Summer Family Fun Fridays!

 Begin your visit by setting out your blankets or chairs on a spot on the lawn to enjoy interactive family entertainment on the Outdoor Concert Stage. These hour-long performances have something to please everyone in the family, including puppet shows, dancing, comedy, storytelling, music, and in most cases, a mix of everything! After the performance, head over to the Hosta Garden by the Windmill to complete a craft or garden project. These hands-on projects allow your family to bring something special home to remember your visit to Heritage. Don’t forget to pick up a Family Treasure Hunt Passport at the Ticket Office, where you will be guided to a different museum ‘treasure’ each Friday, and after discovering this treasure, receive a stamp in your passport. Collect stamps each week and have a chance to win fabulous prizes! Summer Family Fun Fridays are FREE with museum admission and registration is not required.

 

Be sure to come on July 11 for a special kick-off celebration! From Noon – 5 pm we will feature a giant moon-bounce to jump on, face painting, giant games and toys for the whole family to play, and a few surprises! This event is in addition to all of the activities listed below for July 11, and is also free with museum admission.

 

Grumbling Gryphon’s Theater is the winner of the 2003 Connecticut Commission on the Arts Governor’s Arts Award, the highest award for the arts in Connecticut. Grumbling Gryphons have adapted the ancient Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter into a highly imaginative and entertaining show for children, with audience participation as an essential part. The story includes characters such as the Goddess Demeter, the singing Polyhymnia, the comical role of Mercury, Messenger of The Gods and Tragedy, Persephone, Comedy, Apollo-the Sun god and Arethusa-the water nymph. This original production is specifically designed to involve children and their families to be actively involved as the story unfolds. Goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone lead the children in a seed growing song, where they become fruit and corn, They act as a Greek Chorus, dance as rainbows and singing sunbeams with Apollo the Sun God. They become creatures of Hades, the Underworld, guarded by Cerberus- the Three-Headed Dog. The children delight and learn from becoming part of the production. The Grumbling Gryphons are well known for their fantastic traditional Greek masks and captivating costumes and scenery, and for their joyful and innovative interaction with children. This is their only show on Cape Cod, so be sure you are there to see this fantasy come to life! After the production, families can create their own Greek masks to take home and go searching in the Folk Art gallery for the secret passport stamp!

 

The Wayne from Maine show is an interactive musical experience for the young and young at heart. Wayne along with his percussionist Jimmy James the KoongaBoonga Man invite volunteers to the stage to play various percussive instruments or sing into a wireless microphone. Wayne has been performing and recording children’s music for over a decade and has traveled up and down the east coast delighting audiences with his very own brand of “edu-tainment.” Don’t miss local favorite, “Moose in Moos-A-Choosetts” and other family favorites! After the show, make an unique bird feeder to take home, and maybe you’ll see a chickadee, Maine’s state bird. Then find a special bird watching station on the grounds and use binoculars and a field guide to identify various birds on the property, and be sure to get your passport stamp here!

Become a pirate in Toe Jam’s newest show! Dan ce piratey jigs with the Toe Jam crew like, “The Skull & Crossbones Square Dance,” and a line dance called “Pirates Arrr Funky,” where the kids become dancing lobsters and seagulls and even dancing sharks! Come in all your pirate gear and climb aboard and we’ll have a piratey celebration! Once the show is over, create your own pirate jeweled treasure and visit the stamping station in the pirate exhibit before breaking out of the pirate jail.

 

 

Greg uses fun and heart-warming songs, stories, and demonstrations that encourage young people to respect the earth and each other. What goes up, must come down. What is thrown on the ground affects us all around. It all flows down through the River, down to the Bay, and out to the Great Blue Ocean, where it rises up again. If we learn to take care of our earth, our children might still be able to enjo y it in the future. Greg uses songs and stories that will get the audience up and involved, making the ground shake with laughter and  fun! Then head over to the garden and plant your own avocado to take home and watch grow. Finally, venture over to the Lost Gardens of New England exhibit and discover the passport stamping station!

 

 

For almost 10 years, Ben Rudnick and Friends have been playing family friendly music featuring instantly hum-able, original songs and fun spins on well known traditional material. Boasting a high level of adventurous musicianship, their award winning recordings contain a unique acoustic sound ranging from light folk to bluegrass, calypso, and rock. Drawing on the original songs and traditional material from their recordings, Ben Rudnick and Friends seamlessly integrate classic songs such as “Route 66,” “Oh Boy!,” “Jambalaya/Hey Good Looking,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and Beatles’ tunes into their sets. Ben Rudnick and Friends will get you singing, young and old alike! After the show, be as cool as the band when you make your own rockin’ sunglasses and visit the Corvette on Route 66 to find the passport stamp!

 

Wendy Whitten “The Singing Scientist” and Flumpa the giant tree frog present a professional, one-of-a-kind high energy musical science stage show, complete with upbeat music, non-stop audience action and unbelievable energy, with each show rich in science content and most of all fun! Families can learn about Flumpa’s world in the rainforest and learn fun facts as they dance and sing along. After the show, each child can meet Flumpa in person and pose for a photo! Don’t miss this nationally touring group that over 3 million people have been raving about for close to 15 years! Then head over to the garden to use colorful flowers from the grounds and a special vase to create your own unique flower arrangement to take home. Finally, get lost in the Maze as you search for the ‘croaking’ passport stamping station!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please contact Kristen Hoeker, Manager of Family and Community Programs, at 508-888-3300, ext. 159 or khoeker@heritagemuseums.org for more information.