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 day 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!
Tales for Tots
11-11:20 am
Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life
Join us for our weekly storytelling adventure, Tales for Tots. Staff will engage guests with interactive storytelling as well as movement and/or music activities that connect to the story theme of the day.
Included with regular venue admission
March 27 | Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems
This hilarious take on the classic “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” follows three dinosaurs as they decide to one day make three bowls of pudding and then mysteriously go somewhere else. They are definitely not setting a trap for a little girl named Goldilocks.
April 3 | Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones by Byron Barton
Follow the process of a paleontologist with all the steps that are taken between finding a fossil and displaying it in a museum.
April 10 | If the Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most
What do you think the dinosaurs would do if they came back? Would they be amazing pets? Would they act as slides for children to play on?
April 17 | Dinosaur Roar! by Henrietta Stickland
Dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes are headed to a dinosaur picnic! Explore this wonderful book of opposites as the dinos march along!
April 24 | Have You Seen My Dinosaur? by Jon Surgal
A young boy reeeaaaally wants a stegosaurus as a pet, so he sets out to explain every reason why he should be able to have one.
Butterfly Release
11 am and 5 pm
$4 per person, $3 for Thanksgiving Point members
Help one of our newly-emerged butterflies spread their wings with this immersive experience! Join our entomologists in releasing young butterflies into the conservatory and help a butterfly celebrate its first flight! Guests must purchase Butterfly Releases in-person at the Butterfly Biosphere Front Desk.
Reptile Report
11:45 am and 2:30 pm
Meet and learn about some amazing reptilian creatures at the Reptile Report! Whether you know it all about the reptiles or you’re just learning about them for the first time, this program has something for everyone.
Included with regular venue admission
Critter Encounter
Noon and 6 pm
Go beyond the glass with this hands-on opportunity! Check out the Critter Corner during your trip around the museum for a chance to hold a friendly bug. These regularly timed shows allow you to learn about bugs and the important role they play in the environment!
Included with regular venue admission.
Itsy Bitsy Science
3 pm
Come explore with us at Itsy Bitsy Science! Together we will investigate the workings of the natural world with young guests and their families. This program is all about encouraging littles to engage in beginning science practices through facilitated play.
Included with regular venue admission.
Close-Up Science
6:15 pm
Come see the wonders of science at the Museum of Natural Curiosity! This program showcases a large range of science activities and concepts. Want to know more about Elephants? Make art with household salt? Watch a colorful and exciting reaction? Then come join us!
Included with regular venue admission.
Melody Makers
11-11:20 am
Join us for our popular Melody Makers program. Led by our Learning and Engagement staff, Melody Makers is the perfect opportunity for little kids and their adults to dance and move in a fun and friendly environment. Come see what each unique staff member has to offer with a variety of engaging songs and themes each week.
Included with regular venue admission.
FEATURED SONG FOR MARCH:
“Spring Song”
Join us this month as we celebrate the beginning of Spring and the beauty of flowers beginning to bloom.
FEATURED SONG FOR April:
“April Showers”
Join us this month as we enjoy the beauty of rain, flowers, and everything else that comes along with Spring!
Butterfly Release
11 am and 5 pm
$4 per person, $3 for Thanksgiving Point members
Help one of our newly-emerged butterflies spread their wings with this immersive experience! Join our entomologists in releasing young butterflies into the conservatory and help a butterfly celebrate its first flight! Guests must purchase Butterfly Releases in-person at the Butterfly Biosphere Front Desk.
Critter Encounter
Noon, 3pm and 6 pm
Go beyond the glass with this hands-on opportunity! Check out the Critter Corner during your trip around the museum for a chance to hold a friendly bug. These regularly timed shows allow you to learn about bugs and the important role they play in the environment!
Included with regular venue admission.
Close-Up Science
2:30 pm and 6:15 pm
Come see the wonders of science at the Museum of Natural Curiosity! This program showcases a large range of science activities and concepts. Want to know more about Elephants? Make art with household salt? Watch a colorful and exciting reaction? Then come join us!
Included with regular venue admission.
Dirt on Dinos
10 am – Noon
Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life
Join us for The Dirt on Dinos program at the Museum of Ancient Life every Wednesday. Our program will have interesting specimens, fossils and cast material, on display for up-close observation. Friendly staff will help answer questions and guide guests in educational conversation and activity. Bring your best questions and imagination! Come learn about the science happening every day here at Thanksgiving Point!
Included with regular venue admission
TALES FOR TOTS
11-11:20 am
Join us for our weekly storytelling adventure, Tales for Tots. Staff will engage guests with interactive storytelling as well as movement and/or music activities that connect to the story theme of the day.
