Events

Black History Month - Recycling for the World - Chinese New Year

Family Events and Activities

• This Month's Art Studio Calendar PDF
• Early Childhood Special Campaigns - Literacy and Safety

August

Camping Out Week - August 11th - 16th

All Week:

See a terrarium of live crickets at the “nighttime crickets” table near Water Works. Create a take-home, glow-in-the-dark cricket using cloths pins, special glow-in-the-dark paints and stickers.

Listen to stories about camping and the outdoors around our tent and pretend "campfire" outside the Infant Toddler Garden from 12:00pm-12:30pm daily.

• Monday:
  Giant Bug Sculptures: Visitors can help create giant spider and caterpillar sculptures! Bugs will be on display in the Art Studio throughout the week.
  
• Tuesday:
  Go Fishing! Kids make paper fish out of tissue paper, shiny materials and glitter then use poles in Lake Habitot to catch them.
  
• Wednesday:
  Build a Tee-Pee: Use natural materials like grasses, leaves, and sticks to build a natural hiding place or home.
  
• Thursday:
  Create a Rock Garden: paint and decorate rocks and lay out a labyrinth of pathways.
  
• Friday:
  Bird Feeder Day: make bird feeders out of milk cartons, recycled toilet paper rolls and other fun materials. Seeds will be provided for each child.
  
• Saturday:
  Stick Sculptures: Create a giant tree sculpture using our special cornstarch clay.

August Storytimes
Enjoy storytelling every Friday from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm in the Multicultural Reading Tent.

• August 1st: Starry Night’s Sky
• August 8th: All About Rainbows
• August 15th: Camping Out
• August 22nd: The Fun Food We Eat
• August 29th: Amazing Fairytales!

August Singing Circles
Enjoy Singing Circles with Cindy every Thursday at 10:30 am & 10:50 am in the Multicultural Reading Tent.

• August 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th

July

Water Safety
Robert Smethlage of the American Red Cross and San Francisco Parks and Rec tells you practical ways to keep kids safe around swimming pools, baby pools, water buckets, and bathtubs.
Friday July 25; 10:30am - 12:30pm

Bastille Day
Celebrate France's Independence Day at our annual Bastille Day event. Make and decorate your own French beret using recycled paper bags and fun fabrics. Put on a chef’s hat, read from a French menu, and "purchase" croissants, cheese, and baguettes from our very own Habitot French Café. Sample real French bread and cheese at 12 pm. There will even be a boat race down the Siene River in the Waterworks area. Listen to stories in French and English from 10:00 am - 11:00 am.
Monday, July 14; 9:30 am -12:30 pm

Underwater Week
Help decorate our Waterworks area as a Marine Science Lab. Build giant squid and octopus sculptures using fabrics, rubber pieces, and bubble wrap and make your own underwater scuba masks with blue lenses! Create seaweed jewelry using string, beads and pieces of “sea weed.” Use nets to catch slippery underwater creatures in our Underwater World exhibit.
July 28 - August 2; regular hours

July Storytimes
Enjoy storytelling every Friday from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm in the Multicultural Reading Tent.

• July 11 - All About France
• July 18 - Barnyard Animals
• July 25 - Underwater Worlds

8th Annual Early Childhood Safety Campaign

Earthquake Safety
Drop in to hear Lorraine Rosenblatt from Red Cross-Bay Area talk about how to plan for family safety in the event of an earthquake.
Friday, July 18; 10:30 am to 11:30 am

Helmet Safety
On sale today, CPSC/ASTM/ANSI approved helmets, sized especially for toddlers, only $8. "Decoration station" for helmets from 10:00 am-12:00 pm, with a toddler tricycle rodeo a 12 noon.
Saturday, July 19; 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Car Seat Safety Check
Berkeley Police will inspect and properly install your car seat on the top level of the Allston Way Garage, 2061 Allston Way between Milvia and Shattuck, downtown Berkeley
6’3” max. car height.
Parking validated and a free Habitot pass
Saturday, July 19; 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Stranger Safety
Create photo ID cards with Capture Technologies
Thursday, July 24; 10:30 am to 12:30 pm

The Early Childhood Safety Campaign is Generously Sponsored by State Farm Insurance Companies

