Welcome to our new website

Tags

branding, children's museum, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, Children's Museum of NH, CMNH, design, museum, UX, website

As the Children’s Museum of NH approached its 30th birthday, board and staff members were completing a long-range plan process and it was clear that the museum was ripe for an image update. Our previous logo, graphics and website had served us well as we transitioned from our Portsmouth location to Dover, but now we were looking ahead to the next decade and wanted to reflect our plans for transformation.

Our new branding was developed in partnership with Haigh & Martino (HAM), a Portsmouth-based “design think tank” that helped us identify our strengths, hone our message and think outside the box. We wanted our branding to represent the creative, forward-thinking nature of our business, the connections we create with children, families and schools, and the infinite possibilities of young minds.

HAM came to us with several creative concepts and our team immediately honed in on this one: vibrant hinged letters that spelled out our name but also could morph into an endless array of objects and shapes. We loved the flexibility this solution offered, allowing our identity to grow and change with us, while maintaining a distinctive look and feel.

Using the straight and curved pieces of our new custom alphabet letters, HAM set about creating a set of icons for us to be used in our communications. Some, like the gundalow, represented exhibits and objects found in the museum. Others could be used to illustrate posters for our programs and events. And a number of the icons could even be combined to create images like this design of the State of New Hampshire, used on a banner in Henry Law Park.

Last summer, we began unveiling our new branding, starting with signage on the front of our building. On a beautiful morning, we gathered with museum members and supporters to reveal our new exterior signage and celebrate with colorful games and crafts like tie-dying t-shirts using our new brand colors.

Next, we rolled out new stationery and collateral materials – from brochures and nametags to stickers and a new look for our quarterly newsletter. All that remained now was to redesign the museum’s website with a new look and updated functionality.

Working with Haigh & Martino, we reviewed different design concepts that incorporated our new branding, and chose the bold design you see today. The new site is based on the Craft CMS platform and is completely mobile friendly, something we know our members will appreciate. With large graphic buttons and a complete yet succinct menu, the site is easy to navigate and features tons of photos that really give prospective visitors a great idea of what they can see and do here.

We also built a custom calendar that allows users to filter events and programs by age or by type. You can quickly see what’s coming up just for babies and toddlers, tweens, and other age groups in between. Calendar events also link directly with related webpages for more information.

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to explore the new site and see what a great browsing experience it provides, whether you are looking at it on your phone, tablet or laptop. We are pleased to have this final piece of our rebranding project go public, and we look forward keeping it updated with great content for families, teachers, supporters, and partner organizations.

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French Toast Teamwork

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Breakfast Challenge, Challenge, children's museum, CMNH, Dover, Family Fun, Flax Seed, FoodWorks, Frech Toast, Fruit, Hannaford, Hannaford Supermarket, Hannaford Supermarkets, Iron Chef, Mini Iron Chef, New Hampshire, Omelettes, Pancakes, Secret Ingredient, Waffles

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire recently hosted the Mini-Iron Chef: Breakfast Challenge. The Mini-Iron Chef competition is part of our Foodworks Series in cooperation with Hannaford Supermarkets.

As in past years, this year’s Challenge saw parent and child teams compete together to make a delicious meal with a secret ingredient unknown to the participants until seconds before the food prep started! Joining past secret ingredients such as honey and vanilla yogurt, this year’s teams had to figure out how to best incorporate flax seed into their recipes.

Some of the teams were familiar with flax seed while others were not, but all rose to the challenge of altering their recipes with the healthy addition.

Many of our teams practiced their recipes at home leading up to the event while some teams wanted to capture the fun of trying it out for the first time during the challenge.

Our Judging Panel consisted of Heidi Kermin, a Registered Dietician with Hannaford Supermarkets and Victor Larose, an Assistant Store Manager of a Hannaford Supermarket. They were joined by yours truly, Zach Foote, of the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire.

I speak for all the judges when I say we were absolutely blown away by the creativity, quality, and deliciousness of each and every dish we tasted. The presentation of most of these dishes outshone many professional restaurants.

We look forward to the announcement of the next Mini-Iron Chef Challenge. No matter the challenge theme or secret ingredient, we know these family teams will all earn five stars!

Now take a look back at this year’s Mini-Iron Chef: Breakfast Challenge!