Included with regular venue admission
March 29 | Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert
Butterflies are beautiful creatures. But where do they come from? How do they grow? What do they eat?
April 5 | One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J Pinczes
One hundred very hungry ants march in a single file line to a picnic to get something to eat. But this line is moving too slowly for how hungry they are. Maybe they could split into two lines of fifty? Or four rows of twenty-five?
April 12 | The Crunching Munching Caterpillar by Sheridan Cain
Caterpillar really wants to fly like his friends bumblebee and sparrow, but he doesn’t have any wings. He spends his days dreaming about wings and crunching on blackberry bushes.
April 19 | Bugs for Lunch by Margery Facklam
Explore the wonderful world of things that eat bugs. From preying mantids, to spiders, to bears, and even humans!
April 26 | Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett
Sam and Dave are on an adventure to find something amazing, so they dig a hole. But as the dig and dig, they find nothing. As they think about it though, they realize that maybe they found something pretty amazing that day after all.
BUTTERFLY RELEASE
11 am and 5 pm
$4 per person, $3 for Thanksgiving Point members
Help one of our newly-emerged butterflies spread their wings with this immersive experience! Join our entomologists in releasing young butterflies into the conservatory and help a butterfly celebrate its first flight! Guests must purchase Butterfly Releases in-person at the Butterfly Biosphere Front Desk.
CLOSE-UP SCIENCE
11:45 am and 6:15 pm
Come see the wonders of science at the Museum of Natural Curiosity! This program showcases a large range of science activities and concepts. Want to know more about Elephants? Make art with household salt? Watch a colorful and exciting reaction? Then come join us!
Included with regular venue admission.
CRITTER ENCOUNTER
Noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm
Go beyond the glass with this hands-on opportunity! Check out the Critter Corner during your trip around the museum for a chance to hold a friendly bug. These regularly timed shows allow you to learn about bugs and the important role they play in the environment!
Included with regular venue admission.
bubbles and bites
1 pm
Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life
Fish Food for Thought: The Alligator Gar is sometimes referred to as a “living fossil” because scientists can trace them in the fossil record back 100 million years! Join our Museum of Ancient Life staff on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 1pm to watch these agile predators hunt for their lunch!
Included with regular venue admission
ITSY BITSY SCIENCE
3 pm
Come explore with us at Itsy Bitsy Science! Together we will investigate the workings of the natural world with young guests and their families. This program is all about encouraging littles to engage in beginning science practices through facilitated play.
Included with regular venue admission.
Melody Makers
11-11:20 am
Join us for our popular Melody Makers program. Led by our Learning and Engagement staff, Melody Makers is the perfect opportunity for little kids and their adults to dance and move in a fun and friendly environment. Come see what each unique staff member has to offer with a variety of engaging songs and themes each week.
Included with regular venue admission.
FEATURED SONG FOR MARCH:
“Spring Song”
Join us this month as we celebrate the beginning of Spring and the beauty of flowers beginning to bloom.
FEATURED SONG FOR April:
“April Showers”
Join us this month as we enjoy the beauty of rain, flowers, and everything else that comes along with Spring!
BUTTERFLY RELEASE
11 am and 5 pm
$4 per person, $3 for Thanksgiving Point members
Help one of our newly-emerged butterflies spread their wings with this immersive experience! Join our entomologists in releasing young butterflies into the conservatory and help a butterfly celebrate its first flight! Guests must purchase Butterfly Releases in-person at the Butterfly Biosphere Front Desk.
CLOSE-UP SCIENCE
11:45 am and 6:15 pm
Come see the wonders of science at the Museum of Natural Curiosity! This program showcases a large range of science activities and concepts. Want to know more about Elephants? Make art with household salt? Watch a colorful and exciting reaction? Then come join us!
Included with regular venue admission.
CRITTER ENCOUNTER
Noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm
Go beyond the glass with this hands-on opportunity! Check out the Critter Corner during your trip around the museum for a chance to hold a friendly bug. These regularly timed shows allow you to learn about bugs and the important role they play in the environment!
Included with regular venue admission.
Mermaid Tales
2 pm
Come join our wonderful friend Ocean Angel as she recounts the tales of her adventures under the sea! Since she can’t be out of the water too long, it only happens once a week!
Included with regular venue admission.
TALES FOR TOTS
11-11:20 am
Join us for our weekly storytelling adventure, Tales for Tots. Staff will engage guests with interactive storytelling as well as movement and/or music activities that connect to the story theme of the day.
Included with regular venue admission
March 24 | Alien Tomato by Kristen Schroeder
When a red orb flies through the sky and lands in the garden one day, the vegetables have no idea what it could be. They decide that it must be an alien tomato, but gopher isn’t so sure. He thinks it is just a ball.
