art museum

On Saturday I took J for a "Mom and Me" day to the Springfield Museums. We wandered about the Science Museum a bit with some homeschooling friends we met there, and then we all attended a Planetarium Show about the beginnings of life on Earth, and the possibility of life on other planets. But the really cool part of the day was checking out another museum on the same grounds -- the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum. J really enjoyed exploring the Hall of Sculptures, which had quite a few reproductions of famous works of art.

The best part of this museum is the Art Discovery Hall. This brightly painted hallway is filled with activity stations exploring Eastern art activities. We spent the bulk of our time at the museum there, and we are sure to return with Zoo Boy as well, as I'm sure he'd love to spend some time in there, too.

J works on an origami project, making a crane. They had step-by-step directions, but it was VERY complicated, and he needed quite a bit of help from me. In the end, our crane looked a lot like a lame duck....

He also discovered a scavenger hunt based on this exhibit, the Wall of Symbols. They also offered prizes (small folding fans) for kids that complete the scavenger hunt, but he wasn't even interested in a prize, he just loves doing scavenger hunts, and had no problem filling out his entire sheet, with an occassional bit of help from me.

J searches the hall for items from the scavenger hunt. Meanwhile, I read up on the Chinese Zodiac, and discovered that J was born in the Year of the Dragon, and Zoo Boy was born in the Year of the Goat (Ram, Sheep, there seems to be some confusion about exactly which animal it is!!).

While J and I were exploring museums, Zoo Boy and The Map Man had their own adventures. Next Saturday, we'll swap, and Zoo Boy and I will have our own special adventure while J hangs with The Man. While we hate to miss out on family time all together, we're finding it's beneficial for the boys to have some time with each of us on their own, and some time on their own in general.