The Foodworks Series of programs take place at CMNH every other month. Please check our website and social media for updates about all future programming.

Children’s Museum of NH Alzheimer’s Cafe featured on NHPTV

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Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's Cafe, children's museum, Children's Museum of NH, community, dementia, New Hampshire, programs, support

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire’s Alzheimer’s Café was recently featured on New Hampshire Public Television’s new series, Changing Aging in the Granite State. The episode premiered on Thursday, January 15, 2015 and featured Judy and Woody Sponaugle of Rye, NH who attend the museum’s free, monthly Café.

The Alzheimer’s Café at the museum started in 2011 and meets on the third Thursday of each month from 2–4pm. The Café is a supportive and welcoming place for people living with dementia and their care partners to spend an afternoon of conversation and socializing. Refreshments are provided and reservations are not required.

In 2012, the Children’s Museum of NH received the Leaders in Innovation award from the New England Museum Association for the Alzheimer’s Café program. The Museum is partnering with the Keene State College Nursing Department to research the benefits of attending an Alzheimer’s Café for caregivers and people living with dementia. We will be sharing more details on this as research continues.

The Changing Aging in the Granite State Alzheimer’s Café episode can be streamed online at http://www.nhptv.org/aging/

Paula with Alzheimer’s Cafe attendees at a recent Alzheimer’s Walk

Celebrating the Highlights of Our 30th Year

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accomplishments, children's museum, Children's Museum of NH, CMNH, creativity, education, exhibits, family learning, Henry Law Park, kids, Maker Faire, mission, New Hampshire, nh, review, successes, vision, year-end

At the end of each year, it’s human nature to reminisce over the events and milestones of the past 12 months. Sometimes we are so busy going about daily life that until we take a moment to reflect, we don’t really digest the moments that matter.

Here are some highlights of 2014 at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire:

• Adopting a newly refreshed five-year Strategic Plan and charting our course for a strong future.

• Extending the Museum beyond our doors by bringing art to the park and our building’s façade. Who knew that recycled plastic bottles could be so beautiful?

• Starting a new EBT/SNAP admission program to extend our commitment to serving all families, leading the way before a national model was introduced for Children’s Museums around the country.

• Unveiling a new Museum logo and brand that celebrates open-ended creativity and experimentation.

• Hosting the 2^nd annual Dover Mini Maker Faire, bigger and better than ever with 60 makers and over 1,600 attendees!

• Celebrating the end of our 30^th year by re-launching our iconic Yellow Sub exhibit with exciting new features like a drivable deep-sea environment and interactive swimming fish. (And for adults, an evening of delicious food and live music at our September Shebang!)

• Collaborating with Dover Middle School Art Club students and our Artist in Residence Nate Walker to design new place-based bike racks for Henry Law Park right outside our doors. The Blue Crab welcomed his new friend – Steampunk Octopus!

• And most importantly, all of us at the Children’s Museum remember the one constant that hasn’t changed over the past 30 years: the joy, wonder and pure delight that children bring to their Museum experience every single day.

We can’t wait for 2015 and look forward to sharing with you all the wonderful things the new year will bring!

Healthy Brain Development Helps Kids Start Strong!

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brain development, child development, children's museum, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, Children's Museum of NH, CMNH, family learning, how chiildren learn, parent-child relationships

Statistics from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University show that in the first few years of a child’s life, 700 to 1,000 new neural connections are formed in the brain every second! At the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, our goal is to create an experience-rich environment for children, giving them the opportunity to start strong. The impact of early experiences on brain development is critical because 85% of the architecture of a child’s brain is developed before age 5.

A vital aspect of early childhood development is the presence of “serve-and-volley” relationships – or back-and-forth communication between children and adults. These interactions happen when adults respond to children’s questions, pose their own questions, identify items that a child is pointing at and engage in back and forth conversation, even when the child’s “conversation” is smiling, pointing, reaching or babbling.

The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is designed to encourage serve-and-volley exchanges. Sharing, playing or simply being exposed to new materials and activities through our programs and exhibits all help nurture healthy brain development.

This year, as you designate your charitable giving, please consider supporting the Museum’s Start Strong Fund, enabling us to continue building healthy brains right from the start.

