At the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, the well-being of children and families is always our first priority. We take great care to ensure the cleanliness of our space and train our staff on the practices and procedures that lead to healthy and happy communities— every day. 

In light of concerns related to the recent coronavirus (COVID-19), we want to take this opportunity to address the health and safety measures we are taking to protect the health of our visitors, both big and small.  

1. We are committed to following public policy. CMNH adheres to the safety procedures and protocols recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Association of Children's Museums, and the NH Department of Health and Human Services (NH DHHS). 

2. We invest in cleanliness. The Museum has best practice standards and processes in place for the cleaning, sanitizing and disinfection of the Museum, including exhibit areas and common areas, as well as “loose” interactive items (costumes, props and other consumables). These standards include:

• The Museum team cleans and disinfects both common and exhibit areas (affixed and loose parts) throughout the day.
• The Museum undergoes a deep and thorough cleaning after hours every day by third-party custodial staff, including common areas (bathrooms, hand rails, door handles, elevator buttons, floors etc.).
• All cloth props (costumes, puppets, etc.) are machine washed daily using a high temperature cycle.
• Containers for toys placed in the mouth are located throughout the Museum and are cleaned with professional disinfectant before they are returned to the Museum floor for use.

3. We promote personal steps to reduce the spread of germs. We know that washing your hands regularly and properly is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of germs or flu. We promote hand-washing with our visitors and staff and have 16 sinks with soap and paper towels in common areas and bathrooms, and we provide 13 alcohol-based hand sanitizer stations throughout the Museum. We remind all staff and visitors that the best way to prevent the spread of germs is to stay home if they are feeling unwell. 

We are committed to the safety and wellness of our museum community and will keep you informed, as necessary, regarding this evolving situation. We will continue to follow the guidance and recommendations of the CDC and NH DHHS and be in touch if any of these recommendations impact our programs and schedule.

Sincerely,

Jane Bard, President

and the entire team at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire

SICK VISITOR POLICY

The Children's Museum of New Hampshire works to provide a safe and healthy environment for all of our visitors. Towards this end, we request the following policy be followed by our visitors, staff and volunteers.

A general rule to follow is that if you or your child have a fever or are too sick to go to work or school, then you are too sick to visit the museum.

The following guidelines are more specific and we request that visitors with these symptoms not visit the museum:

• Flu (headache, fever/chills, lethargy, cough)
• Conjunctivitis or “pink eye” infection
• Diarrhea or vomiting
• Impetigo (infectious skin disease which shows up as small pimples that turn into red blisters in a circular pattern)
• Lice
• Strep Throat (child must be on antibiotics for 48 hours before coming to the museum.)
• Any of the following contagious diseases: measles, mumps, rubella, roseola, and chicken pox. Children with chicken pox may not come until all of the sores are crusted and there are no new eruptions.

Museum staff carefully monitors our Museum facility around the clock. We clean each exhibit on a rotating schedule, have after-hours staff cleaning daily, encourage parents to identify items that may need to be cleaned, and have 14 hand sanitizer stations throughout the museum.

As 2019 draws to a close, it’s a great time to reflect on the growth and change the Museum has experienced over the past year, and look ahead with anticipation to what 2020 will bring. Even after 36 years of creating experiences to engage children in hands-on fun and learning, each year still brings new challenges and opportunities.

In the past twelve months we:

• piloted three new fundraising events – Cider Flights & Tasty Bites, UnWined Grown-Up Night and Mini Golf at the Museum. All three events will continue in 2020 thanks to their success!

• hosted our final 5K Road Race. Thanks to all the runners, sponsors and the Seacoast Road Race Series for supporting this event throughout the past 34 Years.

• transformed an existing classroom into the Lights! Shadow! Action! Interactive Classroom that now serves as an engaging exhibit with the flip of a switch. 

• converted our lighting to LEDs, continuing our commitment to being earth-friendly and cost effective.

• raised nearly $200,000 for a new outdoor space, the Play Patio, slated to open in the summer of 2020!

