InTouch Spring 2014

with Please Touch Museum® Members | Spring 2014

Ball

& 29th Annual Book Awards

at Please Touch Museum®

On Saturday, March 15, 2014, Please Touch Museum welcomed approximately 1,300 people to its 6th Annual Storybook Ball and 29th Annual Book Award at Memorial Hall. The annual fundraising event raised more than $119,000 for the Museum’s literacy programming for young children. The Book Award honors children’s books that help little ones discover the joys of reading and learning, all while reflecting Please Touch Museum’s philosophy of learning through play.

Visitors to this year’s ball enjoyed an enchanted evening filled with their favorite storybook characters, delicious cuisine, and a dance party by Baby Loves Disco in the ‘Grand Ballroom.’ The highlight of the evening was the presentation of our Book Awards to: Zachariah OHora for No Fits, Nilson!

(Kid’s Choice/Honorable Mention)

Wednesday, May 14, 2014, 7:00 p.m. – Midnight Please Touch Museum, Memorial Hall PTM invites you to celebrate our 5th Birthday at Memorial Hall. Join us in asking – “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

For generations, the children of the Philadelphia region have learned through play at Please Touch Museum. Through interactive exhibits, educational programs, and vital community outreach, the Museum has touched millions of children (over 3 million at Memorial Hall and counting), providing learning opportunities that foster a child’s intellectual, social, and emotional growth throughout their early learning years.

This once-in-a-lifetime 5th Birthday Party will be a celebration that includes cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and celebrity appearences from author and TV producer Jennifer Weiner, NBC’s The Voice semi finalist Matthew Schuler and more. Please Touch Museum has a unique advantage when it comes to throwing a party…we know how to play!

Our 5th Birthday Party is a celebration of our fifth year at Memorial Hall and the future of the Museum as an invaluable Philadelphia learning institution. We are Philly Proud!

Lizi Boyd for INSIDE OUTSIDE (4 to 7) Jesse Klausmeier for OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK, Suzy Lee (illustrator for OTLB), (3 and Under) Celebrate Stories, Storybook Ball and Book Award are presented by The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation.

We hope you will choose to join us as we commemorate a new milestone in our history. If you have any questions/inquiries regarding tickets or sponsorship, please contact our events hotline at (215) 581-3175 or events@pleasetouchmuseum.org. 100% of your donation is tax deductible, will exclusively benefit the Museum and we are proud to announce that an anonymous donor has agreed to match the first $50,000 raised through this event.

PTM WORKS WITH PREGNANT & PARENTING TEENS

MY TIME IN ACES By: Zabria Hennigan, Class of 2014, Constitution High School The time I spent in ACES was great! I have learned & gained so much from the program. Ms. Jemella has been a great teen leader; she has shown me so much about the real world. In ACES, I have learned time management as well as being open minded about everything. The other ACES students have become another family to me. When I come here it just doesn’t feel like a program…we all act like a family.

Please Touch Museum recently partnered with the School District of Philadelphia’s ELECT program to provide parenting and early literacy enrichment workshops to pregnant and parenting teens in high schools throughout the city. The ELECT program aims to provide students with the support and services they need to succeed as parents, students, and citizens.

PTM’s staff brings the Museum’s signature “learning through play” approach into high school classrooms, leading teens in discussion topics ranging from interactive reading to water safety and choking hazards.

In June, I will be graduating from ACES and am so proud to say that I attended a teen program that made me feel like I was at home.

Because of ACES, I am proud to say I will be attending Central Penn College in Harrisburg this summer.

ACES (Achievement through Community Service, Education and Skill Building) is Please Touch Museum’s year-round, work-based learning, enrichment and mentoring program for high school students. ACES students participate in community service projects, visit colleges and work in the museum with staff mentors.

The group also takes part in teambuilding activities, SAT prep and has the chance to play lacrosse, fencing, golf and tennis. The ACES program is supported by a variety of donors such as The Lincoln Financial Group, UPS, and The Lawrence Saunders Fund.

As part of the partnership, 140 teens and their children visited the Museum as part of ELECT day at Please Touch Museum in December. The groups played in the Museum’s exhibits, rode the carousel, and participated in workshops led by PTM staff on singing and brain development.

STORIES IN SCHOOLS PROGRAM Presented by

Each autumn, after young students have settled into their fall routine, select institutions in West Philadelphia’s Parkside neighborhood get special visitors. Since 2006, Please Touch Museum staff have worked with several local elementary schools and childcare centers to brings our signature brand of “learning through play” into classrooms through PTM’s Stories in Schools program.

The program’s original goal was to support teachers and schools by nurturing students’ love of books and reading (from preschool through third grade). The program was recently expanded to reach children as early as infancy.

When a Please Touch Coordinator comes into the classroom, the students are eager and excited as they are exposed to a variety of enriching activities. The children experience dramatic games; creative math, science, and music activities; book reading; and a final art project. At the end of the program, they each receive books to take home along with free passes to the Museum. Their classroom teachers also receive a box of art supplies to continue the activities after the PTM coordinator leaves.