Dover Mini Maker Faire: Putting a Spotlight on NH Ingenuity

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art, children's museum, creativity, Dover, Dover NH, exhibits, experimentation, families, Henry Law Park, learning, Maker Faire, making, New Hampshire, nh, problem solving, science, technology

New Hampshire is known for its “Yankee ingenuity, ” a place where generations have worked the land, manufactured goods and come up with creative solutions for reusing and repurposing materials. That spirit of making is alive today, and the Dover Mini Maker Faire is the place to find it. A hands-on festival for all ages, Maker Faire celebrates the thriving resourcefulness, innovation, creativity and forward-thinking technology that can be found in New Hampshire today.

On Saturday, August 23, the Dover Mini Maker Faire will take over downtown Dover, with four locations: upper and lower Henry Law Park, The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, and One Washington Mill. Maker Faire attendees will be able to experience everything from quad-copter launches to spinning yarn from wool … 3-D printing to vertical gardening … driving an underwater submersible to learning how to tie flies … making a paper circuit pin to finding out how to make Star Wars costumes, and much more.

Over 50 makers and groups of makers will be on-hand hosting interactive demos, hands-on projects, small talks and workshops designed to inspire and educate attendees between the ages of 3 and 93 as to a sampling of “making” that is happening in New Hampshire businesses, schools & universities, organizations, and garage workbenches throughout the state and beyond. From engineering and product design, to arts, crafts, technology and homesteading, Maker Faire is the place to be inspired and connect with your inner maker!

2014 marks the 2^nd annual Dover Mini Maker Faire. The first Maker Faire was hosted in the Bay Area of California in 2006 as a place for makers to show what they made and share what they learned. In 2013, 100 independently-produced Mini (one day events) and Featured (2 or more day events) occurred around the World. In fact, this year’s Dover Mini Maker Faire is scheduled on the weekend between Sydney, Australia’s and Trondheim, Norway’s Faires. A licensed event through Maker Media, the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire is the host and coordinator of the Granite State’s only Maker Faire at this time.

In early 2012, the Museum began the process of becoming licensed to plan and host what would become the Dover Mini Maker Faire. “The Maker Faire concept was a perfect fit with the Museum’s focus on developing creative problem-solving skills and building a strong community focused on learning and collaboration,” says Jane Bard, Museum President. “What better way to shine a light on the innovation and creativity happening in NH but through the people, businesses, organizations and schools that are making that happen.”

In our increasingly complex world, the objects and technology that surround us can be intimidating and hard to understand. “There’s a growing distance between us and the world,” says Chris O’Brien from the LA Times. “We don’t know where our food comes from, how the energy we use gets made, and how to take apart our computer and fix it…The Maker Faire dares us to reverse that trend. And it inspires us to do that by gathering together thousands of people who embody that simple joy of creating things every day.”

Here is a sampling of the 55+ makers and maker activities scheduled to happen at this year’s August 23^rd Faire in Dover:

TOOOL – The Open Organization of Lockpickers – Teaching people to pick locks and understand how they work and why.

TDB Monsters – Focused around making creatures and characters out of discarded items and junk laying around. They create all sorts of other items, from a slithering bicycle, to jewelry made from almost nothing. Recycling objects is a major factor in what they do.

Port City MakerSpace and Manchester Makers – Projects and demonstrations by both organization’s members

Reproduction Retro Computers – Reproductions of Apple 1 and the SCELBI 8H computers. The Apple 1 is the first product of Apple. The SCELBI is the first personal computer, released in 1974, a full 2 years before the Apple 1.   There were around 200 of each system originally built. There are around 70 original Apple 1’s remaining. Original SCELBI computers are even scarcer, as there are only about a dozen original SCELBI’s known to exist. Both will running vintage computer software games from the 1970s. Users will be able to operate both computers.

EPLIS Comics – An all ages sci-fi action adventure comic book series. We’ll have a vendor table for our comics, and we’ll be doing two workshops: learn to draw cartoon characters, and how to create your own comics

3-D Printed Coins – Come make a fun maker crab coin or pin. You will be able to create a fun DIY project with a few materials.

Air Rocket Glider – Featured in MAKE issue #39. With its wings folded back, it launches on a blast of compressed air, on our new v2.0 Compressed Air Rocket launcher (CAR v2.0). When the ARG reaches apogee, the wings pop out for a gentle glide back to the ground.