June

Rubber Duckie Day!
Play with all different shapes and sizes of rubber duckies and make giant bubbles in the water works area. In the Art Studio, children can create their own paper ducks with wings and make a matching pair of wings for themselves. Stories about bath time and rubber duckies will be featured in the reading tent from 12p.m. – 1p.m.
Saturday June 7; 9:30-4:30
Sponsored by Wells Fargo

Family Pride Day!
Many kinds of families create loving homes for children and Habitot celebrates them all! Bring in your family pictures and make and decorate your own family scrap book using all the colors of the rainbow. Create an ornament and add it to our "Many Kinds of Families" Tree. Children can also play with fun rubber duckies and colorful balls in Water Works today, because even rubber duckies come in different shapes and sizes! Sit by our play-campfire and listen to stories about our diverse community of families from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm.
Saturday, June 21; 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Family Pride Day is co-sponsored by Our Family Coalition

June Storytimes
Enjoy storytelling every Friday from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm in the Multicultural Reading Tent.

• June 06 - All About Duckies!
• June 13 - Building Sandcastles
• June 20 - All Kinds of Families
• June 27 - Camping Out

8th Annual Early Childhood Safety Campaign

Choke Saving Skills
EMT, Anna Griffin will demonstrate toddler choking rescue.
Friday, June 13; 11:00 am to 12:30 pm Spanish
Friday, June 27; 11:00 am to 12:30 pm English

Childproofing Your Home
Home Safety Services will provide professional advice on how to childproof your home.
Thursday, June 12; 10:30 am - 12:30 pm

The Early Childhood Safety Campaign is Generously Sponsored by State Farm Insurance Companies

May

Rocketship Returns - May 7 All month, enjoy special art activities that bring out the astronaut in everyone! Six Weeks of Out-of-this-World Art! May 1-7 Make and decorate 3-D outer space goggles! May 8-14 Create a Nebula Mural with oil and watercolor painting. May 15-21 Use salad spinners and glittery materials to create cosmic art. May 22-28 Make and decorate your own planet! Add it onto our Solar System hanging sculpture. May 29-June 4 Make flying saucers from recycled materials. June 5-11 Make alien masks with glow in the dark stickers.

Kodomo No Hi
Celebrate Kodomo no hi, a traditional Japanese event honoring children. Decorate “koi-nobori” (carp shapes) with tissue paper, string and shiny materials and see them see them twirl around in the Wind Tunnel! Make “musha-ningyo” or warrior dolls out of colorful fabrics and ribbons and enjoy storytelling about Kodomo no hi from 11am-1pm.
May 3; 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

8th Annual Early Childhood Safety Campaign

Car Seat Safety Check
Berkeley Police will thoroughly inspect and properly install your car seat on the top level of the Allston Way Garage, 2061 Allston Way between Milvia and Shattuck, downtown Berkeley. 6’3” max. car height. Parking validated and free museum pass to the museum are included.
Saturday, May 17; 10 am - 12 pm

Toxin Free Home
The Center of the Environmental Health identifies and helps you eliminate common toxins from the home. Berkeley Public Health Department will test your pottery, toys and kids’ lunch boxes for lead. (Bring to museum.)
Thursday, May 29; 10:30 am - 12:00 pm

The Early Childhood Safety Campaign is Generously Sponsored by State Farm Insurance Companies

April

Earth Day
Parents and children help decorate our Giant Earth sculpture using a unique assortment of recycled materials. Make a statement about saving the environment while using trash to make art!
April 22; 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

April Storytimes
Enjoy storytelling every Friday from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm in the Multicultural Reading Tent.

• April 04 - Camping and Hiking
• April 11 - Mother Earth
• April 18 - Happy Birthday
• April 25 - Outer Space Adventure

March

Shamrock Day
Dress in green! Make Shamrock collages in the Art Studio and join our popular Hunt for Gold at 10am, 11am, and 12pm. You might even see a leprechaun!
March 18; 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

Persian New Year, Norouz
Persian New Year or Norouz is traditionally celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan and other middle eastern regions and features springtime rituals such as egg painting, food, storytelling and dancing. Children and families visiting Habitot today will dance in traditional satin scarves, plant “sabzeh” wheatgrass and paint "tokhme-morgh" eggs, symbolically bringing fresh life to a new year.
March 20; 9:30 am - 12:30 pm

Egg Days in the Art Studio
Fill and decorate colorful eggs, the traditional symbol of spring. Small baskets of living grass will be on sale all day while supplies last. Take advantage of special "Make-a-Plate" sessions to be offered on these days in anticipation of gifts for Mother's and Father's Day (fee applies).
March 21; 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
March 22; 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

March Storytimes
Enjoy storytelling every Friday from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm in the Multicultural Reading Tent.

