Ring in the New Year by creating your very own music maker. Every hour, Museum staff will lead visitors in a dance parade to use your new music maker.

WEE ONES WEEKLY

Monday for Members Only | 9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. Fridays for Everyone | 9:30 – 11 a.m.

Drop in and enjoy thematic and musical programs perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and their grown-ups during the academic year September - May. Program participation includes 30 minutes of exclusive play in the Museum. No registration required.

Free to Members. Non-Members are $5 per family. 

Winter Schedule

December
3 & 7 - K is for Kind 
10 & 14 - L is for Love
17 & 21 - M is for Music
No classes December 24 - January 4

January
7 & 11 - N is for Nighttime 
14 & 18 - O is for Owls
No class on January 21
25 - P is for Polar Pal
28 - Q is for Queen  

February
1 - Q is for Queen
4 & 8 - R is for Rainbow
11 & 15 - S is for Sparkle 
No class February 18
22 - T is for Tea
25 - U is for Unicorn 

March 
1- U is for Unicorn 
4 & 8 - V is for Volcano 
11 & 15 - W is for Whale  

*No WOW on the following days:
December 24 - January 4
January 21 
February 18

Exceptional Families Parent Workshops

Second Thursday of every month, 6-8 p.m.

Winter dates: January 10, February 14, March 14, April 11

The Children's Museum of Tacoma, together with the Exceptional Families Network's support group and SPECIAL Families of Pierce County, hosts a monthly evening program for families with children who have special needs. 

Advance registration through SPECIAL Families of Pierce County is required for admission of all children into the museum on workshop nights. Parents will need to complete an online intake form for each child they plan to bring. To request an intake form and register your child, please contact SPECIAL Families of Pierce County at specialfamiliestacoma@gmail.com.

PBS Play Date

Second Saturday of each month from 10 - 11:30 a.m.

Join us as we partner with KBTC each month for fun and learning around a selected PBS Kids television show. This is a free, drop in program. Costumed characters do not make an appearance during this program.

*PBS Play Date programs are presented in partnership with KBTC and are funded by a Ready To Learn grant (PR/AWARD No. U295A100025, CFDA No. 84.295A) provided by the Department of Education to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Programs in association with KBTC are FREE to all participants. The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of PBS and is used with permission.

Upcoming Themes:

January 12: Odd Squad
February 9: Pinkalicious and Peterrific
March 9: Cat in the Hat

HopeSparks: Relatives Raising Children Group

Upcoming Dates: January 2 | February 6 | March 6 

Times: 5:30 - 7 p.m.

Come meet other caregivers who are raising relative children not theirs by birth. Share a snack, learn about resources, talk about challenges and opportunities while the kids play at the Children’s Museum of Tacoma.

Kinship Caregivers include grandparents, aunts & uncles, siblings, cousins, godparents, stepparents, and fictive kin.

For more information or to register please call Rosalyn Alber 253-565-4484

Alliance for Child Welfare Excellence:
Caregiver Continuing Education

Upcoming Dates:

February 28 - I-LABS 14: "Racing" Toward Equality: Why Talking to Your Kids About Race is Good For Everyone

March 27 - I-LABS 16: Foundations of Literacy

Times: 6 - 7 p.m. The trainings will be one hour in duration followed by one hour of support group.

All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington (I-LABS) is an interdisciplinary center dedicated to discovering the fundamental principles of human learning, with a special emphasis on early learning and brain development.

The Children’s Museum of Tacoma is excited to partner with the Alliance and I-LABS in order to offer training modules to caregivers and provide childcare during the trainings at the museum. Each I-LABS module explores a particular topic in child development, such as brain development, language acquisition, or imitation. Modules share evidence-based information about how young children learn. The modules are useful for understanding everyday interactions with children and cover a variety of relevant topics such as a child’s first days, early interactions, learning, emotions, language, attachment, temperament, race and equality, music, literacy and more.

Limited child care is available for children 3-12. Registration is required. Stalls 1-10 adjacent to museum can be used if vacant, otherwise, use street parking. Signs will be posted directing you to the training room. Feel free to bring a meal or other refreshments.

For more information or to request the childcare paperwork please contact Stephanie Rodrigues at 206-321-1721 or steph75@uw.edu.

In Becka's Studio

Steam Studio

Ongoing in Studio B
Within the STEAM Studio visitors are invited to make, tinker, and create. Hoppers brim with recycled materials and workstations are equipped with authentic tools. Children and adults playfully engage in designing, engineering, and building as they bring a plan into 3-D form. Start with a blueprint, or create a plan of your own. Collect all of the needed materials and tools and set to work. Experimenting and problem solving skills will be honed as curious builders imagine materials in a new light and envision sequential steps to complete their project.

To ensure that our material hoppers are brimming with creative potential, we need your help to save and bring in the following recycled materials mentioned above! You are welcome to place them in the donation hopper located in the Museum's Lobby.

WINTER WHIMSY STUDIO
Starting January 2019

A frosty chill is in the air in Becka's Studio as we welcome winter inspired activities to celebrate the changing season. Create wintry designs using a wax resist technique, make crystallized scenes with salt, and let the whimsy of the season inspire your creations.