Toddler Tuesdays

On the second Tuesday of every month, you will find a lively gathering of our littlest art lovers and their grown-ups at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. Toddler Tuesday offers hands-on art activities such as painting with marbles, drawing, and butterfly making. There are also opportunities for free-play; storytelling by MMAM’s resident storyteller, Laura Armstrong; opportunities for families to meet at connect; and a chance for toddlers and their grown-ups to explore artworks in the galleries. Come to the museum to explore, create, and play!

• Family Rate: $10 (Toddlers + Their Grownups)

• MMAM Member Rate: $5  (Not a member yet? Join today!)  

• Hours: 10:30am - 12:00pm (Come and go as you please)

• Need a ride? Call us at 507-474-6626 to arrange for a free ride through Winona Transit’s Dial-A-Ride! 

• Ages: Toddler Tuesday has been created for kids 1-5 years old, but children of all ages are welcome.

• We require a 1:3 ratio of adult/toddler

Upcoming Toddler Tuesdays:

Toddler Tuesdays at Home!

During the pandemic, Heather Casper the Curator of Education at MMAM, explored an artwork and paired it with a poem. Made especially for our Toddler Tuesday community!

One of the things we love about art is its ability to inspire the imagination. Take a minute to look at the painting with your child, and watch the short video to hear poems about seals and fish. After you are done, here are a few imaginative play ideas to suggest to them.

Imagine This...

• That last poem was all about fish. Let’s do some indoor fishing with a magnet from your fridge. Find a stick from outside, tie a piece of string to the stick and attach the magnet, and then attach some metal paper clips to some small paper shapes that you ripped, or cut out. You could color and cut out different fish shapes. Now, set up a small barrier (a couple of pillows works great) and dip your fishing pole behind the pillows and see if you catch anything! Keep trying. Fishing requires patience.

• Did you like the poem about seals? Seals communicate vocally by making sounds with their throats and air. This sometimes sounds like dogs barking. Pretend you and your grownup are seals. One bark means “no,” and two barks mean “yes.” Ask each other some simple yes or no questions.

• That painting showed us a beautiful ocean beach. Get a blanket and lay it out on the floor to make an ocean. Now, sit beside your “ocean” and pretend to tip your toes into the water. Pretend to play in the sand and when you’re ready- jump into the ocean.

• Water table time! Put on your swimsuit while you ask your grown up to fill the biggest container they can find with water. Then, bring out measuring cups, pitchers, and bowls. Splish, splash, pour, and slop water all around. You could even bring your small, plastic toys outside and give them a bath.

• Get outside! June is too nice to stay inside and pretend, so head outside and pretend you’re the captain of a sailing ship, or a princess in charge of a whole kingdom, or a tiger on the hunt for lunch. Make a fort, collect 25 sticks, play in the sprinkler, mix up some mud cakes, and see what bugs are crawling around in your grass.

One of the things we love about art is its ability to inspire the imagination. Take a minute to look again at the painting by Martin Johnson Heade again with your child. Let them lead the conversation. After you’re done, there are a few imaginative play ideas to suggest to them below.

Imagine This…

• Think about what animals, birds and insects you might see while exploring a jungle. Make the sounds and moves that these creatures make, and see if your grown-up can guess what animal you are pretending to be. Take turns.

• Ask your grown-up to hide some stuffed animals around the house. Pretend you are exploring a jungle to find them. You may need to grab a flashlight.

• Head outside and gather some natural materials (sticks, rocks, etc.) and make a house for a critter. What special features will your animal house have?

• While you are outside, bring a small bucket of water and add some special ingredients, like crumbled dried leaves, blades of grass, flower petals, etc. and make your own special potion! Stir it together with a stick, and pour it on a plant when you’re all done mixing it up.

• Pretend you are an explorer going through a magical tropical jungle. What magical plants and animals do you discover? What obstacles do you have to pass?

• Listen to the birds outside. What do you think they are saying? How many do you hear?

One of the things we love about art is its ability to inspire the imagination. Take a minute to look again at the painting by Martin Reissner with your child. Let them lead the conversation. After you’re done, there are a few imaginative play ideas to suggest to them below.

Imagine This…

• Is it too cold to go outside? Pretend you are in the arctic looking for polar bears. Have your grown-up hide a few stuffed animals around your house and go on an expedition to spot them all. Don’t get too close, hungry polar bears can be unpredictable! :)

• Bring a bucket of snow inside the kitchen, and place it on top of a towel for easy clean up later. Get out your measuring cups, spoons, and small plastic toys. Imagine you are only 1 inch tall, and walking around in your bucket of snow. Can you make yourself a sledding hill? A snowman? A snow cave? Maybe bury a toy? If it starts to melt, just ask your grown-up to get you some fresh snow.

• Pretend there is a big snowstorm, and you are trapped inside of your house. Grab a few books, a flashlight (or some candles if your grown-up can be with you) and turn off all of your lights and snuggle up in the warmest spot you can find with a pillow, a blanket, and your books. Have a book party!

• See the ice in the painting? Spread out blankets and pillows on the floor and pretend they are chunks of ice floating on the river. Can you jump to the other ice chunks without falling in the river?

• See how the man in the painting is holding a piece of paper? What if it’s a map? Make your own map and use it to help your dolls or toy figures go on an adventure around your home.

One of the things we love about art is its ability to inspire the imagination. Take a minute to look again at the painting by Toulouse-Lautrec with your child. Let them lead the conversation. After you’re done, here are a few imaginative play ideas to suggest to them.

Imagine This…

• Imagine you run a pet store and set one up in your home.

• The boy in the painting looks a little bit like a sailor. Pretend you are the captain of a boat that rescues animals. Hide toys around your house to be rescued.

• Pretend you are going on an adventure with your real pet or stuffed animals. Are the stairs a mountain? The rug, a pond? The couch, a car?

• Imagine your stuffed animals have come to life and you are listening to them talk to each other. What are they saying?

• Let’s name some imaginary pets… What would you name a pet unicorn? Alligator? Dragon? Purple and yellow spotted kitten?

• If you could combine two animals to make a new kind of pet, what would you combine? A giraffigator, an eleshark, or maybe a cow with wings and chicken feet?

One of the things we love about art is its ability to inspire the imagination. Take a minute to look again at the still life painting by Paul Gauguin with your child. Let them lead the conversation. After you’re done, here are a few imaginative play ideas to suggest to them.

Imagine This…

• Do you have any pretend food at your house? Play a game of “what’s missing?” with the food. Have your toddler place several items on a plate, let you look at them all, and then remove and hide one piece of food. Guess which one is missing! Take turns.

• Onions grow in layers. You can peel off one layer and reveal the next. Imagine you have layers and layers of different costumes. Perhaps your first layer is a dinosaur, but what’s underneath that layer?

• Gather some things from your yard and house to arrange your own still life on a table.

• If the apples and onions in this still life painting could talk, what would they say to each other?

• Use your toys (whatever they may be!) to make supper for your stuffed animals.

• Pretend your living room is an orchard and go apple/berry picking.

• Pretend you are eating food that gives you superpowers! What powers did you get?

One of the things we love about art is its ability to inspire the imagination. After you watch the video, here are a few imaginative play ideas to suggest to them.

Imagine This…  

• Pretend your house is an apple orchard.  You hear a small voice speak to you from a tree… Is it an apple fairy?  Is there a golden apple hidden somewhere in the orchard (your house that a grown-up hid) that you can try to find?  What else is the apple fairy saying? 

• Color Challenge. The fall artworks we looked at today are full of warm colors, like reds, oranges, and yellows.  Gather some objects in this color family and arrange them in a special way on a table or floor to create your own artwork. 

• Head outside. If you have some leaves in your yard, help your grown up rake them into “walls” and create a floor plan for your house/castle/fort.  Make sure to leave some doors so you can go from room to room.   

• Bring in a big bucket of dry fall leaves.  Spread out an old sheet, let your toddler play around.  Can you pretend to make a road by lining up all the big leaves?  Sort them by color, shape, or size and pretend you own a leaf store. 

• Make up a story about a group of animals who live in the woods.  What should we name them?  Do they like the new fall colors in their woods?   

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.