Join us for our hands-on storytelling adventures, Tales for Tots, held each Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 11 am. Staff will engage guest with interactive storytelling followed by process-driven and play-based art, literacy, and/or science activities that connect to the story theme of the day.
Monday - Museum of Ancient Life
Wednesday - Farm Country
Friday - January - February - Museum of Natural Curiosity
March - May - Butterfly Biosphere
June - September - Ashton Gardens
October - December - Butterfly Biosphere
Upcoming Schedule:
Museum of Ancient Life
September 23 | Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Christine Baldacchino
This week is National Banned Books Week, which celebrates the freedom to read. Banned Books Week brings together the book community in support of the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those considered unorthodox or unpopular.
Today we’ll read Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress: Morris is a little boy who loves using his imagination. But most of all, Morris loves wearing the tangerine dress in his classroom’s dress-up center. The children in Morris’s class don’t understand. Dresses, they say, are for girls. And Morris certainly isn’t welcome in the spaceship some of his classmates are building. Astronauts, they say, don’t wear dresses.
September 30 | Tea Rex by Molly Idle
Some tea parties are for grown-ups. Some are for girls. But this tea party is for a very special guest. And it is important to follow some rules. But sometimes that is not enough for special guests, especially when their manners are more Cretaceous than gracious...
October 7 | The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone
Its Sammy’s First day of school and he’s very excited. But when Sammy gets excited, he bites things.
October 14 | Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
The witch and her cat are happily flying through the sky on a broomstick when the wind picks up and blows away the witch's hat, then her bow, and then her wand! Luckily, three helpful animals find the missing items.
October 21 | Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo Peter’s looking for the perfect pumpkin. Come join the search and see what he does when he finds a pumpkin that’s just right!
October 28 | Dinosaurs Halloween by Liza Donnelly
An Encounter with a fellow trick-or-treater whose dinosaur costume is remarkably realistic gives a boy a Halloween full of surprises.
Farm Country
September 25 | Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola
This week is National Banned Books Week, which celebrates the freedom to read. Banned books week brings together the book community in support of the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those considered unorthodox or unpopular.
Today we’ll read Strega Nona: Strega Nona’s magical ever-full pasta pot is intriguing to hungry Big Anthony. He is supposed to look after her house and tend her garden, but one day, when she goes over the mountain to visit Strega Amelia, Big Anthony recites the magic verse over the pasta pot, with disastrous results.
October 2| Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
Beep! Beep! Meet Blue. A muddy country road is no match for this little pick-up truck—that is until he gets stuck.
October 9 | Monster Musical Chairs by Stuart J. Murphy
Every time the music stops, one more monster is OUT! Kids won't be able to sit still for this musical introduction to subtraction at its simplest.
October 16 | The Runway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis
Buck and Billy try to roll the pumpkin down a hill to show everyone, but the pumpkin is to big!
October 23 | Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman
The witch has grown the biggest pumpkin ever, and now she wants to make herself a pumpkin pie for Halloween. But the pumpkin is so big she can't get it off the vine.
October 30 | There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! by Lucille Colandro
What won't this old lady swallow? This time around, a bat, an owl, a cat, a ghost, a goblin, some bones, and a wizard are all on the menu!
Ashton Gardens
From September 20 to October 18 Tales for Tots will be exploring different areas within the Ashton Gardens. Please see the locations below and make sure to account for the time it will take you to walk to each location. Front desk staff and signage will guide you. After Tales for Tots, enjoy a fun and hands-on experience for the whole family in the Learning Garden at 11:45am on Fridays from September 20 to October 18.
September 20 | Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak
Garden Location: Creek Garden
Join a young girl as she takes a walk through forest and town, greeting all the signs of the coming season.
September 27 | The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Garden Location: Secret Garden
This week is National Banned Books Week, which celebrates the freedom to read. Banned books week brings together the book community in support of the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those considered unorthodox or unpopular.
Today we’ll read The Giving Tree: Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk ... and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave.
October 4 | The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
While out exploring one day, Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it.
October 11 | It’s Fall by Linda Glaser
A child experiences the colors and textures of fall. Includes nature activities to do during the season.
October 18 | The Little Old Lady was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda D. Williams
Once upon a time, there was a little old lady who was not afraid of anything until one night. And the little old lady who was not afraid of anything had the scare of her life.
Butterfly Biosphere
October 25 | Little Boo by Stephen Wunderli
One little pumpkin seed tries and tries to be scary. But he doesn't scare anyone . . . The wind tells him to be patient―he'll be scary soon enough. But waiting is hard. Will the little seed ever be really, truly scary?