This year the Junior Jazz Festival™, the only area event whose mission is to introduce young children to the rich history of improvisation and creativity found in jazz music, celebrates its 22nd year at Please Touch Museum! Join us on May 10th and 11th , as the museum fills with live music, theater performances, and educational activities that focus on musical expression and the history of jazz.

In addition Please Touch Playhouse presents a jazz-themed original theater show entitled Scat Cat’s Junior Jazz Jamboree, the story of a cat that embarks on a journey to explore the wide world of jazz music! The show introduces children to the traditions and legacy of jazz using puppets, rhythmic interactions and music samples.

THE ADVENTURES OF

SPOTLIGHT

The Maeulen Family, Centennial Guild Members Why do you love Please Touch Museum?

We love Please Touch Museum for all of the wonderful learning opportunities it provides our family to do together - from Storybook Ball, Early Morning Openings for CG family’s only, and Countdown to Noon where we especially enjoy the Centennial Guild VIP entrance and Reserved Parking.

What do you love most about being a Centennial Guild Member?

Being a Centennial Guild Member has not only made bringing 3 small children to the Museum a possibility, but it also makes our children feel like royalty.

What’s your favorite Please Touch Museum exhibit?

All of them are great! This from myself and our 5 year old, Ellie!

RICK TEPPER Rick has been with PTM for over a decade as part of our Visitors Services team.

You might see me around the Museum...

Playing with visiting families in the museum galleries like The Littlest Shoprite Supermarket, the River or Nature’s Pond. I also assist with the “switch out” by gathering all stuffed animals and wardrobe from the galleries, sorting them by color and sending them to our in-house laundry mat.

We have two sets of everything to make it quick and easy!

My favorite part of my job is...

My favorite play zone is Flight Fantasy, especially the hamster wheel.

I love to build excitement for the kids if they have to wait in line for the wheel by showing them around and helping them learn how to play with everything in that space. Flight Fantasy is a very interactive area and I love to see kids try and try again until they figure out how everything works.

My most memorable PTM Moment...

To become a Centennial Guild Member visit our website at pleasetouchmuseum.org/centennial-guild/ Email us at theguild@pleasetouchmuseum.org

My favorite day at Please Touch was Wednesday, May 4, 2011 when we celebrated “May the Fourth Be With You” on Target First Wednesday. Visitors came from galaxies far away to meet Chewbacca, Jedi Knights, Storm Troopers, and even Darth Vader as we celebrated our annual event, Star Wars Day. I also have early memories of imitating the Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show while being a volunteer at 21st Street (PTM’s old location).

My favorite toy as a child was...

LEGOS®, LINCOLN LOGS® and Girder & Panel building sets.

If you enjoy Moon Sand, Playfoam, or Bubber, then you are going to love Living Sands, a brand new Kids Shop product. Living Sands is a hands-on, non-toxic and non-sticky toy made out of a unique formula that prevents bacterial growth. Watch it come to life in your hands! It stimulates creativity, comes with 1.5 lbs. of sand, and contains four different sand tools. Make anything you want and never worry about Living Sands drying out. Purchase Living Sands in the Kids Shop for $24.99.

*Members get 15% off Kids Shop purchases every day of the year.

RE U AT E F

KEEP INTOUCH WITH PTM “Like” PTM’s Facebook page and follow the Museum on Twitter (@pleasetouch) for access to the latest news, contests, promotions, and photos of all that goes on here at the Children’s Museum of Philadelphia™!

NONPROFIT ORG

U.S. Postage

PAID

Phila., PA Permit No. 1743

4231 Avenue of the Republic Philadelphia, PA 19131

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT PTM? April 27 Happy Birthday Ludwig Bemelman! Special story time and meet and greet with Bemelman’s character Madeline at 12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

May 7 Target First Wednesday 4:00 – 7:00 p.m.

May 11 PTM’s Annual Mother’s Day Brunch, Member’s Only 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. (Registration Required)

June 10 Happy Birthday Maurice Sendak! Special story time and meet and greet with Sendak’s beloved Wild Thing at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

May 14 PTM 5th Birthday Party 7:00 p.m. – Midnight (Tickets on Sale Now)

June 14 “From The Sea to the Sky” opens at Please Touch Museum with performances at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.

JUNE

MAY

APRIL

April 28 “Scat Cat’s Junior Jazz Jamboree” opens at Please Touch Museum with performances at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m.

June 4 Target First Wednesday 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.

June 25 Happy Birthday Eric Carle! Special story time and meet and greet with Carle’s classic insect the Very Hungry Caterpillar at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

PLEASE TOUCH PLAYHOUSE PRESENTS Please Touch Museum presents President Ulysses S. Grant and the Great Centennial Banana Mystery! In this soon to be classic, the President of the United States, and famous general of the Civil War, leads the audience through a highly interactive romp of truly Centennial proportions as he strives to solve this slippery mystery.

4231 Avenue of the Republic, Philadelphia, PA 19131 215.581.3181. pleasetouchmuseum.org