Vertical Gardening by KinneBotanicals – Using long-lasting and environmentally friendly materials, they will demonstrate how to grow plants on walls instead of the floor, be they edible or ornamental. This method drastically reduces space requirements. It also adds an interesting aesthetic to any indoor or outdoor space.

Darkhill Cemetery Haunted House – 14 year old George Farrow’s passion for the past six years has been creating the Darkhill Cemetery Haunted House. This small attraction held in his parents’ garage every year focuses on using high quality detailed sets/scenics as well as computer controlled animatronics and spectacular sound and lighting. George will share some of the methods used to make his event come alive, such as foam carving/sculpting, carpentry, lighting/sound design, casting, molding, and more!

NEMO Equipment – This Dover-based company designs and manufactures outdoor equipment, tents, and shelters. Founded in 2002 NEMO Equipment has won numerous awards for its designs. Sold nationally around the US and in numerous other countries around the world, NEMO is recognized as a leader in outdoor equipment.

Automotive Technology – See how modern vehicles work! There will be demonstrations on the anatomy of an automotive wheel bearing, how Tire Pressure Monitoring systems work, and how modern computer systems measure air flow into the engine. Look inside the operating system of a modern vehicle to see what all the electronics do!

Advance tickets are now on sale for $10 and tickets at the gate will be $12. Children ages 5 and under are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased online at www.makerfairedover.com. For more information on the Dover Mini Maker Faire, please call 603-742-2002 or visit www.makerfairedover.com

Around the World in 93 Days

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art, Art Gallery, Australia, children's museum, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, CMNH, Culture, Dover, Dreamcatcher, Family Fun, Gallery 6, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Laurel Wreaths, Mexico, Morocco, Mosaic, Muse Studio, Native America, New Hampshire, nh, Sand Art, Sweden

At the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, we’re lucky enough to have both a gallery and a studio. Sometimes those words are interchangeable. However, at CMNH, their purposes often and intentionally overlap.

Gallery 6 features four to six installations a year curated by Tess Feltes. For the last few years, every spring, Gallery 6 focuses on a theme we’ve named, “Mosaic: Our Multicultural Neighborhood”. Spotlighting art and culture from around the world, last year the focus was on clothing, toys, photographs and stories from many different countries. This year’s Mosaic installation tightened the focus to just photography from over a dozen different countries.

The Muse Studio is a place where children and their families can create take-home art projects, play games, conduct experiments, among myriad fun activities. Our Studio projects can change daily, weekly or monthly. However, written into the mission statement of Gallery 6 is the following: The Gallery space is designed to blend into the museum’s Studio space . . . connecting the playful creativity of children to the serious investigations of artists.

And what better way to blend, to complement, to unify the many pieces of the Mosaic gallery installation than to actually expose our visitors to art they can make and culture they can study right in our Muse Studio!

Starting in early March, we spotlit a different county each week. Not only did our visiting families learn about art and culture from all over the world, but so did our staff.

In the following twelve weeks, we explored the art, language, geography, folklore, and clothing of Mexico, Japan, Ireland, India, Sweden, Greece, Indonesia, Morocco, Native America, & Australia.

As we welcome our next Gallery opening and Muse Studio theme of “Enchanting Gardens” for the summer, I’ve asked our Museum Educators – those tireless people that you see engaging families with these projects while simultaneously refilling gallons of glue and boxes of popsicle sticks – what their favorite activity has been these last few months. Please enjoy a look back at the 2014 edition of, “Mosaic: Our Multicultural Neighborhood”.

Meghan

As much as I liked making and wearing the laurels with our visitors during our week of Greek art and culture, I’m going to have to pick the bandolier bag making as my absolute favorite activity! When we were setting up the projects for the Native American week in the Muse Studio, I realized I hadn’t even seen bandolier bags before and I certainly didn’t know that were connected to Native American tribes. We used a lot of textiles and fabrics that kids had already made at CMNH with our weaving looms. So the project also had a great sustainability and green angle to it. Plus, the bags were very fashionable which the kids and I very much appreciated!

