April & May 2006

Contents:

Letter From Lindy

Chimps at Play

Grandparents Help "Building on the Best"

Omaha's Biggest Baby Shower

Welcome Fund Giving Everyone a Childhood

You're Invited to the Giving Grandparents
Kickoff Luncheon

Jungle Boogie

Choose Your Own Adventure Summer Camps

April and May Sponsors of the Month

Letter From Lindy

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
– Margaret Mead

I want to thank you as a museum member for the many ways you change Omaha Children's Museum each and every day. It is our goal to serve your family by creating the very best in interactive learning experiences. Your visits to the museum, feedback on how we are doing and word of mouth endorsement help to secure our place within this community.

As you know, Omaha Children's Museum is beginning an ambitious exhibit renovation this year, with construction starting as you read this issue of Fun Times. I invite you to visit often during the year ahead to see our progress and be the first to experience the new museum exhibits as they open.

For the past three years, a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens have worked to create the ultimate museum experience for our members and visitors. Now is the time for you, our most valued member, to join them in the "Building on the Best" Campaign. By purchasing a wristband to give to neighbors and friends, planning to attend the Giving Grandparent Luncheon featuring Mary Catherine Bateson (daughter of Margaret Mead) on April 6, or pledging your support to the campaign, you join the small, yet mighty, group which will change Omaha Children's Museum.

Thanks for being a part of our museum team. May the work of a few bring joy and laughter to you as you remain a loyal and committed member.

Lindy J. Hoyer
Executive Director

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Chimps at Play

There's no question that people love to play. Mr. Rogers called it "the work of childhood." In fact, sometimes play trumps all other pursuits, even those as basic as food and sleep. Anyone with children who's called "dinner" or said "it's time for bed" can understand kids’ strong urge to play.
The ability and desire to play is not limited to people, though.

Prof. Eric Worch writes, "Play is one of the most distinctive features of immaturity in humans and most other mammals. Youngsters devote a great deal of time and energy to play, even though it puts them at risk . . . . The urge to play seems extraordinary."

As Dr. Jane Goodall describes, play between chimps starts up in a moment's notice. From reclining in the grass to chasing each other around a tree, it can happen at almost any time, but particularly when chimpanzees gather.

In "The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior," Goodall describes how chimpanzee play begins early on between a mother and her offspring. The mother chimp will gently tickle the infant with her fingers or with "little nibbling, nuzzling movements of her jaws."

Goodall writes, "Initially these bouts are brief, but by the time the infant is six months old and begins to respond to her with play face and laughing, the bouts become longer."

Soon the chimp is playing with others. "When two infants meet after a separation, they typically embrace, and this often leads directly to tickling and mild wrestling," writes Goodall.

As somewhat older juveniles, one approaches the other with an exaggerated "play walk." One of them will then tickle or thump the other, beginning a bout of play.

At Discovering Chimpanzees: The Remarkable World of Jane Goodall, visitors can not only see chimpanzees playing with each other but also with Goodall herself. She can be seen in early film footage tickling a chimpanzee who is obviously enjoying the fun.

"Perhaps most remarkable is the complexity of chimpanzee behavior in their natural habitat," said Christian Burk, director of marketing and public relations. "Discovering Chimpanzees provides a glimpse into that complexity through the eyes of Dr. Goodall."

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Grandparents Help "Building on the Best"

Grandparents just aren't what they used to be. As the Baby Boomers have aged, they have remained active, either by working, volunteering or being more involved in their grandchildren's lives than their parents were.

"Grandparents today don't look like our mental image of old people sitting in rocking chairs," said anthropologist and author Dr. Mary Catherine Bateson. "It's hard to get some of them to sit still long enough to find out if they have a lap."

Among those grandparents on the go are Sharon and Bill Griffin and Bob and Betsy Reed, the co-chairs of the "Giving Grandparents" campaign. The campaign kicks off with a luncheon, featuring Dr. Bateson, on April 6.

Through the prism of personal experience, Dr. Bateson will provide keen insights into our society and profound observations about the ways parents, grandparents and children interact in her talk, "The Weave of Generations."

"Giving Grandparents" is a part of the $6.6 million "Building on the Best" campaign to renovate the permanent exhibits at Omaha Children's Museum. Under the leadership of the Griffins and Reeds, the campaign will be reaching out to area grandparents who want to see a new children's museum for their grandchildren. In addition to the luncheon, the co-chairs will be sending a letter asking for support from the area's grandparents or soon-to-be grandparents.

Sharon Griffin, one of the museum's "Giving Grandparents," joins her granddaughter Hope in the Rainbow Farm. Griffin is co-hosting a luncheon to enlist other generous grandparents to help fund new musesum exhibits.

