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The Children's wing & Storytime at the Downtown (Main Branch) Library are a fairytale in and of themself. We've heard their praises sung for years and I truly don't know what took me so long to get there, but we're now hooked. The photo below doesn't even begin to do justice to how awesome the show was, but it's hard to capture the space, and also I found out after I took it that I wasn't supposed to have my phone out, (oops!) so I gave up on getting a better photo.  Way more than a storytime, this is an all-out production. Two actors/librarians/storytellers/lovely humans wove together hilarious dialogue with big-kid vocabulary words, puppets, songs and stories. The whole thing was masterfully orchestrated in such a way that I couldn't tell if it was brilliant off-the cuff improv, or the result of hours of meticulous memorization. They closed out the show with a song and moment that I found so touching I actually teared up. As awesome as the storytime was, I'd be remiss if I didn't give a full report on the rest of the children's wing.
 I waited for a quiet moment so I wouldn't invade the privacy of any families, but just a few minutes prior to this photo, this play-center was crawling with kiddos. There's also a mini rock-climbing wall (!!!) for the older kiddos, and a Ryman Auditorium shaped puppet show theater across the room in the toddler section. All in all, you need to get this on your calendar, whether you can make it for storytime, or if you're going anytime the library is open to enjoy the space and oh yeah, check out some books! In fact, you might find us there almost every afternoon from now on that it's too rainy/cold/hot to be outside. Check out the know-before-you-go box below with helpful tips, and we'll see you there!
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It's been chilly in Nashville so I've been on the hunt for indoor activities to keep our [super energetic] 14 month old occupied. This afternoon we hopped in the car and headed just a couple miles to the TN State Museum in Downtown Nashville to check out their Children's Gallery!
The Children's Gallery is a huge room decorated with amazing murals of Nashville, Tennessee wildlife, song lyrics, factoids or things to look for (like the one our racoon friend is sharing below.) The floor is an incredible mural as well; a giant map of the state of Tennessee with cities and landmarks. At one end of the room is a set of bookshelves with favorite children's stories plus some blocks and a few toys for smaller kiddos. At the other end is a table with crayons and colored pencils with coloring pages featuring current museum exhibits so you can " #ColorOurCollections " (see photo below).
Curator Matt was on hand the entire time if we had questions and very graciously let Clare carry around a clipboard featuring a scavenger hunt of objects and locations to find hidden among the murals and activities to do when you found them. The website recommends the children's gallery for ages 3-8 and I definitely think that we were a little young to get the full experience of reading the facts, doing the scavenger hunt and coloring the printouts. However, Clare absolutely LOVED running around the map and stopping to point out various rivers and places and brightly colored animals. We also colored and read several books that were new to her (and Mama!). The bluegrass music they had playing was also a hit, and she frequently stopped what she was doing for a dance break.
All in all it was definitely a fun way to blow off some steam indoors on a chilly afternoon! We didn't venture into the rest of the museum today, but it's absolutely worth visiting as well. Be sure to check out the "Know Before You Go" box below for info - we hope you enjoy your visit!
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bETHANY, YOUR HOSTAirBnB Superhost Bethany has lived in Nashville since 2006 and loves finding fun things to do at home and on the road! Archives
July 2023
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