March 31 | Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham
Zebra just wants to put on a show of the simple ABCs. A is for apple, B is for ball, and so on. But when Moose does not get chosen to represent the letter M, he has a new idea for the ABCs show.
April 7 | What Will Hatch? by Jennifer Ward
What will hatch from each of these unique eggs? Maybe a squiggly tadpole, fluffy chick, or slimy snake!
April 14 | Yoga Bunny by Brian Russo
Bunny is spending the afternoon practicing his yoga poses. He tries to get his friends to join him, but they are too tired or busy. Will you join him for some relaxing yoga?
April 21 | Driving My Tractor by Jan Dobbins
Come along as the farmer picks up a variety of animals on his tractor. What chaos will ensue when his tractor gets stuck on a rock?
April 28 | I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child
Lola is a very picky eater, but her brother Charlie is very creative when it comes to getting her to eat new foods. For example, Lola will not eat mashed potatoes until Charlie teaches her that they are cloud fluff from Mount Fuji. But there is one food Lola is sure she hates, tomatoes.
BUTTERFLY RELEASE
11 am and 5 pm
$4 per person, $3 for Thanksgiving Point members
Help one of our newly-emerged butterflies spread their wings with this immersive experience! Join our entomologists in releasing young butterflies into the conservatory and help a butterfly celebrate its first flight! Guests must purchase Butterfly Releases in-person at the Butterfly Biosphere Front Desk.
CLOSE-UP SCIENCE
11:45 am
Come see the wonders of science at the Museum of Natural Curiosity! This program showcases a large range of science activities and concepts. Want to know more about Elephants? Make art with household salt? Watch a colorful and exciting reaction? Then come join us!
Included with regular venue admission.
CRITTER ENCOUNTER
Noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm
Go beyond the glass with this hands-on opportunity! Check out the Critter Corner during your trip around the museum for a chance to hold a friendly bug. These regularly timed shows allow you to learn about bugs and the important role they play in the environment!
Included with regular venue admission.
Reptile Report
2:30 pm and 6:15 pm
Meet and learn about some amazing reptilian creatures at the Reptile Report! Whether you know it all about the reptiles or you’re just learning about them for the first time, this program has something for everyone.
Included with regular venue admission
TALES FOR TOTS
11-11:20 am
Join us for our weekly storytelling adventure, Tales for Tots. Staff will engage guests with interactive storytelling as well as movement and/or music activities that connect to the story theme of the day.
Included with regular venue admission
March 25 | Flight School by Lita Judge
Little Penguin is determined to fly! Although his wings weren’t built to soar, he is going to find a way.
April 1 | How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers
Oliver loves the stars so much that he wants to catch one to keep for himself. But he can never get close enough to them, not even when reaching from the top of the tallest tree.
April 8 | The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone
Grover is terrified when he finds out that there is a monster at the end of this book! He begs us not to turn the pages, but we are all so curious to see what the monster looks like.
April 15 | Mary had a Little Lab by Sue Fliess
Mary is a brilliant inventor, but she does not have any friends. So, she decides to make one! A sheep!
April 22 | The Word Collector by Peter H Reynolds
People collect all sorts of things, but Jerome’s favorite thing to collect is words. He loves short words, long words, hyphenated words, and everything in between. But most of all, Jerome loves that words have power.
April 29 | Hooray for Birds! by Lucy Cousins
Explore the world of birds of all kinds! From a rooster to a peacock, a flamingo, and an owl.
BUTTERFLY RELEASE
11 am
$4 per person, $3 for Thanksgiving Point members
Help one of our newly-emerged butterflies spread their wings with this immersive experience! Join our entomologists in releasing young butterflies into the conservatory and help a butterfly celebrate its first flight! Guests must purchase Butterfly Releases in-person at the Butterfly Biosphere Front Desk.
CRITTER ENCOUNTER
Noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm
Go beyond the glass with this hands-on opportunity! Check out the Critter Corner during your trip around the museum for a chance to hold a friendly bug. These regularly timed shows allow you to learn about bugs and the important role they play in the environment!
Included with regular venue admission.
bubbles and bites
1 pm
Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life
Fish Food for Thought: The Alligator Gar is sometimes referred to as a “living fossil” because scientists can trace them in the fossil record back 100 million years! Join our Museum of Ancient Life staff on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 1pm to watch these agile predators hunt for their lunch!
Included with regular venue admission
CLOSE-UP SCIENCE
2:30 pm and 6:15 pm
Come see the wonders of science at the Museum of Natural Curiosity! This program showcases a large range of science activities and concepts. Want to know more about Elephants? Make art with household salt? Watch a colorful and exciting reaction? Then come join us!
Included with regular venue admission.