Crystal

Two projects I enjoyed immensely were during the time we devoted to Australia and Ireland. Teaching the kids how to write their names using the Ogham alphabet was using a subject – linguistics – that we don’t touch upon too often in the Muse Studio. Of course, my Irish heritage may make me a bit bias here! That said, I have to give the #1 spot to the Aboriginal Dot Art that we did while focusing on Australia. It was something accessible to all ages and it was a unique way of creating a picture, using guidelines, precision, and focus, but also allowing for imagination. No two were alike!

Meredith

I was definitely partial to the Viking Helmets we created while exploring Sweden! They were easy to make for a wide range of ages and even though the instructions were pretty clear cut, they left open room for interpretation that let the children expand their design if they felt inspired. Plus, I think it was one of the most popular projects with parents and grandparents during the entirety of the Mosaic theme. I saw quite a few adults walking the around the museum as vikings during Sweden week!

Emily

I really liked the dreamcatcher project from the week we spent learning about Native American art and culture. First, it was easy to make at home with simple materials (paper plates, yarn or string, beads, etc.) but the end product was three dimensional and could be continued to a much bigger and detailed level for older kids. Plus, it tied in the folklore of many Native American tribes so we were educating a lot of our younger visitors on this subject for the first time.

Jenaya

I was excited when we selected Morocco as one of our countries to spotlight this year, but was also a little nervous because I wasn’t very familiar with a lot of Moroccan art and culture. Which makes me even happier to say that my favorite project came from the week we spent creating Moroccan art! I LOVED the sand art projects. Were they messy? Sure. But when you’re working in a art studio inside of a children’s museum, it comes with the territory. The sand art consisted of us picking some bright paper as a background, placing down some fun designs or patterns in glue and then shaking brightly colored sand on the glue. Then we let it dry. Simple! But our visitors made so many different kinds of creations through the sand art activity. Toddlers to grandparents seemed to enjoy this activity and I can’t wait until we do it again.

Riley

I had a hard time deciding which craft project was my favorite and then I finally realized it wasn’t an active project that stayed with me the longest, but two of the displays that we made for the Studio during the Mosaic theme. The map of New Hampshire that Meghan made during the week we focused on Native American culture was really informative for kids and adults and showed them how many places throughout all of New Hampshire – towns, lakes, river, mountains – have their origins in the different Native American languages. I was also a big fan of the “Greek Gods in Pop Culture” poster that Crystal created during our Greek week. It helped take mythology, which might seem boring and uninteresting for some kids, and show them how much they likely already knew from movies, television, and advertising. It was an interesting angle to take and I saw quite a lot of families pointing at it and discussing it.

We’re so happy that the Mosaic gallery and studio pieces were such a big hit with our staff and our visiting families! The educators are already brainstorming what countries we’ll be focusing on next year.

We now look ahead to our summer theme in Gallery 6 / the Muse Studio: Enchanting Gardens. The studio has undergone quite a transformation from top-to-bottom to embrace this new wild theme and the Gallery 6 art pieces are so incredible for this installation that we did something that we’ve never done for any of our past installations. I’ve . . . said too much. Stay tuned to the blog to find out the magic we have in store for you this summer!

CMNH 5K + 1

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5K, Albert the Alligator, Cap Jr., Captain America, children's museum, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, CMNH, Dover, Fun Run, Henry Law Park, Lil' Cap, New Hampshire, nh

A few weeks ago, I ran the 29th Annual Children’s Museum of New Hampshire 5K Race & Fun Run. Full disclosure: I didn’t run the Fun Run. I’ve aged out of that bracket.

This was my sixth CMNH 5K and, unlike the first five that I ran, I approached the sixth much, much differently.

My preparation for my first five museum races broke down something like this:

2009-2013 Race Prep

– Don’t eat or drink something stupid the night before

– Go to bed early and get plenty of sleep the eve of the race

– Eat some dry toast and maybe a few bites of banana for breakfast

– Load up my ipod or cell phone with a good race tracklist for the run (usually heavy on songs with strong, steady beats, like Daft Punk and Talking Heads) – something I find essential to a good running experience

– Walk down to Henry Law Park early enough to get in plenty of stretching time (say, 30 minutes or so) pre-race

– Find a place among the racers that keeps me as far away from the parents with strollers as possible. It’s great that they’re running with their kids, but they’ll just get in my way

– Get ready for the starting gun and focus on the goal of beating my time from the previous year

Simple enough, no?

