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Families

Each week Thanksgiving Point hosts educational and fun activities for families of all ages and abilities! Our Family Programs include Tales for Tots, Melody Makers, and Dirt on Dinos, just to name a few. 

The programs are always adapting and changing throughout the year so check back often for updates. They are also led by our trained educational team to ensure each person at the activity has a great time learning and playing together as family and friends. Click each drop-down menu below to learn more about these one-of-a-kind educational opportunities at Thanksgiving Point and to see dates, locations, and times for each one. See you soon!

All activities are FREE for Thanksgiving Point Members, as they are included with venue admissions.

 

11 – 11:20 am

Mondays: Museum of Ancient Life

Wednesdays: Farm Country

Fridays: Butterfly Biosphere

Saturdays: Ashton Gardens

Join us for our weekly storytelling adventure, Tales for Tots, held each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11 am. Staff will engage guests with interactive storytelling as well as movement and/or music activities that connect to the story theme of the day. Watch for special Saturday Tales for Tots during Dinosaur Island!

Included with regular venue admission

 

Upcoming Schedule

July 20 | Farm Country | The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith
Children will be in fits of laughter with this perfect read-aloud tale of an endearing donkey. By the book’s final page, readers end up with a spunky, hanky-panky, cranky, stinky, dinky, lanky, honky-tonky, winky wonky donkey!

July 22 | Butterfly Biosphere | Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg
The larger-than-life story of a true American hero—John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed!

July 23 | Ashton Gardens | The Dinosaur Who Lived in My Backyard by B. G. Hennessy
Mazie is ready to celebrate liberty. She is ready to celebrate freedom. She is ready to celebrate a great day in American history. The day her ancestors were no longer slaves.

July 25 | Museum of Ancient Life | Perfect Square by Michael Hall
Michael Hall illustrates how a happy square transforms itself after facing one challenge after another. Cut into pieces and poked full of holes? Time to become a burbling fountain! Torn into scraps? Grow into a garden! Day after day, the square reinvents itself.

July 27 | Farm Country | Who Took the Farmers Hat? by Joan L. Nodset
The Farmer LOVES his hat, but one day the wind came, and blew the hat away. And as fast as the farmer ran, the wind raced even faster. So the farmer went looking.

July 29 | Butterfly Biosphere | Last Stop on Market Street by Mat de la Pena
Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don’t own a car like his friend Colby.

August 1 | Museum of Ancient Life | Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones by Byron Barton
Six paleontologists search for bones. When they find them, they dig them up, wrap them, and load them on a truck, bound for the museum. 

August 3 | Farm Country | A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen 
Mr. Magee and his trusty dog, Dee, are enjoying a peaceful camping trip when along comes a lumbering, marshmallow-loving bear and the excitement begins. 

August 5 | Butterfly Biosphere | Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
When Floyd’s kite gets stuck in a tree, he’s determined to get it out. But how? Well, by knocking it down with his shoe, of course. But strangely enough, it too gets stuck. 

August 6 | Ashton Gardens | Whose Story Is This, Anyway? by Mike Flaherty 
What’s this book about? That depends on who you ask. Our humble narrator thinks he’s got a great story for you, but he barely begins before he’s interrupted…

August 8 | Museum of Ancient Life | Don’t Eat the Teacher by Nick Ward
Sammy is a shark with a bad habit–when he gets excited, he bites things. And on the first day of school, he’s very excited…   

August 10 | Farm Country | The Bad Seed by Jory John
This is a book about a bad seed. A baaaaaaaaaad seed. How bad? Do you really want to know? He has a bad temper, bad manners, and a bad attitude. He’s been bad since he can remember! 

Join us for our weekly storytelling adventure, Tales for Tots, held each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:00am. Staff will engage guests with interactive storytelling as well as movement and/or music activities that connect to the story theme of the day.

Join us for our weekly storytelling adventure, Tales for Tots, held each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:00am. Staff will engage guests with interactive storytelling as well as movement and/or music activities that connect to the story theme of the day.

August 12 | Butterfly Biosphere | Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown
Are you bored with being so proper? Do you want to have more fun? Mr. Tiger knows exactly how you feel. So, he decides to go wild. But does he go too far? 

August 13 | Ashton Gardens | How Do Dinos Play With Their Friends? By Jane Molen and Mark Teague
What if a dinosaur’s friends come to play? Does he mope, does he pout if he can’t get his way? Does he hide all his dump trucks, refusing to share? Does he throw his friends’ coloring books up in the air? 

August 15 | Museum of Ancient Life | If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don’t! by Elise Parsley
Note to self: If your teacher tells you to bring something from nature for show-and-tell, she does not want you to bring an alligator! But nothing will stop Magnolia, who’s determined to have the best show-and-tell of all–until her reptilian rapscallion starts getting her into some major trouble. 

August 17 | Farm Country | The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade by Justin Roberts and Christian Robinson
One day, Sally has had enough and decides to make herself heard. And when she takes a chance and stands up to the bullies, she finds that one small girl can make a big difference.

August 19 | Butterfly Biosphere | Bob & Otto by Robert O. Bruel and Nick Bruel 
Bob and Otto do best-friend kinds of things together–eating leaves, digging, playing–until the day Bob decides to climb a tree, simply because . . . he has to. When the two meet again, Otto is still the same dirt-loving earthworm, but Bob has done the unthinkable: grown wings. 

August 20 | Ashton Gardens | Colorasaurus by Megan E. Bryant and Luciana Navarro Powell
What if a dinosaur’s friends come to play? Does he mope, does he pout if he can’t get his way? Does he hide all his dump trucks, refusing to share? Does he throw his friends’ coloring books up in the air? 

August 22 | Museum of Ancient Life |We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
It’s the first day of school for Penelope Rex, and she can’t wait to meet her classmates. But it’s hard to make human friends when they’re so darn delicious! That is, until Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine and finds she may not be at the top of the food chain after all…

August 24 | Farm Country | Animals Don’t, So I Won’t by David G. Derrick Jr.
Ben loved pretending he was an animal. But when his mom said, “clean up for dinner,” Ben claimed, “Animals don’t, so I won’t.” However, he didn’t expect two could play the same game! 

August 26 | Butterfly Biosphere | Monsters Love School by Mike Austin
Summer is over, and now it’s time for the biggest adventure of all…Monster School! Join these colorful monsters as they go to school for the first time. Reading and writing and learning your monster history has never been so much fun!

August 27 | Ashton Gardens | Can I Have a Stegosaurus Mom? by Lois G. Grambling and H. B. Lewis
A child describes all the possible advantages of having a Stegosaurus for a pet.

August 29 | Museum of Ancient Life | Tyrannosaurus Rex vs Edna the Very First Chicken by Douglas Rees and Jed Henry 
Tyrannosaurus Rex wants breakfast. He stomps and he roars and he gnashes his teeth―and he scares all the other dinosaurs right out of the forest. Only Edna, the very first chicken, is unafraid. She won’t let that bully T. rex push her around!

August 31 | Farm Country | Green is a Chile Pepper by Roseanne Greenfield Thong and John Parra 
In this lively picture book that Booklist described as “a cheerful color-concept book that presents a slice of Latino culture through food and fun,” children discover a world of colors all around them: red is spices and swirling skirts, yellow is masa, tortillas, and sweet corn cake.