Daytrip At The Lutz Children’s Museum – Manchester Connecticut Review
This past weekend was extremely busy! We were celebrating charming son-in-law’s graduation from Grad School for his Master’s Degree, and also my granddaughter was participating in her second dance recital. Her paternal grandparents were visiting from Vermont for both occasions.
My daughter and her husband also are in the process of buying a new house and wanted to take his parents to see it and show them the new town they’ll be living in. The Hubby and I thought we’d make it easier for them to go on the grand tour without the grandkids so they wouldn’t have to take separate cars.
Grandpa and I were in charge of entertaining the little darlings for several hours, and thought that The Lutz Children’s Museum in Manchester, Connecticut would be an exciting educational day trip to take the grandkids to see.
The Lutz Children’s Museum
The Lutz Children’s Museum has been around ever since my own girls were young, and surprisingly, we’d never been to it before!
The Lutz Children’s Museum was founded by a teacher, Hazel Lutz, to provide educational resources to families and schools. We remain committed to her vision of providing hands-on learning opportunities that prepare students for academic success.
The museum is a non-profit organization, depending on patron support and staffed by volunteers. I met with Joanna Lea Snyder, a Volunteer Coordinator who explained the layout of the museum and answered all of our questions cheerfully!
When we entered the main Lobby, the largest bear that any of us had ever seen greeted us! This one was a Kodiak Brown Bear, the world’s largest bear, from Kodiak, Alaska, and puts the black bears here in Connecticut to shame!
There are three galleries that house the exhibits as well as a Shadow Room and Museum Store.
The grandkids were able to explore their newest exhibit of a 1940’s Main Street Manchester; 19th Century Manchester Farm Life and visited some of the wild and domestic animals that are housed in their Animal Room.
The Lutz Children’s Museum is noted as being the home of “Chuckles” the groundhog. Chuckles is actually now “Molly” and has quite a reputation in the State. Many people rely on Punxsutawney Phil, but we prefer to hear what Chuckles has to say on February 2nd, Groundhog Day about the status of winter or spring in New England.
While my granddaughter age 4 and grandson, age 2 did get to see all of the museums, we didn’t get to spend as much time there as we would have liked. We had another commitment that evening and had to meet back up again with my daughter and her in-laws. Both my husband and I enjoy visiting museums and nature centers, and we could have spent several hours there watching the grandkids enjoy the pint-size exhibits!
There was a party event going on at the time, and the grandchildren enjoyed interacting with all the other kids. We actually couldn’t tear my grandson Slugger away from the trains once he figured out the buttons to make the trains run!
Education Programs offered at the Lutz include:
Science:
- Junior Zookeepers
- Footprint Mysteries
- Junior Foresters
Humanities:
- Wildlife Artists
- Murals
- Drum Circles
Requested programs back by popular demand include:
Graphic Novels, Animals of the Night, Animals of the World, Water, Water Everywhere, Endangered Species and Fur, Feathers & Scales. Additionally there are excursions and classes, which is magnificent if you homeschool the kids!
Children can enjoy having their Birthday Parties hosted in the special party room and kitchen space at the Lutz Children’s Museum, where several different themes (Art them, painting, Tie-Dye Sculpture) or Animal Theme (nocturnal animal, backyard animal, barnyard animal or reptile) are offered. Access to the museum for the entire day and choice of party activity are included as well as additives such as an add-on animal, goody bags and deluxe party option.
Family Memberships are encouraged, which entitle patrons to free admission at hundreds of museums offering reciprocity. Included are:
- Four LCM Guest Passes
- Priority Class Registration
- Six Annual Newsletters
Discounts on Events, classes, concerts, trips, parties, and gift shop.
There’s also a Grandparent reciprocal membership!
Lutz Children’s Museum
2247 South Mian Street
Manchester, Connecticut
www.lutzmuseum.org