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. 

Fall Schedule

9/17& 9/21- A is for Apple
9/24 & 9/28 -B is for Bear
10/1 & 10/5- C is for Cat
10/8 & 10/12 -D is for Dinosaur
10/15 -E is for Emotions
10/22 & 10/26 -F is for Fall
10/29 & 11/2 -G is for Grateful
11/5 & 11/9 -H is for Happy
11/16 -I is for Ice

*No WOW on the following days: 

Friday, Oct 19th - Staff Retreat
Nov 12th - Veteran’s Day
Nov 19th & Friday 23rd - Thanksgiving Break

WOW will take a Winter Break: December 24th through January 4th

Exceptional Families Parent Workshops

Second Thursday of every month. Fall dates: October 11, November 8, December 13

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:

October 13 - Curious George
November 10 - Sesame Street
December 8-  Dinosaur Train

HopeSparks: Relatives Raising Children Group

Upcoming Dates: October 3 | November 7 | December 5 

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:

September 27 - I-LABS 4: The Power of Learning Through Imitation

November 29 - I-LABS 12: Temperament in Early Childhood

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.

Colors!

Starting September 16
Experience, create and explore color in Becka’s Studio. What happens when you add two colors to another color? What happens if you add water? Come see what color is all about!

Tacoma Art Museum and Children's Museum of Tacoma are excited to partner for the 4th time to provide whole family engagement, connecting our youngest artists through the arts. In Becka’s Studio at the Children's Museum, visitors are invited to explore creative processes and themes through hands-on activities. These activities are designed and inspired by select works of art on view at the Tacoma Art Museum. Families are then invited to visit Tacoma Art Museum to experience these works of art in person, through the use of a free Family Access Pass.