January 20 - June 6, 2010!
Experience what it's like to care for animals!
- Play the role of a Veterinarian and examine stuffed animals
- Provide emergency medical care to your favorite pets
- Study animal x-rays
- Provide animal grooming to pets
- Learn about pet care and help feed animals in the kennel
- Cheer for your favorite pet in a cross-country derby race
- Exam specimen jars filled with unique animal items
- Learn interesting facts in an animal scavenger hunt
- Enjoy a special animal Make It Take It activity
- Play an animal matching game
- Watch real fish swim in a giant aquarium
- Create your own puzzle pet
Check out these photos of the Happy Animal Clinic!
Thank you to:
Kent County Animal Shelter
Blue Fish Aquariums
Cascade Hospital for Animals
Sentinel Flavor Tabs
Open Wide for Dental Health
January 26th - March 21st
In Open Wide, children will be able to learn about how to keep their teeth healthy and their smile bright with the help of our puppet patients. Visitors can dress up like dentists and hygienists while playing in the Open Wide dentist office. Children can experience sounds of a REAL dentist office as they play with dental instruments and can see what teeth look like with the fun X-Ray machine!
This exhibit is brought to you by
Aunt Daisy's Farm
Come play down(town) on the farm!
NOW PLAYING!
The Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, in partnership with the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, is creating a brand-new, interactive exhibit for summer 2009! This exhibit will focus on farm-life, helping to bridge the gap between urban and rural by providing guests with meaningful learning experiences through play!
The West Michigan agricultural industry will come alive as children pick apples, feed pretend animals, grow plants, gather eggs, and enjoy what it is like to live and work on a farm. This exhibit is designed to ensure that children have an opportunity to play as they learn and practice skills such as cooperation, problem solving, language, mathematics, movement, and more. While children are playing they are also developing self-esteem, curiosity, and independence; all through PLAY!
So, join in the fun as we PLAY down(town) on the farm!
PARENT RESOURCES:
Please click here for the Toddler's Activity Guide for Aunt Daisy's Farm.
Click here for the School-aged Children's Activity Guide for Aunt Daisy's Farm.
The Aunt Daisy's Farm exhibit was designed and produced by
the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts
Thank you to Quincy Street, Triangle, and
Kent County Farm Bureau!
Click here to experience a few permanent exhibits through the eyes of a child.
Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles
Play with light, shape, and form in our glistening, slightly slippery world of bubbles! This ever-popular exhibit is fun for the whole family.
Buzzy Beeshive
Our beehive is getting more and more crowded! One of the most popular exhibits at the museum is our live beehive and it is new and improved with a larger hive. Come listen to the buzz and smell the sweet honey made by real bees. Visitors can look through a thick plexi-glass encasing to see the lifecycle of honeybees. Watch them create beeswax, feed the larvae, and even hatch! Can you find the Queen Bee? Come try and learn all about how interesting and cool honeybees really are!
Mirror Magic
Explore the magical world of reflections, prisms, distorted mirrors, and kaleidoscopes. (Popular photo spots in the Museum.)
Mercantile Wee Bank
Thanks to Mercantile Bank, children will feel just like grown-ups as they withdraw money from the ATM, make a deposit in the drive through (complete with car!), practice counting, and so much more!
Mom and Pop Store
Clean up on aisle 3! Come find what you need to cook up all kinds of fun in this interactive grocery store. Shop for groceries, be a cashier, bag up food, and even use the conveyor belt!
Spin Table
Watch it go around and around to see how long you can get the discs to spin!
Funstruction
Combine loads of Legos, blocks, and Dominos in creative new ways.
Rainbow Run
Sort colors just the way you want, make a pattern, and build your very own bright rainbows!
Wee Discover
(Suggested ages: 5 & under)
The GRCM has something for all ages. Wee Discover is especially designed for younger kids. Play with blocks, mirrors, or cook up something yummy in the play kitchen. This area also has a special ball exhibit just the right size for toddlers, as well as an infant "lay upon," where even the littlest guests will have an area to play in.
