As the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire enters its 35^th year, we are taking the opportunity to shine a spotlight on some of the businesses and individuals who have supported us so generously along the way.

Meet Kevin Grant from Sprague and a former member of the Children’s Museum board. Sprague was founded in 1870 and is one of the largest independent suppliers of energy products and related services in the Northeast. They market fuel oils, natural gas, and electricity to over 20,000 business customers. They are committed to improving the communities in which they live and work, both as a company and through their employees.

As Kevin and I walked around the museum, we talked about Sprague’s long connection to the Children’s Museum.

Paula: Sprague was instrumental to the Children’s Museum by giving the lead gift to our capital campaign to create the new museum in Dover in 2008. Can you tell me about that decision?

Kevin: Prior to the capital campaign Sprague had a long history of supporting the Children’s Museum during its years as our neighbor in Portsmouth. I think we recognized the important role the museum plays in our community and what a large endeavor that it was taking on in transforming their organization with the move into this new space. Sprague saw an opportunity to support the museum during this period and we were pleased we could be part of the campaign.

Paula: What impact is Sprague achieving through its giving?

Kevin: There is a culture of giving that is important to Sprague throughout the entire organization. I think this is reflected in our annual support of the MDA and Big Brothers / Big Sisters as well as the weekly support we provide to a number of different entities. Many of these efforts come from Sprague’s “Just Give” committee, which is an employee-organized group that is constantly coming up with innovative ways to raise funds within Sprague to assist local organizations. We are proud of this legacy of giving to the Museum and the other non-profits in the Seacoast plus the other communities that we operate in.

Paula: What would you tell other businesses about supporting the Children’s Museum?

Kevin: Being part of the Museum’s donor community has allowed us to see up close the great programs and services being offered here daily. Having had the opportunity to serve on the board, I have witnessed what a knowledgeable and professional staff the museum has been able to assemble.  These experiences give Sprague great confidence that our donations are having a meaningful impact. I will also add that the museum is also a lot of fun. Sprague employees and their kids are frequent guests and have had many great experiences at the facility.

Paula Rais, VP Development & Community Engagement

Paula@childrens-museum.org  (603) 742-2002 ext. 119

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire in downtown Dover offers a variety of weekday science classes for preschoolers, as well as homeschoolers but is now offering parents an added bonus during a Monday science class.

The museum’s popular Junior Science Explorers class for kids ages 3.5-5 is now being offered on Mondays, a day the museum is closed to the public. Families who have a museum membership can not only sign up their kids for the class, but any younger siblings can now join parents on the 2^nd floor of the museum to play in the exhibits while their older siblings are in class. This is a benefit that’s exclusive to museum members and is only offered while the Monday class is in session.

This November’s Junior Science class theme is “Incredible Animals” and will invite junior scientists to explore habitats, animal tracks, survival techniques and more. The class runs Mondays, November 6 through December 11 from 1:30-2:15pm.

These 45-minute structured science classes are $60 for Members and $70 for Non-members. Pre-registration is required. Call 603-742-2002 to register.

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire in Dover has started a series of adult evening events called “Throwback Thursday: Grown-up Play Dates,” where adults 21+ can have a chance to play in the exhibits, do funky science experiments and crafts, and enjoy special drinks in the 7^th Settlement Brewery cash bar. To kick off the series they’ve planned a “Night at the BooZeum” on Thursday, October 19, 7-9pm.

“It’s something people request all the time,” shared Xanthi Gray, CMNH Education Director. “They want to get into the museum and play, whether they have kids or not!” Now is their chance to explore the museum’s two floors of hands-on exhibits including a giant pinscreen, a wall-to-wall Music Matrix, even an interactive augmented reality sand table.

7^th Settlement Brewery, who will provide a cash bar for the entire series, has created a specialty spiced rum cider drink for the October event. Two classic horror movies “Dracula” and “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” will be playing in the STEAM Innovation Lab. Guests will be invited to make spooky slime, dissect an owl pellet, craft creepy pinecone spiders and paper cats. “We’ll have do-it-yourself face painting and a scavenger hunt and people can even try to win a Gold, Silver or Bronze candy medal by challenging their friends in a mummy wrapping contest and fashion show, or by eating a donut off a string!” said Xanthi.