"Grandparents have a unique relationship with children," said Lindy Hoyer, executive director. "Whereas parents need to think about the urgent matters of the day, such as running the kids to soccer or dance, grandparents can take a longer view and sometimes see the big picture."

Omaha Children's Museum's big picture is a vision for interactive learning that will transform the entire first floor of the museum with new permanent exhibits. Enhancements will include a science initiative that builds on the popularity of the Super Gravitron interactive ball machine, an arts initiative that features an artist-in-residence program and an early childhood initiative with an area dedicated to the museum's youngest visitors.

The April 6 kick-off luncheon will be held at Omaha Country Club, 6900 Country Club Road, 11:30 a.m.

GRANDPARENTS AT A GLANCE

• 10% of all OCM memberships are Grandparent members.
• At 70 million and growing, grandparents now make up one-third of all American adults.
• The average age of a first-time grandparent today is 47.
• The number of children who are living with and being cared for by their grandparents has increased by 30% over the last decade. Over 6% of America's children live with their grandparents today.

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WELCOME FUND
Giving Everyone a Childhood

As members of Omaha Children's Museum, you recognize the value of the museum in the life of your family. You rely on the museum for fun, hands-on experiences in science, culture and the arts. The museum may even be the backdrop to some of your favorite memories as a parent.

Unfortunately, many children in our community are missing out on the learning and enjoyment to be found at the museum.

With your help all children in the community can visit the museum through OCM's Welcome Fund program. The Welcome Fund is a 100% donor-supported fund that provides museum memberships and visits to those who may not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy our programs and exhibits due to financial restrictions.

Through the Welcome Fund program, the museum also partners with local Title One elementary schools and community organizations to subsidize family memberships and curriculum nights at the museum, including Spring Lake Elementary, Liberty Elementary, Bancroft Elementary, Belvedere Elementary, Bloomer Elementary in Council Bluffs, Karen Western Elementary in Ralston, Jefferson Elementary, Habitat for Humanity and Educare.

Omaha Children’s Museum strives to assist all families in need. With your help the Welcome Fund program can continue to provide high-quality learning in a fun atmosphere to all those who qualify.

Help give everyone a childhood by contributing to the Welcome Fund program. Brochures are available at the museum's front desk. For more information, contact Kristen Ostenso, development associate, (402) 342-6164 ext. 420 or kostenso@ocm.org.

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YOU’RE INVITED TO THE
"GIVING GRANDPARENTS" KICKOFF LUNCHEON

"Giving Grandparents" kick-off luncheon speaker Mary Catherine Bateson is a noted cultural anthropologist and linguist, best selling author and scholar. She is also a grandmother who speaks from her personal experience and her training about the lives of grandparents and their grandchildren.

Dr. Bateson is the author of such well known books as “Peripheral Visions: Learning Along the Way,” “Composing a Life,” “With a Daughter's Eye: A Memoir of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson,” “Thinking AIDS (with Richard Goldsby),” “Willing to Learn: Passages of Personal Discovery.” Mary Catherine Bateson is a professor emerita

at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She recently completed three years as a Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Thursday, April 6, 2006
11:30 a.m.
Omaha Country Club
6900 Country Club Road

Tickets are $40 per person
To make resevations contact Kate Cavanaugh at (402) 930-2353 or kcavanaugh@ocm.org

"The human infant is born with the capacity to turn an adult into a parent."
– Mary Catherine Bateson

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"For the Kids"
Benefit 2006

Saturday, May 6, 2006
Omaha Children’s Museum
500 South 20th Street

Patron reservations: $175 ($150 tax deductible)
Guest reservations: $125 ($100 tax deductible)
Make your reservations by April 25!

Preview auction items at our on-line catalog http://ocm.maestroweb.com

Call Jill Goldstein for more information, 346-6000

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April Sponsor of the Month

Alegent Health is the largest not-for-profit and one of the most preferred healthcare systems in Nebraska and southwest Iowa. Alegent Health has its roots in more than 100 years of faith-based health care services. It is comprised of over 100 clinics, 1200 physicians, 8600 employees and 2500 volunteers. Alegent Health is a full service health care provider that cares for the body, mind and spirit of every individual that walks through our doors. Our goal is to provide a quality health care experience in a patient-centered, home-like environment. For more information log on to www.alegent.com.

May Sponsor of the Month
Since 1982, Rainbow Connectors Guild has supported Omaha Children's Museum, raising millions of dollars in that time. As an all-volunteer group of over 200 members, the guild is dedicated to the advancement and growth of the museum. Its "friend-raisers" and highly successful "For the Kids" benefit bring in new visitors and financial support every year.

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