• increased our operating hours by opening at 9am to better serve our visitors.

• served a record number of visitors and program participants – over 110,000, an 8% increase over the previous year.

• launched a new three-year strategic plan that focuses on providing outstanding guest experiences, engaging in best business practices, expanding marketing efforts and growing our audience in purposeful ways.

All of us at CMNH are lucky to be surrounded by families and caregivers who want the best for their children, helpful volunteers and generous donors who want to make a positive impact in children’s lives, passionate educators who strive to spark a love of learning in their students, and vibrant communities that welcome us with open arms. 

Thank you for being part of our story and success!

Sincerely,
Jane Bard, CMNH President

As 2018 draws to a close, all of us at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire want to take a moment to thank you for choosing to spend your precious family time with us this year.  Life is busy and childhood is fleeting, making the time to connect with loved ones and create joyful memories more important than ever. 

Your children may not remember this year’s holiday gifts a year from now, but they will remember piloting the Museum’s Yellow Submarine with you as co-pilot, making you a meal in the Kids Cafe, meeting their favorite book character, and simply laughing, learning and being together with you.

In 2019, we will continue to fulfill our mission of engaging families in hands-on discovery through new programs and exhibits such as a Family Book Club and Mini Golf at the Museum, the Lights! Shadow! Action! interactive classroom, and the outdoor Play Patio. As a non-profit Museum, all of these initiatives are only possible thanks to the generous support from foundations, businesses and individuals.

Here’s to a new year of inspiring children and nurturing connections with family and friends!

Jane Bard, CMNH President

by Jane Bard, CMNH President

What’s new at the Museum?  is the most commonly asked question when myself and my Museum colleagues are out and about in the community.

Before looking ahead, 2017 saw growth and change to best serve the 93,000 plus individuals we served last year.  New experiences for our visitors included a new Thinkering Lab exhibit in January, to a major refresh of the iconic Build It-Fly It exhibit in the Fall, three new Gallery 6 exhibitions throughout the year, and the opening of the new Dover Adventure Playground outside our doors in June. 

 To deepen our impact, we created new curriculum-based programs for schools, our first-ever Grown-Up Play Dates and the We All Belong program for immigrant families. One of our most ambitious projects took place behind the scenes, an investment in a point-of-sales and database system that is helping us become more effective and efficient.

So what is in store for 2018? We will be celebrating our 35th anniversary and 10th year since becoming the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire and expanding in Dover by continuing to offer the same great programming and exhibits you’ve come to expect from us, while continuing to refresh these experiences and listening to the needs of our audience. Our One World exhibits will be getting a new life, introducing visitors to new cultures representing local immigrant populations through arts, culture and food. New signs within our exhibits will highlight the ways children are learning as they explore. Favorite programs and events will continue, while plans are underway for a special anniversary events in the summer and fall, so stay tuned!

Do you visit the Children's Museum of New Hampshire a lot and don't want to deal with parking tokens or running out to feed the meter? The town of Dover has started to use the EasyPark System and it might be a great solution for many of our visitors. It has several advantages:

• No longer need to go to and from the parking meter. Just turn your EasyPark on for the zone you are in and enjoy your visit downtown.
• No longer have to predict how long you will be parked and paying for unused time. Just turn the device off when you are done.
• Pay "by the minute." No one hour minimum for credit cards or 20 minutes for coins/tokens.
• It can be turned on before the hours of meter operation and won't start charging until 9am.
• You don't have to come out to turn it off. The EasyPark will stop charging once meter hours end. Just remember to turn off before the next morning.
• It will remind you every 60 seconds with a tone in the event you drive away and don't turn it off.
• You can still take advantage of the "short visit exception" free parking in on-street spaces. Simply don't turn your device on. Parking officers will track your short visit like they do all cars. If you change your mind and want to park longer, just turn the device on.
• If used properly, virtually eliminates the chance of getting a parking ticket.
• Not only does the EasyPark system work in Dover, but also in Durham, Portsmouth and Manchester.

