http://www.playtacoma.org/blog/events/ en-us Fri, 18 May 2012 19:50:50 PDT Fri, 18 May 2012 19:50:50 PDT SiteCrafting.com GearBox 1.0.10 http://playtacoma.org/blog/power-play-lunch/ Kids Learn When Having Fun "Our kids learn really well when they're having fun," said Governor Gregoire at the Children's Museum of Tacoma's annual Power of Play Lunch on September 17, 2008. I think this is one of my favorite quotes from the Lunch (other than my seatmate commenting that "of course Joanne Bamford [Board President] was an elementary school teacher - you can hear it in her voice!"While the statistics that $1.00 spent today on early learning yields a $7.00 return are interesting and compelling, they don't mean much to me in the here and now. This quote so simply breaks down what the Children's Museum is all about (PLAY!) and why it's important (LEARNING!). Doesn't get much easier than that.As a parent, I also appreciate the Governor recognizing that she didn't know anything about brain science - she just played and read to her kids. Makes me feel better to know that if I'm engaging my kids they are learning - regardless of how much I know about brain development, early learning philosophies and the like! Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:08:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/mcdermott-brings-soar-alive/ Author Reads to Donors Friday night the Museum hosted a 'thank you' event for donors to the Soar Into Story and Becka's Studio exhibit spaces. Gerald McDermott attended and brought the story of Raven to life with his reading.It was great to see kids - and adults - having fun in the space! Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:07:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/show-off-gingerbread-house/ Did you attend the Children's Museum of Tacoma's Gingerbread Jamboree? We'd love to see a picture of your creation! Email us your Gingerbread pictures or post them in the comments. If you didn't get a chance to attend the November 30 Gingerbread Jamboree there are still spaces available on December 7, register today! Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:00:00 PST http://playtacoma.org/blog/mark-calendars/ Playing Under the Stars is Coming Soon... Playing Under the Stars is the Museum's signature summer soiree and should be on everyone's calendar! This year's event is planned for Saturday, June 20th from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm in Theatre Square park across from the Museum. You'll want to join us for a lavish summer supper, to peek inside the one of a kind playhouses and playful surprises. Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:49:00 PST http://playtacoma.org/blog/membership-madness/ Buy One, Get One Free!We have your budget in mind! Beginning today through April 5th, we are offering a Buy One, Get One Free membership special. Split a membership with a friend or give one away to a lucky family!Details: When: March 30th - April 5thWhere: Children's Museum of Tacoma Purchased membership must be a Play-FULL or Little Travelers membership. Free membership is a Play-FULL that can be redeemed by a new member only (no current or previous members). To take advantage of this great offer, visit the Museum or call 253.627.6031 ext. 225. Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:15:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/summer-camp-memories/ Wishing I were five again...The summer camp registrations have been pouring in and we are excitedly preparing for a summer full of silly science, messy art, language explorations, and of course, cooking! Made me think back to my summers as a kid taking sewing lessons (my mom made me take them), swimming, picnics, and playing with friends at the park. What are some of your favorite summer memories?To sign up your child for one of our awesome summer camps, call 253.627.6031 or click here for camp descriptions. Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:22:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/team-playhouse/ We're Back! A few years ago I had the bright idea to channel my recently retired Dad's creative energies away from items for his grandson (my home!). I gave him plans for a playhouse.What resulted was a months-long project that included our entire family (2.5 year old included) and many friends. Oh, and we created a pretty cute playhouse, too!It's two years later, and we're back. What will we do this time? My dad retired a few years ago. He filled his time with many projects, including building a wooden train table and easel for his only (at the time) grandson (my son). They are great, well built and nice looking. However, they aren't small!To curb the tide of incoming gifts, I had the bright idea to channel my Dad's creative energies toward a playhouse for the Children's Museum's annual Playing Under the Stars auction.Two years ago, the Museum provided me sample plans and tied them up with ribbon for under the Christmas tree. Fortunately (for me - since I'd promised the Museum a playhouse) he accepted the gift. Even better, he embraced the project.My dad lives in Portland. His only connection to the Museum is his only grandson - oh and me, I do contract work with the Museum. Yet he took on Project Playhouse wholeheartedly. He and my mom brainstormed house themes. They decided on a fishing shack - see photo.He watched the kids play, noting that they like little places to crawl through, into and over, things to open, close and move. Plans were drawn up. He built a cardboard model and let his grandson and our little friends 'test' it (through play, of course!). Then there were the countless weekends and afternoons of building.Last year he and my husband wanted to build another. I protested, seeing that our second child was due in March it seemed a bit too much to tackle in one spring.This year, I relented. We're all back to build another playhouse. Got any ideas for us? Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:50:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/playhouse-materials/ Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - and call in favors! So, I gave my Dad plans for a playhouse. What resulted? A months-long project! It consumed our entire family (2.5 year old included), encompased many friends, and drew on materials gathered from Portland to Alaska. Once again, we're calling on the collective and varied talents (and materials) of our friends and family to build a playhouse for the Children's Museum of Tacoma's Playing Under the Stars event. Can you help? Our goal last time was to use materials from our collective home improvement projects. I don't think we bought a 2x4 or a piece of plywood. The front porch was constructed from ends off our front porch, interior flooring came from my parents' barn, and the back deck was a host of fencing projects. We'd like to do the same this year. Got anything to donate?Last time we spent days on the small details: shutters, door designs, the roof ridge, and nautical hardware. My father-in-law hunted down materials on countless errands. My uncle was called upon for building expertise. Our son climbed over every inch at every step of the way, 'testing' it. A friend from Portland drove up to help out many weekends. Oh, and we built it out at Hood Canal, so we pulled in a huge favor from Jeff Woodworth and had it lifted by a boom truck and delivered to Tacoma (see photo). We begin building this weekend. Check back as our plans unfold - we may need assistance again! Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:19:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/playhouse-materials-1/ Dumpster Diving with the Whole Fam! Today the whole family piled into the Subaru and struck out for the tide flats in search of good playhouse materials.  We found great trim and a solution for the bin boards. I'm sure we were quite the site with all the materials strapped on and stuffed in the 'buru.The boys were perfectly content building and drumming in the back with some of our loot! Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:53:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/river-raft-playhouse-model/ Subject to Change (of course!) After much discussion, here's our 2009 Playhouse model. Last summer we found a picture on the internet of a river boat that looked like great fun to play in (pretty sure I wouldn't want to live in it!). We used that as our basis and built a model. It's rough (and somewhat lopsided - due to materials not design!). Time to start our work... Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:14:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/team-playhouse-1/ A group effort Today we began building! Claire and her dad, Doug, measure up! They were a great help in building and entertaining Owen.The plan changed a bit, of course, as we measured materials on hand, had our kid-testers climb on board for scale, etc. But by the end of the day we had the skids, joists and poles in place.  Whew! Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:06:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/building-continues/ Rain can't stop us! Despite the fact that it's pouring rain - oh, and Easter Sunday - we continue to build! The project started this morning with some more dumpster diving for plywood pieces. We braved the rain to begin the patchwork puzzle process of making all the odds and ends fit our space.Really, I think the project may just be an excuse for Jeff to fire up the power tools every day! Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:31:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/in-team-playhouse-list/ Looking for Good Boat Adventure Stories We want to include some good boating adventure books with our Playing Under the Stars playhouse. Some thoughts? Here's a list of some of our favorites. Others to add to the list?Owen (age: 4) - Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. MilneChapter 9: In Which Piglet Is Entirely Surrounded by WaterToy Boat, AuthorStewart Little, E.B. WhiteChapter 4: A Fair Breeze, Chapter 5: The Sailboat Race, Chapter 13: Ames' Crossing, Chapter 14: An Evening on the RiverJust a Tugboat, Mercer MayerJay (age: grandfather) - Paddle-to-the-Sea, Holling C. HollingThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark TwainKon Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft, Thor Heyerdahl Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:07:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/slowly-slowly-slowly/ Just like Eric Carle's sloth! Playhouse construction continues, but slowly. This past weekend found just Jeff and I pounding nails - and not so many of them as we'd hoped!During the week, the kids and I braved torrents of rain to scavenge more flooring for the interior. I figured we'd spend one morning getting it down. By the end of Saturday we'd finally finished the 12 square feet of the cabin (except for the secret compartment lid - so really, it was only 11 square feet).It's a good thing we still have a month before Playing Under the Stars. Looks like we'll need every minute of it! Thu, 14 May 2009 08:46:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/tasty-decisions-1/ Creating a delicious meal for Playing Under the Stars One of the best parts of my job is working with Mark Gaimster from Il Fiasco on an awesome menu for the Museum's annual Playing Under the Stars. This year Mark and executive chef Dan Hutchinson are totally outdoing themselves. Ceviche, scallops and green garlic tarts are the plan for cocktail hour. The dinner menu is still being tweaked but so far it's looking great: fresh, local produce, comforting osso bucco, homemade shortbread cookies with lavender cream for dessert. I can't wait to taste their offerings and make the final decisions in the next few weeks! Mon, 18 May 2009 15:40:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/river-raft-playhouse-update/ Just because it's sunny! The long weekend's sunny forecast should be perfect for building! Since the sun is shining today I thought I'd snap a photo of the work in progress. Hoping to make great strides forward this weekend with the promise of many hands and sunny skies! Thu, 21 May 2009 14:20:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/up-on-housetop/ The Playhouse Gets a Roof Great progress was made this weekend: roof supports are up, the steering wheel secured and the decking laid. Thank goodness for the sunny days and the time and talent of my dad (pictured on the top deck) and Perry. After a long weekend of handling reclaimed materials, we've dubbed this the S.S. Splinter... Tue, 26 May 2009 20:53:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/step-back-to-ahead/ The Crew Tires Doesn't  look like much progress to report on - and feels like even less since the roof's wing walls were up at one point in the weekend. A design change (much for the better, trust us) meant a step backward to get ahead. This is fun, right!?! Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:11:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/testing-testing/ Even our friends like it! Our kids have been running over every inch of this playhouse for weeks. The real test was having over friends who hadn't invested a month of weekends in building the boat. Would they like? You bet! Just a few of the activities we've already seen on the boat:Driving (as fast as you can - of course!).Looking for whales and alligators (while someone drives really fast).Escaping sea monsters (by crawling over the chart table rather than going through one of the many large open spaces).Fishing (and catching sharks and halibut?)Playing houseboat (requires lots of going to sleep and waking up).Building ('cause that's what everyone else has been doin').Oh, and if you're one-year-old, climbing into cupboards and moving wood and rocks from one place to another (alot like what you do at home).And that's all before we have the ladder secured! Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:26:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/getting-ready-big-day/ Who-Ha's and Naming Rights We'll brave the rain this morning to make sure we get our punch list hammered out and gather the last of our who-ha's.What's a who-ha? Our "technical" term for all the fun stuff  - loose bits - to play with on the boat. They just make the make-believe on the boat even more fun.Oh, and of course, the Official Sign Painter (aka my mom) will unveil the boat's name. Look forward to seeing it here first - tomorrow! Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:09:00 PDT