I’ve been wanting to take the kids to the Eric Carle Museum for years. His beloved children’s books has been a quintessential part of our lives where we’ve heard them at virtually every storytime and they have been a long-time request at night that all three girls have treasured. It is safe to say that for some of the books, we all have them memorized.
But the distance from Brooklyn always seemed too far away. And we just never made it there. However, this past weekend we had a graduation at Hampshire for my sister-in-law, which also made it a perfect time to check out the museum. After we paid ($9 per adult, $6 per kid), the kids run towards the giant caterpillar that was situated in the lobby. The caterpillar also functioned as a bookshelf as the kids pulled off books and read in the inside. Pen, who is 19 months, keep going in and out, looking at the face of the caterpillar and laughing. It was pretty cute. Then they looked at the butterfly (also from the book) and went into the library.
We love our libraries and this one was filled with kids’ books (not just those by Eric Carle), toys, games and more. The girls made themselves super comfortable as they sat on the couch with their books. We probably spent 30 minutes in that room alone were I had to employ my weak negotiation skills to get them to move on. With some tears and toddler wrangling, we finally moved on to the art center. This cool art room was filled with everything a child may need to create. When we went they were able to make accordion books that they filled with stickers, drawing, words, etc. The two older girls focused on that as I took Pen to the toddler area to color, play with plastic bugs and look at herself in the mirror (of course!).
We then went into the gallery, which featured a cool collection of Eric Carle’s work as well as a mini history. I found this section the most interesting as we could learn more about his life as well as his work beyond the stories that we knew. It was also interactive for the kids where they were given lenses as put on a mini search for hidden pictures and messages in the pictures.
We also took a peek in the gift shop that was filled with tons of books, toys, posters, etc. After that we had to go, but not before my older daughter wrote a note to the museum saying how much fun she had and how she couldn’t wait to go back. With films, new exhibits, new art projects, and of course their incredible library, I’m sure we will be back again soon.
After the visit and dinner, we went to Flayvors of Cook Farm, a working dairy farm/ice cream place in Amherst. Even though we live more in nature now, I was still in awe of the gorgeous views with its open spaces, rolling hills, and cows! After we loaded up on ice cream, we walked around the farm where we were able to watch the cows eat, run after the chickens, and look at the pigs. It was so cool to see how mesmerized Pen was. As a huge animal lover, she went right up the cows, laughing, smiling and watching them eat. She even put her hand out and had a huge surprise when the cow grabbed put her hand in his mouth! Still laughing and smiling throughout it all.
A gorgeous day in Amherst, Eric Carle Museum and Flayvors are definitely worth checking out if you find your way in that area.
For more information, please visit: https://www.flayvors.com/
For more information, please visit: https://www.carlemuseum.org/