Get Started:

You will need internet access & a credit/debit card to use the EasyPark System.

• Each EasyPark cost $29.95 including $10 in parking fees.
• There is a $1.10/month membership fee per device or $11 a year when paying for the year in advance.
• Go to www.easyparkusa.com and set up your account or you can call 1-855-873-2797 and EasyPark will send you an email to walk you through the process. 
• $3.25 fee for reloads up to $50; $3.70 for $75; and $4.25 for $100. 

Your membership fee gets you:

1. Free battery replacement every 12 months
2. Online and phone account assistance
3. Access to online reports of parking activity

Questions? Call (603) 516-6132

A unique, irreverent and fun event happened in Queens, NYC on Saturday, September 23 and it has a unique tie to New Hampshire. The Punk Rope Games IX has been held annually in New York City since 2009. A cross between the Olympics and Mardi Gras, the Games feature teams of 4 in costume, competing in 10 events with titles like the “Rubber Chicken Relay” and “Rope Skipping Barrel Race.”

This year, the majority of the registration fees from the Punk Rope Games, over $1,100, have been donated to the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire in honor of a recently departed museum volunteer, Vicky Haft. The Punk Rope Games are organized by her son, Tim Haft.

“My mom witnessed her first and only Punk Rope Games last year, less than two months before her untimely death,” shared Tim. “Watching the competition made her so happy as did volunteering at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire. It seemed only fitting that this year’s Games be a tribute to both my mom and the great and important work being done at CMNH.”

Tim Haft created Punk Rope in 2004 to provide an edgy alternative to mainstream fitness classes. Their raucous classes for jumpers of all ages have taken place at gyms, community centers, bowling alleys, bars, breweries, city parks, art galleries, churches, playgrounds and even the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

“On the surface, the Punk Rope Games are an athletic competition, but what they are really about is expressing creativity in a youthful, playful manner,” said Tim. He adds “The costumes are clearly more important than the athletic feats!”

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is located along the Cocheco River in downtown Dover and offers two floors of interactive exhibits for kids ages birth to 12 years. The museum’s mission is to actively engage families in hands-on discovery and to inspire all to become the next generation of innovators and creative thinkers. “Something that Vicky believed in and certainly reflects our goals here at Punk Rope,” said Tim. “We hope the funds raised will, in some small part, help CMNH to more easily achieve its mission. Even if just one child is positively impacted, the ripple effect can be felt throughout the world.”

“We’re thrilled that Tim has chosen to throw the Games this year in honor of Vicky,” said Doug Tilton, CMNH Director of Visitor Services and Volunteer Coordinator. “She was one of my closest friends, and in the 9 years that we worked side-by-side at the museum, she transformed both the museum and me. I use Vicky as a guide star to help us keep the Museum as the kind, welcoming and nurturing place as it was when she was with us.”

Learn more about the Punk Rope Games at http://www.punkrope.com/about/punk-rope-games/.

Starting Tuesday, July 11, 2017, new meters installed and enforced by the city of Dover in the Henry Law Parking lot next to the new Dover Adventure Playground will go into effect. Here are the basics:

• Cost within the lot will be $1 per hour.
• There is a 4 hour limit (but you can reload it after that 4 hours, or park along Henry Law Avenue where there is no time limit on the meters for 75 cents/hour).
• It's a "Pay and Display" system.
• You can pay with change, tokens or credit cards.
• Meter parking is in effect 9am-5pm Monday through Friday. Weekends and holidays are FREE.

If you are a regular visitor to the museum and are looking for a way to save money on parking:

As an amenity to our guests we'll be selling the city of Dover's pre-packaged bags of 26 parking tokens for $5 at no mark-up. They will be for sale here at the front desk during normal business hours as available. That will give you about a 30% savings off the current rate. You can also purchase these tokens at Harvey's Bakery and the Dover Chamber of Commerce.