Family Fun Friday Nights

Fairy Tale Festivities and

Creative Costumes Engage Visitors

Family Fun Friday Nights at DuPage Children's Museum (DCM) are designed to give busy families the opportunity to take advantage of extended hours on Fridays during the school year. The Museum is open until 8:00 p.m. and visitors can enjoy a full Museum experience with the whole family, including a special activity or performance on most Friday nights.

Last Friday DCM celebrated the season with the annual Fairy Tale Fest! Knights, princesses, superheroes, and fairies all participated in specially designed active-learning experiences while playing in DCM exhibits.

The Creativity Studio became adorned with all the details of a Renaissance kingdom. Crowns, cuffs, hats, a tower, a castle, a throne, and even a moat with a drawbridge--all were created by DCM guests! 

Throughout the Museum, storytelling, puppet shows, and mysterious treats and potions rounded out a magical event.

Congratulations to the Fairy Tale Fest                                     

Creative Costume winners:  

Don't miss this exciting annual event. Make your plans now to attend Fairy Tale Fest 2015!

Hedda Sharapan Visits Our Neighborhood

DuPage Children’s Museum offers a presentation Just for Grown-Ups!

          October 26, 2014 from 3:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. at                 DuPage Children's Museum

Hedda Sharapan visited DuPage Children's Museum (DCM) in 2012 to share her wisdom on S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) as well as the value and importance of creating lasting, memorable relationships with the children in our lives.

This year Sharapan visits to share knowledge and expertise on engaging children and families in XOXO: An Exhibit about Love & Forgiveness. Her presentation will focus on developing resiliency skills in children. With warmth, humor, and humanness, Hedda Sharapan will share what she has learned about love and forgiveness—about building, maintaining, and repairing relationships (for all of us, young and old alike)—from her 48 years at The Fred Rogers Company and a master’s degree in Child Development.  Sharapan worked closely with Fred Rogers beginning in 1966. Together they wrote books for children and parents and authored professional development materials for early childhood educators. Ms.Sharapan is now the Director of Early Childhood Initiatives with the Fred Rogers Company. XOXO is DCM's newest traveling exhibit borrowed from a museum right in Sharapan's neighborhood! The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh has loaned XOXO to DCM through February 1, 2015. Don't miss this opportunity to engage the children in your lives in experiential activities all about love, forgiveness, and the emotions they feel! 

XOXO & Exploration of Emotional Intelligence

Almost 20 years ago, Daniel Goleman popularized the term Emotional Intelligence (EI). His best-selling book, Emotional Intelligence: Why it Matters More than IQ, informed readers of a theory that defines our understanding of the emotions we all feel. At the time, Goleman’s theory on EI was groundbreaking and expanded upon Howard Gardner’s work on Multiple Intelligences. There has been a great amount of thought and research developed over the years related to EI. 

As stated by Jeffery Berstein, Ph. D. and author of Liking the Child You Love, EI appears to be a key predictor of children’s ability to make suitable peer relationships, get along at home, develop a well-balanced outlook on life, and reach their academic potential at school. The term encompasses the following five characteristics and abilities:

1. Self-awareness - knowing your emotions, recognizing feelings as they occur, and discriminating between them.

2. Mood management - handling feelings so they're relevant to the current situation and you react appropriately.

3. Self-motivation - "gathering up" your feelings and directing yourself toward a goal, despite self-doubt, inertia, and impulsiveness.

4. Empathy - recognizing feelings in others and tuning into their verbal and nonverbal cues.

5. Managing relationships - handling interpersonal interaction, conflict resolution, and negotiations.

DuPage Children’s Museum (DCM) is currently hosting the exhibit XOXO, a traveling exhibit from the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. XOXO is an exhibit where families can come together in a place that fosters conversations and interactive experiences around love, forgiveness, and exploration of emotions. 

Visit DCM and foster conversations about emotions with the important children in your life! 

XOXO: An Exhibit about Love & Forgiveness visits DCM October 11, 2014 – February 1, 2015.

This article also published in Positively Naperville--a local, reader supported, monthly newspaper published in Naperville, Illinois.Positively Naperville has been supported by a great group of local businesses, organically growing four pages at a time since it was first printed issue in September 2001.

News from the Creativity Studio!

Mobiles

Did you know that artist Alexander Calder invented the mobile?  The term was coined in 1931 by

fellow artist Marcel Duchamp to describe Calder’s revolutionary sculpture, which utilized ideas of

motion. During Mobile Building week in the Creativity Studio, we took our inspiration from Calder’s unprecedented sculptures, now commonly referred to as Mobiles, and created our own!  Mobile construction allows us to explore ideas of art, design, engineering, and motion.  Children were provided with a range of papers, scissors, wire, string, and rods and were encouraged to design their own unique mobile.  Some kept their mobiles' shapes geometric while other mobiles were thematic and explored ideas such as sea creatures or types of trains.  Everyone constructed their mobiles in a unique manner, with some children using pipe cleaners and string and others sculpting wire.  Don’t forget all the threading of small holes and knot typing that this activity utilizes. We definitely strengthened our fine motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination and continued to master the skill of knot-tying! 

 Blogger Katie Fodor is a Program Developer at DuPage Children's Museum. Katie has an MA in Art History and Museum Studies from Case Western Reserve University. Katie joined DCM’s team in the summer of 2013.  

XOXO Opens at DuPage Children's Museum

Save the date. Mark your calendars. 

A special exhibit that focuses on love and forgiveness opens to the public on October 11! 

The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh shares a traveling exhibit exploring emotions. Though difficult to put emotions in concrete and visual terms, the exhibit includes interactive features that encourage children and families to understand, appreciate, and express the nature of emotions and how we feel them. Here are a few activities this exhibit offers:

• Hold hands with someone to illuminate a hidden message about love.
• Write down a loving thought and press it into a token to keep or gift.
• Work together to balance on a bubble seesaw or connect an infinite puzzle.
• Explore facial expressions and build using Face Blocks.
• Draw or write down what makes you angry or sad and crank it through a paper shredder.
• Hug a soft sculpture that responds with a comforting sound.

Don't miss the special members-only preview that takes place on October 10 and includes:

• Ribbon cutting & dedication at 6:00 p.m. by Naperville Mayor George Pradel
• Special Creativity Studio art activity
• Sweet dessert treats donated by DeEtta’s Bakery

XOXO: Love & Forgiveness at DuPage Children's Museum 

October 11, 2014 - February 1, 2015.