Birthdays
For a birthday party to remember, bring your kids to the CRMII
Our unique, historic textile mill (built in 1814 and on the National Register of Historic Places) is a great location for a celebration. Your child and their friends will love our hands-on exhibits and intriguing displays, including an old-fashioned player piano, a thundering machine shop, steam locomotives, antique cars and bikes, an early fire engine, and much more.
Tour the museum, including demonstrations of powerful machines and whirring line shafts. Then move the celebration to our party room – a huge party room on the Charles River. It’s all yours for games, food, and entertainment.
Birthday party packages are available during regular museum hours, Thursday – Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm. (Other times are available for an additional charge.) You will be asked to provide one adult chaperone for every five kids, as well as paper goods and decorations. We’ll provide you with phone numbers for pizza delivery, DJs, decorators, and other party pros to make your event a success!
Our Birthday Party Package is $250 for up to 25 children plus chaperones. Each additional child is $10.
OPTIONAL PACKAGES:
Lizzy’s Ice Cream Package: $5.75 per person plus tax (min. 15 people)
Balloon Racers: Guided by a facilitator, children build their own race car powered by a balloon and then race each other for a prize; children learn the steps need to create an invention and the importance of refinement. $5 pp.
Rube Goldberg Designs: Children are broken into teams and are asked to move a marble from one point to another using a collection of household items. Teams compete with each other to complete the project first. The main objectives of this exercise include creative thinking, looking for potential value in whatever materials you have to work with, teamwork skills, and learning about industrial completion. $5 pp.
Paper Airplanes – Accompanied by the story of how the airplane was invented, pointing out the various elements of the invention process, students are then given paper and told to create paper airplanes that will fly at least a certain distance. Some may already know how to make one, the facilitator will be happy to teach anyone who would like to learn how to make one, and there will be reference books with designs. After a given period of time, every student will have a chance to fly his/her plane. The follow-up discussion focuses both on what made some fly better than others (engineering), as well as on the various approaches people took to creating their plane (e.g., learning styles, watching others, experimenting). $3 pp.
Tower Building – Students are split into groups and each group is given the same number of pipe cleaners and plastic straws. They are told that their objective is to build the tallest freestanding tower in the time given. Afterwards, the facilitator leads a discussion about the invention process, problem solving, assumptions, success criteria, work styles, etc. based on their experience. Can also include a closer look at some structural engineering lessons learned, especially for older kids. $4 pp.
Quick Invention – Students are broken into small groups. Each group is given a bag of random “junque” (e.g. milk jugs, pipe cleaners, paper towel tubes, egg cartons) and told to make an invention out of what is in their bag. Groups will have a predetermined amount of time to plan and build before they present their inventions to the rest of the group. All then vote on which invention is the winner. The main objectives of this exercise include creative thinking, looking for potential value in whatever materials you have to work with, presentation and communication / persuasion skills. $5 pp.
To get started, please call Elln Hagney at 781-893-5410 or email elln@crmi.org.