In coming months the museum has planned more themed Throwback Thursday grown-up play dates. November 16^th will be a “Bend & Brew” night with 3 Bridges Yoga instructor Gretchen Lamothe. January 18^th has an “Engineer Some Fun” theme with giant Jenga and an egg-drop challenge. February 15^th is “Messy Mayhem: Paint Night” for the aspiring artists. March 15^th is all about “Star Wars: A Brew Hope.” April 19^th will be a chance to celebrate with “The ‘Way Back’ Birthday Bash” featuring classic party games. Pull out the tux for the May 17^th “80s Prom” night. June 14^th will be a “Kick-off To Summer Party” complete with tie-dye, and sandcastle contests.

Guests must have a valid ID to attend. Tickets are on sale now online for $10 and are $12 at the door. The museum thanks its October Throwback Thursday sponsor, Atlas Heritage, LLC.

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/.

By Meredith Lamothe, CMNH Early Childhood & Literacy Coordinator

I love art. I love going to art museums and looking at masterpieces—I always have. I’m pretty crafty and have managed to make some art-like creations. I enjoy coming up with activities in our Muse Studio and finding ways to make them about the process of art rather than the final product (a subject that deserves its own blog post!). As I sit at my desk right now, I see Experience Guide Amanda outside doing our “Chalk Art” kit—no visitors have joined her yet, but she’s happily drawing a lovely rainbow near the entrance to the museum.

There’s just something about art, isn’t there? It can be whatever you want it—or need it—to be. For Amanda right now, it’s a calm moment before she gets back to her many tasks inside the museum. I’m more of a crafter and get a lot of joy from giving finished crafts to people I love. Art can be purely fun (have you seen the projects where you throw water balloons at a blank canvas?!). Art, especially with kids, can be a great way to visually see some of the fascinating growth that is happening—from drawings of stick figures with arms coming out of their heads, to beautiful clay sculptures and beyond.

As fun as art is on it’s own, just for yourself, it’s also great to have skilled instructors help out sometimes. They open our eyes to different art forms we may not have thought about before, introduce new materials to use to create, and have an abundance of knowledge and encouraging words to share.

And what do you know, lucky us, we have five incredible instructors visiting the museum next week! We’re thrilled to announce our first ever Visiting Artist Week here at The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire.

We will have five wonderful local artists joining us for workshops the week of July 24-28, 2017. A few of these artists were guests at our “Visiting Artist Camp” last year and the final products that those campers produced were nothing short of remarkable.

Workshops will be from 11am - noon each day and are included with museum admission and free for members. Workshops may be best for children 6 years old or older, but would be fine for younger children with some help.

Neva, the Communications Director here at the museum, will encourage families to tear up, rip, cut and glue painted paper into collaged sea monsters! If a mermaid or pirate find their way into your scene, even better!

Neva is a multimedia artist and illustrator who is not the least bit ashamed to admit she spends a ridiculous amount of time with paint on her hands.

Tess, the curator of Gallery 6 here at the museum, will be sharing some of her watercolor knowledge! Did you know all birds start from eggs? Of course you did! But! Did you know that bird paintings start with egg shapes?

Learn to draw and paint birds using simple geometric shapes with Tess!

Tess has illustrated numerous scientific books and articles and she is going to share some tricks of the trade.

Cindel, an expert seamstress, will be here explaining a bit about the process of sewing—from patterns to fabric to putting it all together into a fabulous final product! What will be the final product of your hard work on the 26^th? An adorable felt dinosaur that you can put on a pillow, apron, or frame and put on your wall!

Learn how to draw imaginary creatures with children's book illustrator Gina Perry. She will show you, step-by-step, how to draw a Unicorn, Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, and a Mermaid. Watch out - you might even learn how to draw a Dragon!

Seacoast pastel & acrylic painter Francois Lamothe will be here to share his skills. Francois will be sharing some tips and tricks about painting flowers using chalk pastels! Be sure to come prepared to get messy—this unique art experience is sure to accidentally travel onto clothing (it’s washable!)

We hope you will join us for a day or two of Visiting Artist Week. It’s sure to be a lot of fun and you’ll learn some unique new skills as well.

Oh! In case you’re interested, some visitors have joined Amanda and her chalk outside now and have added frogs, fish, a yellow submarine, and some very large flowers alongside her rainbow!

