekly Special Activity Volunteer:

This role helps support our “drop in” STEAM programs including Toddler Tinker Time Tuesdays, Wacky Art Wednesdays, World Traveler Thursdays, and Science Fridays. Special activity volunteers help museum staff organize, set up, implement, and clean up activities. This role involves talking to and assisting visitors including young children, so experience working with children is very helpful. Children are supervised by their caregivers during the activities, but may need help using art or science materials. 

Schedule: Weekly
Mornings 10 am - 11:30 am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays
Afternoons 2 pm - 3:30 pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays 

Total volunteers in this role: 4+ we would love to have a volunteer for each morning play session. Volunteers who are available and interested in more than one shift are welcome to come for more than one day. 

Benefits: Weekly Volunteers receive a special 3-month museum volunteer membership after 25 hours or three consecutive months of volunteering. If you continue to volunteer, we will extend that 3-month membership accordingly.


Weekly Classroom Volunteer:

This role helps our education staff teach weekly small group classes. Volunteers help with light set up and clean up during the class, and walk students to the hallway restrooms if needed. Museum staff organize, teach, and lead activities. Classroom volunteers help children use art materials and do science experiments, and they are welcome (but not required) to do more, such as read a story or introduce a lesson once comfortable doing so. 

Schedule: Weekly
Tuesday afternoons from 1-2:30 pm 
Wednesday mornings from 9 am to 10:30 am

Benefits: Weekly Volunteers receive a special 3-month museum volunteer membership after 25 hours or three consecutive months of volunteering. If you continue to volunteer, we will extend that 3-month membership accordingly.


Weekly Art Studio Volunteer:

This role works with families in our Muse Art Studio in the center of the museum. Volunteers help with resetting art materials and cleaning up if needed, and occasionally prepping materials for upcoming projects. Museum staff set up the art activities for the week, and volunteers help maintain the supplies and help families complete projects if needed. There are also opportunities to bring out special art activities and supplies that need some supervision to use, for example clay, paints, etc. 

Schedule: Weekly
Tuesday mornings 9:30-11:30
Wednesday mornings 9:30 -11:30 or afternoons 1:30-3:30
Thursday mornings 9:30 -11:30 or afternoons 1:30-3:30
Friday mornings 9:30 -11:30 or afternoons 1:30-3:30
Saturday mornings 9:30 -11:30 or afternoons 1:30-3:30
Sunday mornings 9:30 -11:30

Benefits: Weekly Volunteers receive a special 3-month museum volunteer membership after 25 hours or three consecutive months of volunteering. If you continue to volunteer, we will extend that 3-month membership accordingly.


Monthly Event Volunteers:

This role helps with the many events that the museum hosts throughout the year. From a teddy bear clinic to a dinosaur tea party, we host a lot of fun and unique events! In addition to our annual events, there are many theme days, performances, and special guests that help make a museum visit extra special. Volunteers help museum staff with set up, clean up, and monitoring activities during events. This could be restocking an art activity in the Muse Art Studio, or helping with a special activity in our STEAM Lab. Volunteers may also greet or direct visitors, and help with odd jobs. Our current annual events can be found here: https://childrens-museum.org/things-to-do/events

Schedule: Monthly
Friday mornings 8:30-12:30 (flexible within that window)
Friday afternoons 12:30-4:30 (flexible within that window)
Saturday mornings 8:30-12:30 (flexible within that window)
Saturday afternoons 12:30-4:30 (flexible within that window)
Sunday mornings 8:30-12:30 (flexible within that window)
Sunday afternoons 12:00-4:00
Monday mornings and afternoons (summer only)

Benefits: Event volunteers receive a special 3-month museum volunteer membership after 25 hours or three consecutive months of volunteering. If you continue to volunteer, we will extend that 3-month membership accordingly.


Behind the Scenes Volunteers:

Office Volunteer: This role helps behind the scenes at the museum helping with light office tasks such as helping with mailings in our development department, preparing project materials in the education department, or light repairs or cleaning in our exhibits department. Office volunteers may also help with prep and set up for events including helping decorate the museum, or other special projects. This role works closely with museum staff, but is not a public facing role working with visitors.

Schedule: weekly or monthly
Tuesdays- Flexible 2 hours shifts morning or afternoon 
Wednesdays-Flexible 2 hours shifts morning or afternoon 
Thursdays- Flexible 2 hours shifts morning or afternoon, or evening event set up
Fridays- Flexible 2 hours shifts morning or afternoon, or evening event set up
Saturdays- afternoon or evening event set up

Benefits: Behind-the-Scenes volunteers receive a special 3-month museum volunteer membership after 25 hours or three consecutive months of volunteering. If you continue to volunteer, we will extend that 3-month membership accordingly.

Garden Volunteers:

This role helps to plant, tend, and maintain the museum’s organic garden located near the playground in lower Henry Law Park. There are also opportunities to teach informal lessons in the garden and interact with visitors if desired. This role is kid friendly, and children are welcome to participate with a grown up. This role works with our education department, and includes planting, weeding, watering and harvesting as well as engaging with families if desired. Garden volunteers may also help with watering and maintaining our perennial garden on the Play Patio. Volunteer shifts usually last 1-2 hours per visit, and scheduling is somewhat flexible for this role

Schedule: Weekly
Tuesday mornings before noon, or afternoons after 1
Wednesday mornings before noon or afternoons after 1
Thursday mornings before noon or afternoons after 1
Friday mornings before noon or afternoons after 1
Saturday mornings before noon or afternoons after 1
Sunday mornings before noon

Benefits: Garden volunteers receive a special 3-month museum volunteer membership after 25 hours or three consecutive months of volunteering. Garden volunteers are also welcome to take home produce from the garden.

Summer Camp Volunteers: 

This role helps our education staff with summer mini camp sessions, which take place Tuesday to Thursday for 3 to 4 weeks during the summer. Volunteers help with light set up and clean up, help campers with projects, and walk campers to the hallway restrooms if needed. Camp volunteers also help get the group outside for snack time. Museum staff organize, teach, and lead activities. Camp volunteers help children use art materials and do science experiments, and they are welcome (but not required) to do more, such as read a story or introduce a lesson if comfortable doing so. We would love a camp volunteer for each of our mini camp weeks, but volunteers do not have to be available for more than one week. 

Schedule: Weekly
Tuesday mornings from 8:30-11:30 am 
Wednesday mornings from 8:30-11:30 am 
Thursday mornings from 8:30-11:30 am

Benefits: Summer Camp Volunteers receive a special 3-month museum volunteer membership after 25 hours or three consecutive months of volunteering. If you continue to volunteer, we will extend that 3-month membership accordingly.

Student volunteers seeking credit for classes for observation, field work, or internships, please contact our education team directly: email Colie McClain volunteer@childrens-museum.org 

The museum can fulfill required hours for students on a case by case basis, so please reach out before applying. We encourage student volunteers to look over the job descriptions and schedule to be sure volunteering at the museum will be a good fit. 

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