"Mother Nature/Father Time" will be the theme of April school vacation week activities from Monday, April 16 through Friday, April 20 at the Springfield Museums. Activities are free with the price of admission to the Museums unless noted.
April school vacation week programs are sponsored in part by grants from Health New England and the Springfield Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Daily: Make a "litter bug" in the Art Discovery Center, noon-3:45 p.m. Family Science Adventures demonstrations and activities. Visit the special exhibit The Cat in the Hat Turns 50. See the special exhibit Life Through Time: Dinosaurs and Ice Age Mammals (special exhibit fee $3 per person). Pan for minerals, gems and fossils at the Museum Mining Company, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (additional fee). Monday, April 16 Performance: Birds in Their Habitat by Henry Lappen – Using imaginative masks and comic antics, Lappen shows how birds adapt to their environment and why they look and act the way they do; 1 p.m., Museum of Fine Arts auditorium. Craft: "It's a Twister" – Make a spiral mobile with pipe cleaners, felt, pom poms, and other materials; 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum. Tuesday, April 17 Performance: Rosalita and the Giant Bugs by Rosalita's Puppets – When Rosalita drinks a bottle of something strange, she shrinks and is scared of the giant bugs in her garden. Mr. Bob, the caterpillar, tells her the only who can help is the dragonfly, so she goes on a quest to find the dragonfly. On the way she meets Queen Ant, a ladybug, and a spider; 1:30 p.m., Museum of Fine Arts auditorium. Craft: "It's a Twister" – Make spiral mobiles using pipe cleaners, felt, pom poms, and other materials; 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum. Wednesday, April 18 Performance: Swamp Cakes and Cattails by Jackson Gillman – Songs and stories about a dinosaur's birthday party; 1 p.m., Museum of Fine Arts auditorium. Activity: Dinosaur digs; 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum. Thursday, April 19 Performance: Tales from the Outdoors by Mark Binder – Environmental stories in celebration of Earth Day; 1:30 p.m., Museum of Fine Arts Auditorium. Craft: Make a 3-D "spinning sun"; 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum. Friday, April 20 Performance: Maggie's Garden by Marmalade Productions – A 6 ½-foot-tall horse named Maggie inspires her 2 ½-foot-tall human friend, Robin, to plant a garden of her own, complete with talking vegetables and dancing earthworms; 1 p.m., Museum of Fine Arts auditorium. Craft: Make a 3-D "spinning sun"; 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum.