What's New at CMTM!
At the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, we’re always looking for new ways to play and create. You may have noticed some fun new additions popping up around the building, from our new Visitor’s Store to our latest friends in From The Mountains to the Sea, CMTM’s aquarium!
Every day is a new adventure, with so many stories ready to unfold. And we can’t wait to share our latest stories with you! Read on to see what’s new and how your family can explore what’s new at CMTM!
Pop + Fizz, New Outreach Program!
Do you like science? CMTM is happy to announce our new educational Outreach Program, “Pop + Fizz,” is now available to travel to an educational setting near you! Conduct a hands-on fizzy experiment in your daycare or early childhood classroom. Art meets science as kids use a combination of baking soda, vinegar, and paint in a sensory eruption!
Debuting this summer, children become scientists and conduct their very own experiments. During this joyful learning through play experience, children try scientific tools like pipettes to create and closely observe cause-and-effect reactions. Experiments take place in a tray, and children can alter the quantities and timing and try out different elements like water to see what happens!
The program lasts 30 minutes. Pricing is $150 per group of up to 25 students ages 2-5, plus mileage. We recommend an indoor space with tables and chairs for this activity, as it can get a little messy– but that’s all part of the fun!
For more information on how to book, click here!
CMTM Store
We are excited to announce that visitors can now take a piece of the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine home!
Visitors often ask if they can purchase something to remember their visit, and now we are happy to offer a small selection of CMTM-branded merchandise.
Located at the Welcome Desk during normal operating hours, visitors can purchase anything from our current selection. Right now, the CMTM store is stocked with water bottles, travel mugs, t-shirts, baby onesies, mugs, key chains, and even umbrellas! Prices range from $5-25.
All purchases support the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, helping set the stage for every child to imagine and learn through play!
Lumpfish
Have you visited From The Mountains to the Sea on the 3rd floor recently? You may have seen some new friends hanging around in our aquarium!
These fun friends are called lumpfish, or Cyclopterus lumpus in the science world. Unlike other fish, our friends don’t have scales! Instead, they have smooth leather-like skin covered with lumps!
While lumpfish are native to the North Atlantic, including right here off the coast of what we now call Maine, our nine baby lumpfish have a special story. They came to us from the Seacoast Science Center in New Hampshire and were born in a research lab at the University of New Hampshire.
LUMPFISH FUN FACTS
Slow Swimmers: Lumpfish are considered slow swimmers, so it’s much easier for bigger and faster fish to steal their snacks. Our lumpfish are trained by our lovely live exhibit superstars, Colin and Emily, to gather around a floating red anchor during feed time. This is so that we can make sure each fish is being fed, and that our faster cunner fish (who are trained to go to a cool purple ball) don’t snatch food away from them. (Lumpfish eat invertebrates like crustaceans and some small fish.)
Suction Cups: You might’ve even seen our lumpfish hanging on the glass and using their fins to wave hello! That’s because Lumpfish are born with modified pectoral fins that create a suction cup. In the wild, this allows the babies to hang around and not get carried off by the current. They go away as they get older.
A Rainbow Fish: As babies, their color tends to match their environment. Our fish are a beautiful teal blue. But as they get older, male lumpfish change into many different colors! From red to magenta, we’ve seen it all! We wonder what color our male lumpfish will become when he grows up big and strong.
For more information on Lumpfish, visit https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/lumpfish.
MakerSpace’s Fun Brick Wall!
MakerSpace just got bigger!
We’ve added a semi-permanent wall to MakerSpace to make more room for … making!
CMTM’s MakerSpace welcomed over 23,000 guests this summer, so expanding the space gives everyone plenty of room to get creative and follow their imagination!
This expansion also features comfortable seating for caregivers to relax and sit for a moment too!
The wall is made out of giant plastic bricks that mimic the blue and white exterior of our building. MakerSpace staff chose flexible building materials that can be easily disassembled to create an entirely different layout, or they can also be moved to an entirely different location for any event! This addition is not only fun and creative but versatile for all!
New Signage around the Building!
Some news signs have been popping up around the Museum & Theatre. Can you find them all?
These new signs are not only helpful but fun to look at as well! The signs include directional messages like, “Please Enter through the Aquarium”, informational like, "Building Hours”, and express gentle requests like, “Please Wash Hands”. Many of these new signs existed before, but now they have a new look. We hope to help visitors have an easier time navigating their way around the building and find where they need to go much quicker.