Family travel has rebounded in a big way over the past year and expectations are high that it will bounce back to pre-pandemic levels in 2023. With fears of COVID-19 transmission easing, families are more ready than ever to explore popular family vacation spots like New York and Orlando, Florida, while more moderately sized cities like Portland, Maine, and Pittsburgh are also having a moment.
Read MoreThe Children's Museum in Portland hosted its annual "New Year's at Noon" today. This year's theme was an "indoor beach party." Hundreds of families kicked off their New Year's Eve celebration by making a "sea star wand" or learning about life underwater. Attendees brought in nonperishables to donate to Wayside Food Programs, and of course, they had a "sea star drop" instead of a traditional ball drop.
Read MoreTraditionally celebrated with adult beverages on a grown-up timeline, New Year’s Eve isn’t the calendar’s most family-friendly holiday.
So to accommodate area tots who won’t make it to midnight, the Children’s Museum and Theater of Maine on Saturday threw its annual New Year’s Eve party for young kids and their families.
Read MoreA "children's citizenship ceremony" was held at the Children's Museum and Theater of Maine.
A wintry mystery is afoot at the Children’s Theatre and Museum of Maine: Three little kittens have lost some of their outerwear!
Read MoreThe third annual Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival took place on September 17 and 18 at locations in Portland, Lewiston, and Rockland.
Read MoreThe 3rd annual Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival was held on 9/17/22 and 9/18/22 in locations across Maine. In-person for the first time, The Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival celebrates Black and Black Immigrant children’s books and their creators with an annual 4,000+ book giveaway to Maine families, the production of acclaimed media and activities, and live events. The festival honors the legacy of legendary Black children’s book creator and artist Ashley Bryan and is named after his classic picture book Beautiful Blackbird.
Read MorePuppets in Portland happens over the course of six days and it’s an international festival of puppetry arts. PiP includes more than a dozen professional puppeteers, technicians and sound engineers, representing 10 countries, who are all enthusiastic about sharing their love for the diverse world of puppets.
Read MorePortland’s Maine Children’s Theater is coming to Midcoast Maine. Watts Hall Community Arts presents MCT’s traveling production of “Blueberries for Sal: The Musical” Thursday, Sept. 1, at 4 p.m., at Watts Hall, 174 Main St., in downtown Thomaston.
“This heartwarming Maine classic offers parents and grandparents a wonderful opportunity to introduce children ages 3 to 10 to the magic of live theater right in our own ‘backyard.’” said Watts Hall Community Arts, in a news release.
Read MoreThe Children’s Museum of Maine is building a new $14 million museum in the middle of the pandemic.
"We worked hard. We stuck to our timelines as much as possible,” Children’s Museum of Maine Executive Director Julie Butcher Pezzino said.
Butcher Pezzino said it has been a challenge but was able to clear every hurdle in front of them.
Read MoreChildren's Museum and Theatre of Maine in the Old Port has been shut down through most of the pandemic, but museum officials have still been busy this year.
They're in the process of moving from its old home next to the Portland Museum of Art, to a brand new building across town at Thompson's Point.
Read MoreA giant one-of-a-kind periscopic camera obscura owned by the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine was carefully raised onto the roof of the museum’s new building last week, where it will offer visitors a unique view of Portland when the museum reopens this spring.
The camera’s high-end optics, including a special aluminum-coated mirror used in large telescopes and two precision lenses fabricated by Kodak Inc.’s military division, will project the panoramic views visible from the rooftop down onto an exhibit table on the third floor, just as it did previously at the Free Street location.
Read MoreThe Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine will not reopen at its longtime home at 142 Free St. and will focus on a spring 2021 grand opening at its new building currently under construction at Thompson’s Point in Portland. The museum and theater closed on March 13 because of the pandemic.
In partnership with the Portland Public Schools and with money from the CARES Act, the Free Street building is hosting two pods of children who alternate days with educators. This program will continue through early December. Construction of the new museum and theater at Thompson’s Point is on schedule with an opening projected for spring 2021, according to a museum press release.
Read MoreAs it nears the finish of a $14 million fundraising campaign for its new Portland facility, the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine has received a $500,000 gift from the Lunder Foundation.
The Portland-based philanthropy made the donation as a challenge grant to spur matching contributions and raise the remaining $1 million of the campaign, according to a news release Monday.
Read MoreMuseums are interactive, and that couldn't be more true for the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine. Kids touch, hear, and play with exhibits that help them learn. "As an institution that is focused on being facility based, and in-person work, we had to scramble a little [to create online programming in the wake of temporary closure for COVID-19] for sure," says executive director, Julie Butcher Pezzino.
Read MoreThe museum has several food-related permanent exhibits and play areas, designed for ages 1-10, where kids can pretend to be a chef, farmer or lobsterman. It’s an appropriate theme in a town that is so food-obsessed, and it serves an educational purpose, too. The kids get lessons in where their food comes from. They learn basics about biology, and when they weigh a lobster, sort produce by size, and color or count eggs, a little rudimentary math.
Read MoreIf you're looking for something fun to do with the kids that's inside during winter vacation, why not check out the Maine Children's Museum in Portland. At the museum every Wednesday kids get an up close and personal experience with something slimy. Growing Worms Growing Gardens is a hands-on program that allows kids to observe, touch and learn about sustainability. This program also travels to schools or daycare centers.
Read MoreConstruction work has already started at the new site at Thompson's Point. “While large sums of money have been donated or pledged toward the fundraising goal, Executive Director Julie Butcher Pezzino said the public phase of the capital campaign is open to anyone, and the museum and theater welcomes donations of any amount. “
Read More“The Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine says it has raised $12.5 million towards its $14 million goal to fund construction of the museum. On Monday the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine announced the public launch of its $14 million campaign to fund construction of the Museum & Theatre’s new facility at Thompson’s Point. The new museum will be nearly double the size of the old one. In a press release, the new museum was described as a "state-of-the-art 30,000 square foot" facility.”
Read MoreThe Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine’s Director of Theatre and Education Reba Askari stars as Mary Jane in a production by the same name at Mad Horse Theatre. You can watch Reba’s interview on NewscenterMaine’s 207 TV coverage as she and her colleagues discuss this story about a mother who is taking care of a sick child.
Read More