• March 07 - Rhymes and Rhythm
• March 14 - New Things Growing
• March 21 - Persian New Year
• March 28 - Baby Animals

February

Groundhog Day
Make groundhog masks and puppets out of paper in the Art Studio and put on a puppet show in our shadowbox theater. Visit our Dramatic Arts Studio and use face paint to transform your little ones into groundhogs and let them burrow like a groundhog in our Wiggle Wall. Beginning crawlers can also get in on the fun in our Infant Toddler Garden. Listen to storytelling from 12-1pm.
February 2; 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

Lunar New Year
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with Dragon Parades at 11 am, 1, 2 and 4 pm. Enjoy storytelling with Asian themes in the Multicultural Reading Tent from 12 to 1 pm. All day in the Art Studio, make character scrolls using special calligraphy brushes and black inks. Decorate your own shadow puppet using stamps, stickers and other fun materials and use them in our Shadow Puppet Theater! Sample traditional dried fruits on our harmony table.
February 9; 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

Week of Valentine's
Create hand made cards for your family and friends using recycled materials all week at Habitot. Add your special artistic touch to a large heart sculpture. Bring in any valentine-making art supplies, such as cardstock, stickers, doilies, tissue paper, yarn, fabric or glitter to use and share, and receive a free adult admission pass with love from Habitot.
February 8 - 9; 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
February 12 - 14; 9:30 am - 1:00 pm

Habitot is Open Presidents' Day
Enjoy Winter inspired art activities all day in the Art Studio and discover featured family books in our Multicultural Reading Tent.
February 18, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

January

Union Bank of California Free Family Nights
Enjoy free admission every Thursday evening in January
Thursday evenings, 5:00 - 7:00 pm
Free Family Nights are generously sponsored by Union Bank of California

Confetti Arts Week
Scoop up the leftover confetti from New Year's Eve celebrations into polka-dot collages in the Art Studio. Play with streamers in the Wind Tunnel and watch confetti fly around you. Enjoy storytelling on Friday and Saturday about ringing in the new year.
January 2 - January 5

A Day with the Dentist
Visit the tooth fairy, play toothbrush limbo, and go on a dental scavenger hunt! Visitors from Dr. Matsuishi's office will share information about how to keep children's teeth healthy from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and give each child a special goodie bag to help! Make and decorate a giant toothbrush in the Art Studio. Listen to stories from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm and sample Wateroos, the newest boxed water for toddlers!
January 18; 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

Let It Snow!
Make snow and conduct ice experiments in the Art Studio. Build an igloo and be a polar bear while wearing your own polar bear mask. Visit the snowstorm in the Wind Tunnel and enjoy a cool, tasty treat in the afternoon. Enjoy winter storytelling from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm.
January 23; 9:30 am - 1:00 pm
FREE Admission Day generously sponsored by Wells Fargo

2008 Storytimes
Enjoy storytelling every Friday from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm in the Multicultural Reading Tent.

• Jan. 04 - Ring in the New Year!
• Jan. 11 - The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Jan. 18 - Healthy Kids
• Jan. 25 - Snow Stories

Play Around the Bay Symposium - SOLD OUT
Keynote speaker Penny Wilson, renown Playworker from the UK, and a panel of local and national experts will discuss the dramatic decline in children's play. View one of the first public showings of 'Where Do the Children Play?', a documentary film originated by Elizabeth Goodenough and produced by Michigan (PBS) Television. Showings will take place at the symposium. The film illuminates the social and technological trends that are working against free play and offers rich insights into the nature and power of play.
Call (510) 647-1111 x35 to register.
January 26; 9:00 am - 1:00 pm

**Times and performances subject to change

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