This year’s list was going to need a little tweaking – some voluntary, some involuntary. Why? Well . . . I wasn’t racing alone this year.

2014 Race Prep

– Go to bed after I finally eat dinner which won’t happen until we finally get the 7 month old baby – who happens to be teething – down for the night

– Wake up every few hours and trade-off with my wife to see who can try to calm said teething baby down and get him back to sleep

– Wake up at 5:30 AM because that’s what time the baby has decided he’s going to be awake

– Stand at the stove half-asleep and make eggs for breakfast because the baby has decided that he wants Daddy and he to race in matching Captain America shirts and that we should use our Captain America spatula while making breakfast. Therefore, eggs

– Let the baby talk to himself in a baby mirror to psyche himself up for his first 5K

– Pose with the baby to show off our matching outfits

– Decorate our racing bibs in special Captain America stickers that the baby insisted Daddy buy for the race

– Walk down to Henry Law Park the long way so Mommy can get a coffee at Adelle’s and Daddy can stress out about potentially not getting to the race on time

– Meet up with the baby’s Nana, Memere, two cousins, Aunt, and Grandfather at Henry Law Park – all of whom are either running, walking or volunteering at the event

– Give everyone time to pose for pictures with the baby on his first race day

– Devote a grand total of 2-4 minutes to stretching before you realize they’re making the final announcement for racers to assemble

– Rush, with the baby in the stroller, to get in line

– Try to avoid the looks of some runners as you elbow your way in with your cumbersome stroller

– Check on the baby to make sure he’s ok for the 47th time in the last half hour

– Forgo any headphones or music because I’ll obviously need to be listening for every sigh, gasp, squeak and titter that the baby makes

– 1 minute before the start of the race, realize that they’re – obviously – going to be a shooting a gun off and start to panic that the baby will freak out

– 30 seconds before the gun goes off, have a mother with a stroller next to me ask me if I’m going to buckle the stroller strap into my running belt

– 25 seconds before the gun goes off, realize I have no idea what a running belt is, that I have nothing on my person to strap my son’s stroller belt into, that this is all some sort of horrible mistake and will likely end with me on the side of the road with a sprained ankle, two full diapers, and lots of crying

– 20 seconds before the gun goes off, panic. A lot

– 15 seconds before the gun goes off, remember that your race time doesn’t matter and that you’re just in this for you and the baby to have a good time

– 10 seconds before the gun goes off, hear your baby start laughing at the fact that he just stuck his whole fist in his mouth

– 5 seconds before the gun goes off, smile and remember that this is the last time you’ll be able to take your baby on his first race

The Race

It wasn’t my easiest race. But, my goodness, it was the most fun race I’ve ever run. Our volunteer staff is always awesome when it comes to cheering the racers on and this year was no different – but, for me, it felt different. The cheers seemed louder. The adrenaline seemed stronger.  In addition to the volunteers, you also have many citizens of Dover who come out to watch the race. Yes, it stops traffic for a bit. Yes, there’s detours. Yes, it can be a brief inconvenience. But all the bystanders have huge smiles on their faces and – especially in the last mile – they’re yelling out encouragement, they’re telling you it’s not that much longer and they’re yelling at the top of their lungs that you – yes, YOU – are going to make it! They’re having fun and whether we runners and walkers look like it, I promise you, we’re having fun too! But this year? This year was different.

The biggest difference? The talking. Oh, the talking. Listen, I was voted Most Talkative so many years in a row in middle and high school that they retired my jersey. And my baby and I? We talk. A lot. All the time. Heck, I even talk to pictures of my baby when he’s at daycare. Is that normal? I don’t know. Maybe. Despite working with children for over a decade, this is my first time at the Dad Rodeo.*  But the talking! The talking! I’m not referring to the baby. I’m referring to me! It’s one thing to regulate your breathing during a race. But it’s another thing to try to regulate your breathing while you’re talking to your tiny little son for 3.1 miles. Despite my verbose nature, I’m not used to uttering one word during a race. Maybe a cough or a vocalized wince, but certainly not sentences. Certainly not elaborate conversations.

* – (At the Dad Rodeo, you win if you can change a diaper in the dark without waking up the baby in under 8 seconds. But you’re still likely going to be a clown.)

