Back to Wonderscope

I did my regular Wonderscope Children's Museum gig today for the first time in a month, due to the Iola residency. I missed it! I'm there on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at 9:30 a.m. This time ensures that most of the audience will be parents or grandparents with children under age 5, with a few occasional homeschooled kids. It's gratifying that some of them come regularly.

Today was typical. About fifteen people, including four roving toddlers. I don't mind that, as long as the parents are paying attention and nobody's getting hurt or screaming. As these tinies come to more performances, they start to figure out that they can sit and listen. They also learn that I'm not TV. I think of it as training to be a good audience. I have no problem with the parents taking the kids out to the rest of the museum after a short while, if they're done with stories.

I mix the stories for this crowd with lots of fingerplays, puppets, songs and stretches. The die-hard listeners stay for 45 minutes. My friend Finn and his mother Janelle are in that category. Today Finn brought me a bouquet of mums from their garden. Lovely! Finn, his sister Nora and their parents are a great example of listeners who turned into real friends. I love that.

I'll be back at Wonderscope on Friday at 10:30 for a special performance for Grandparents' Day. We just arranged that, so I haven't put it in my website calendar yet. This reminds me that I've got other events not yet in the calendar. Maybe I'll get to that this afternoon.