ESTEVAN - More programming is coming to the Souris Valley Museum with the new school year.
With a part-time employee AnneRose Lawrence, who has a degree in childhood ministry from Nipawin Bible College and experience in leading children's programs, joining executive director Mark Veneziano for a year, the museum had an opportunity to widen the variety of services it provides to patrons.
"The museum’s really looking forward to our fall and winter coming up. We are introducing some new programs mixed in with some of our regular programs," Veneziano said.
"We are really excited that we are able to now offer some more programs for people in our community, specifically more for families."
The latest program is called the Museum Safari. It's developed for children ages two to five to come to the museum with their caregivers and delve into the atmosphere of jungles.
"The museum is actually going to be transformed into a jungle, where families of young children can come out to the museum and go around and explore the jungle looking for animals in our displays," Veneziano explained.
Not only will the new program offer the chance for kids to turn into explorers, but they will also get a chance to actually go on a safari, as they will be "driving" around in boxcars.
"We're really looking forward to having that interaction, where kids can use their imagination while looking for an animal of that week," Veneziano said.
Children will also learn something new about the animal of the week and then do some related crafts.
There will also be some engagement for parents, as they will have a chance to learn something about the museum's collection and particular artifacts.
Museum Safaris will run on Tuesdays at 10-10.45 a.m. and 2-2.45 p.m. The cost of the activity is $2 per child, and groups will be limited to 12 young participants. The program will run from September through November, so kids will have a chance to find up to 12 different animals, hiding in the museum's jungle.
But the new program wasn't the only change happening at the museum.
"We are also excited to announce that starting in September we are going to start offering birthday parties here at the museum as well. And it's going to be great for people in the community who are looking for a place to host a birthday party," Veneziano said.
The museum will provide an hour of entertainment, and then people will have another hour to do cake, presents or just have a fun time at the museum. Parents can come to the museum earlier to decorate the space and get everything ready for the party.
"Parents can pick packages for the museum-led activities. So we have different activities from pioneer birthday, to museum safaris and other options like dinosaurs. And for the really young ones, we do start birthday parties at three, we also have a teddy bear-themed party."
The cost of the service will be $50.
This is very new to the museum and it's hard to guess how busy it will get, but Veneziano suggested booking parties sooner rather than later to save the spot.
The museum will also still have all of their popular programs including the I Am series, no school day workshops and Young Historical Society, which are for children ages three up to 11, as well as fall and winter camps for kids ages three to 16.
More information and the schedule can be found on their website at sourisvalleymuseum.com.
The registration for fall and winter programming will open on Sept. 8 at 9 a.m. Souris Valley Museum will also partake in the city-wide registration on Sept. 8 at Affinity Place.