Things I verbalize to Cap Jr. during the CMNH 5K

– How we doin’ down there?

– Believe it or not, we haven’t even officially gone over the Starting Line yet.

– We don’t have to wait for the walk sign this time. Just trust me.

– Say hi to the ladies at Harvey’s!

– Whoa. Pal, look at that guy over there. I think he’s still out from last night. No. Don’t stare.

– Yeah. It’s slow moving at first. But we’ll break away once we get to Portland Ave.

– Hmmmm . . . maybe Dad should have investigated sun screen?

– But seriously, you’re fine? Because I can’t really see you that well.

– Yup, he’s mine! What? Oh. Yeah – the one from all the pictures.

– He actually prefers Cap Jr. or Lil’ Cap! (in response to someone yelling, “Go Baby Cap!”)

– Whew. That first mile gets longer and longer each year.

– Stu! Don’t throw water at my baby! (in response to the water station volunteers’ exuberance)

– Daddy’s going to say a bad word. The other side of this cul-de-sac is &%#$@!

– If you want to yell, “Wheeeeee!” as we go down the hill, Dad totally signs off on that.

– Wheeeeeeeeeeee! (in response to Cap Jr’s failure to do so as we go down the Cocheco St. hill to hit Mile Marker 2)

– I think that’s your cousin Garrett up ahead. No . . . we’re not catching up to him. Because Daddy’s more than 20 years older than your cousin, that’s why.

– Yup. That’s what horses do sometimes, pal. Yup. Sometimes right in the street.

– Don’t yell “on your left” to Nana! It’s rude!

– Yes, those guys are running in the opposite direction. Because . . . they  . . . already finished and . . . are circling back to run . . . a 10K.

– Stop asking so many questions. Daddy can’t see in color anymore.

– There’s Grampa! Wave to Grampa!

– No, Grampa! We can’t stop for a picture! Meet us at the finish line!

– We know it’s blurry, Grampa! That’s because we’re running while you’re walking next to us trying to take a picture!

– Yes, that volunteer is on a unicycle.

– No, I don’t know why that volunteer is on a unicycle.

– Aarrrrgh! (Translated: “I can’t believe your Aunt Kate just snaked by us in the last 2 seconds of the race!”)

Post-Race 

The first thing I used to do after a race (once my vision came back, my inhaler patched my lungs over, and I wrung the sweat out of my eyebrows) was to stretch. And I made sure to stretch this time too. Once I checked on the baby and finally looked in his eyes for the first time in over a half hour and made sure he was fine. He was actually exhausted and pretty much out cold. Wouldn’t you be after flying all around Dover and listening to your Dad endlessly spout at you? And if you woke up and watched your mom cross the finish line and then she brought you to meet a giant alligator named Albert, wouldn’t that just be the best day ever?

One of the most magical things that happens at the CMNH 5K & Fun Run each year is the sense of community. Former and current employees and board members and long time volunteers return to help or participate in the event. Families run together. Elementary school classes run together. Scout groups run together. Co-workers, trivia teams, running groups – they’re all represented.

There was a runner there that told me that morning that this was his 100th race. Cap Jr. still has a bit more mileage to hit before he enters the triple digits. But I won’t care what his race times are. Or if he ate the right protein bar beforehand. Or what music he listens to when he runs. As long as he has fun.

At 32 minutes and 44 seconds, it was my worst 5K time ever. But who cares? I wouldn’t change a thing. (Well, maybe next year, we’ll aim for a bit more sleep the night before. I’m going to assume Cap Jr.’s teeth will finally be in by then.)

Pi Pies Pie Chart

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3.14, Apple Pie, Banana Cream Pie, Blackberry Pie, Blueberry Pie, Butterscotch Pudding Pie, Cherry Pie, Chicken Pot Pie, children's museum, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, Chocolate Cream Pie, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, CMNH, Delicious, Dover, Family Fun, Gouda, Kennebunk, Key Lime Pie, Lemom Meringue Pie, Maine, New Hampshire, nh, Peach Pie, Peanut Butter Pie, Pear, Pecan Pie, Pi Day, Pie, Pie Chart, Pie Charts, Pistachio Pudding Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Raspberry Pie, Sanford, Shephard's Pie, Strawberry Pie, Turkey Pot Pie

Happy Pi Day everyone!

Pi Day is celebrated each March 14th. Get it? 3.14? I don’t want to get too bogged down in the origins of Pi Day or how the mathematical constant known as pi works, because I want to get to the part we’re all waiting for: PIE!

Because pi without the “e” is far less delicious than the kind with the “e”, many people celebrate Pi Day by baking pies! Sadly, we didn’t have a chance to bake and eat all of our favorite pies here at CMNH, so we did the next best thing: Conduct a Pi Day Pie Survey! We surveyed our staff, volunteers, and two school groups – one from Sanford, ME and one from Kennebunk, ME – and asked them a pretty simple question.

“What’s your absolute favorite pie?”

{Click on the chart to see a bigger version!}

Here are the very scientific (and questionably nutritious) results! How did your favorite pie fare?

A few pies only garnered one vote. They were: Peach, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Pear & Gouda(!), Chicken Pot, Raspberry, Blackberry, Peanut Butter, & Butterscotch Pudding.

We hope you’re all having a delicious Pi Day!

When Ice is Nice

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art, children's museum, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, Children's Museum of NH, CMNH, Dover, Family Fun, Henry Law Park, Ice Art, Muse Studio, Naturalist Study, New Hampshire, nh, science

Embracing the cold . . . all year long

The weather in New England is always interesting on any given day, but this winter has been especially memorable. When it’s not snowing close to two feet of snow causing people (and cars, buildings, Giant Blue Crabs, etc.) to be totally buried in the fluffy white stuff, it’s in the mid-50’s with families walking, jogging and playing outside.

At CMNH, we offer a safe and warm facility for families to enjoy – especially on those sub-zero Polar vortex days we’ve recently experienced. On moderate winter days, one of our favorite activities is guiding families into Henry Law Park in front of our building and creating Snow Art!

Our visitors use spray bottles full of non-toxic watercolor paint and water to decorate the landscape in Henry Law Park

But whether the weather is freezing, windy, hailing or sizzling, one of the most popular indoor activities we run at CMNH is Ice Art. When we set up larger Ice Art projects (consisting of several tubs of ice) they can be worked on in the Muse Studio, while our smaller ones (usually one tub with one large or several smaller pieces of ice) can be found in the Naturalist Study near the CochecoNature exhibit on the first floor of the museum.

Parents & children (and staff!) experiment with cups of colored saltwater to see how their actions affect the ice.

– Does the salt make the ice melt faster or slower?

– What is the advantage of using a pipette to administer the solution?

– Do colors mix the same way on ice/water as they do on paper?

– How does an items density affect how it freezes inside the ice?

– How much time do you think it will take to free a trapped treasure from the ice?

– How do you make stripes of color – or a rainbow – in the ice without the colors mixing?

Through the help of our visitors, here’s some knowledge we’ve gleaned thus far in our years of ice exploration:

– Some dice floated to the top before freezing while some sunk.

– Glitter always floats before freezing.

– We had to weight the plastic sharks so they would freeze in the center of the ice.

– Ribbon is fun to freeze. Fabric is not fun to freeze.

– Pencils are fun to freeze. Pens are not fun to freeze.

– Plastic bugs look cool trapped in ice. Plastic food looks gross trapped in ice.

– Colors that slowly drip from one section of ice to another can create cool swirling effects. Too many colors in the ice at once causes brown and gray water. Yuck.

– Freezing different colors side-by-side takes a few days as each color must be frozen on its own first.

– The plastic human brain mold was our most popular ice shape. (Sadly, human brain mold developed a crack last year and had to be retired.)

– Visitors most favorite trapped ice objects are – hands down – plastic dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes.

Ice Art is an inexpensive, fun activity that can be done at home with Plastic containers, small cups, pipettes or paint brushes, table salt and watercolor paint or food coloring (but we recommend the paint as it washes off easier). The bigger the shape that you’re freezing, the more time it will need in the freezer. Museum Educators often set up their ice projects at the end of the museum day to be ready for the following morning.

Enjoy this short video of some of our most interesting ice art that we’ve seen at CMNH!

Zach once ate so many coconut flavored popsicles in a row that everything he ate for six months tasted like coconut.