Our latest FoodWorks (Sponsored by Hannaford!) event here at the museum was all about healthy desserts and sweet treats. We had a blast and many of our visitors wanted the recipes for our tasty snacks.

Here’s what was on the menu:

KETTLECORN (Popcorn Indiana brand, in the red bag)

• • Popcorn is a snack that is a healthy whole grain and a good source of fiber

VANILLA GREEK YOGURT with blueberries and mini chocolate chips

• • Vanilla Greek yogurt is a great source of protein and calcium. Blueberries are full of healthy vitamins and a bit of chocolate makes this healthy snack a sweet treat!

COCONUT YOGURT CARAMEL DIP with green apples

• • Caramel, usually made with heavy cream, is replaced with coconut milk yogurt in this recipe—which makes it a healthy alternative without all the fat, calories, corn syrup or artificial ingredients.

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE AND SUN-BUTTER COOKIE BITES

• • These cookies are a nut-free alternative to popular peanut butter no-bakes but have a similar flavor! The sun butter also makes them a high protein snack—but they are not high in added sugar!

The only two desserts that required any “cooking” effort (and it was very little) were the caramel dip and no-bake cookies. The recipes for those are below.

(Makes about 1 cup)

Ingredients:

1. One container yogurt (We used So Delicious coconut milk yogurt) (170g)
2. 1/8 tsp salt
3. 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
4. ¼ cup brown sugar
5. 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• Put maple syrup, salt and brown sugar in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high in 10-second intervals until brown sugar starts to dissolve (If you do not have a microwave, heat in a small saucepan until sugar dissolves—or you can skip this step and just add the additional ingredients!)
• Stir in vanilla extract and yogurt
• Allow to cool
• This will get thicker if you leave it in the fridge overnight
• Store leftovers in the fridge up to four days.

Original Source: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/10/25/caramel-yogurt-dip/

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup oats
2. ½ cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
3. ½ cup sunflower seed butter
4. 1-2 tbsp milk of choice
5. Mix-ins (optional): tart cherries, dried blueberries, chia seeds, coconut flakes

• Place chocolate in microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30-second intervals, stirring between, to melt (or heat in a saucepan on the stove)
• Stir in sunflower seed butter, milk, oats and other add-ins (if using). Add splash of milk.
• Line a baking sheet with wax paper and drop cookies on using spoons
• Place another sheet of wax paper on top and gently “smush” them down
• Refrigerate at least two hours and then enjoy!

Original Source: http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/healthy-recipes/no-bake-chocolate-oatmeal-cookies-recipe

Have fun trying these healthy desserts at home!

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.

By Neva Cole, CMNH Communications Director

When I hear people talk about summers with their kids it always sounds so idyllic to me: long days spent lounging on the beach; trips to local attractions; camping with family and friends. If I were to take people’s Facebook feeds at face value, pun intended, I’d think there was something seriously wrong with my summer parenting skills.

I’m a working parent, and so is my husband. My daughter has been in a year-round daycare, so she hasn’t experienced “summer break” yet. We’ve gotten used to squeezing summer fun into the afternoons and weekends. But that’s all going to change soon with the start of kindergarten in her local school this Fall. I’m about to become one of the parents that will have to plan way in advance on how to schedule work around camps, squander vacation days to spend a few precious long weekends on a lake somewhere, and probably start to butter up the grandparents for when plans inevitably fall through.

I’m not really complaining. I know how lucky we are. I’m a little jealous of my daughter getting to experience summer break, where the days seemed like endless adventures. I wish I could spend every minute with her out in the sun, gardening, swimming and blowing bubbles. But we all do the best we can. And my best is being there with her in the moments we have together, and making sure she’s surrounded by love and engaging her brain and her creative muscles when I’m not there.

New Hampshire is teeming with opportunities for kids to grow and learn in the summer. All the great cultural institutions like the Currier Museum of Art, the Seacoast Science Center, the SEE Science Center, Audubon centers and yes, the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire have fantastic camps, programs, events and workshops for kids of all ages. And many bend over backwards to help parents make their children’s summers memorable and affordable. These non-profits are here to be a resource to you, and I hope you use them this summer and many summers to come. I know I will.

Parents interested in the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire’s summer camps can choose from 3-day Mini Camps for ages 4-6 (which are all full as of today) or 5-day Discovery Camps for ages 7-11.