SPARK!

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spark logoSTEAM Play Achieves Real Knowledge

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math)

Discovery Center’s SPARK! program is for children ages 1-6 and their caregivers to enjoy hands-on exploratory STEAM learning and play. Enjoy music and motion, stories, guided activities and more with Discovery Center staff!

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Spooky Science

Monday, Oct. 25  |  9:00 am

It’s the spookiest time of the year at the Discovery Center! Come release your inner monster with Halloween themed science experiments and art activities. Come move, play, and create with us!

Even Superheroes Have Bad Days

Monday, Nov. 8  |  9:00 am

Saving the day isn’t always easy, even for superheroes. Suit up as we read Even Superheroes Have Bad Days by Shelly Becker and discover the choices superheroes can make when they’re having a bad day. Come move, play, and create with us!

Turkey Talk

Monday, Nov. 22  |  9:00 am

Come learn about camouflage as we help a turkey avoid becoming the main course for the farmers’ family feast. Follow along while he runs from hiding place to hiding place as we read Run, Turkey, Run! by Diane Mayr. Come move, play, and create with us!

Snowball Fight

Monday, Dec. 6  |  9:00 am

Bundle up for our final lesson of the fall as we learn how snow is formed and investigate why it is so unique. Don’t forget to duck and cover from any flying snowballs as we read Snowball Fight by Jimmy Fallon! Come move, play, and create with us!

Details & Cost

  • Check-in & free play between 8:30 – 8:50 am
  • Class runs from 9:00 – 10:30 am
  • $4 per child ages 1+, Free for adults
  • Included for free with SPARK! Card benefits
  • Registering online in advance is strongly encouraged, as spaces are limited.

Arrival & Logistics

  • Check-in at the front desk between 8:30-8:55 am.
  • Play and explore the first floor of the museum before class begins, between 8:30-9:00 am.
  • Please arrive no later than 9:00 am, as our front doors will be locked for the duration of the program.
  • The museum will be closed following the conclusion of the program at 10:30 am.
  • Requirements for entering the building: Masks for ages 4+ are required.
  • Register in advance to secure your spot and save time. Walk-ups are accepted first-come, first-served as capacity allows.

 

 

  • spark! Blog

    Each week at SPARK, what a joy it is to say good morning to you and your children and to witness the Adventure Room buzzing with excitement. While music plays, exploratory learning abounds as children engineer towers with blocks or create innovative structures with Tinkertoys and construct math patterns with pegs, lacing beads beads, or pom poms. Developing language is advanced as children peruse a thematic book, write on white boards or thread lacing letters.  Our weekly STEAM themes in circle time are extended with the children’s examination of life science trays or their work watering and charting the growth of the pea plant sprouts that they have planted. Journaling in Creation Station provides enhancement of kindergarten readiness skills and a great opportunity for you and your child to review the STEAM themes we explored, both while you create a page for the journal and when you take time in the future to review the journal pages you created together.
    We love seeing many of you week after week, but we also have new families join us all the time, and it is wonderful to report that over 85 children have experienced the educational benefits and fun of music & motion, yoga stretch, STEAM discovery and related thematic literature and crafts. Upcoming themes will continue the indoor play and learning but will also bring outdoor and life science adventures on the patio and in our lilypad pond and wetlands (weather permitting) including:

    May 11 & 12– May Flowers: Late Spring Garden Day

    May 18 & 19– Life Cycles in our Lily Pad Pond

    May 25 & 26– Turtle Talk

    June 1 & 2– Water, Water Everywhere!
    Spring programs will continue each Monday and Tuesday morning through June 2nd, and then watch for Summer SPARK! backpack checkout from June 8-August 14 for materials and inspiration for your child to increase his or her hands-on interaction and learning opportunities with our exhibits and wildlife inside and out at the Discovery Center!
    SPARK! Family Resources
    To learn more about the benefits of STEM in Early Childhood Education and of hands on science learning in nature:
     
    For inspiration and more information on the benefits of learning and play in the garden:
    We Need Your Help
    Vote each day until May 13th for Discovery Center at Murfree Spring!
    Help us win an Imagination Playground set!

    Image result for imagination Playground photo

    For more information and to vote, go to:

    http://www.imaginationplayground.com/vote-for-an-imagination-playground.html

    Click on or paste the link above and vote once a day until May 13th, and you can help the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring win these valuable engineering tools. My children and I have played with a set of these blocks at a Science Center in Alabama and we loved them! What a resource for learning and fun these would be at the Discovery Center!
    As always, please feel free to speak to me before or after SPARK! or email me anytime to discuss our program or your child’s needs. The staff of the Discovery Center and Ms. Micki and I value our ability to work with you and your family to help SPARK! curiosity and to provide a wonderful foundation for your child’s learning!
    We hope to see you soon in the SPARK circle!
    Yours,
    Meredith Hilleary
    “Ms. Meredith”
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  • SPARK!

    May 17 | 8:30 – 10:15 am

    Things are heating up at the Discovery Center for our final SPARK! session this spring, and it’s bringing in the dragons!

    Learn more.

    Continue reading →