Outreach Programs for Preschool through Elementary School

The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine (CMTM) is pleased to offer a comprehensive outreach menu tailored to support age-specific learning objectives and extend classroom-based learning experiences. CMTM outreach programs provide a dynamic and engaging opportunity for students within the familiar setting of your classroom or center. This approach offers a valuable supplement to traditional classroom instruction, exposing students to interactive and hands-on learning that deepens their understanding of the subject matter.

We also provide outreach programs at libraries and summer and rec camps. We will work with you to choose the program that best fits your audience.

Keep scrolling for current outreach programs.



Ages 2 to 5: Early Childhood Classroom Programs 

The Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine’s early childhood programs build upon children’s natural learning inclinations. Educators provide unique learning through play experiences that dovetail with classroom learning goals and are informed by Maine Early Learning and Development Standards (MELDS). In each program, we create an intentional play-based learning environment that allows for individual experiences that set the stage for discovery. 

Early childhood programs are designed for children ages 2-5. 

Prices start at $150 plus mileage for a 30-minute educator-led program for up to 25 students. Programs can be booked back-to-back to accommodate larger groups. 

Are you unable to afford the cost of a program? Don't hesitate to contact bookings@kitetails.org or 207-828-1234 to express your interest in these experiences. Our staff will contact you regarding availability!

Options


Turtles for Tots: Ages 2 to 5

Explore the world of turtles! Engage in dramatic play to act out a day in the life of a turtle, build a turtle habitat from textile and natural materials, and meet a live turtle that calls Maine home.

Program Length: 30 minutes 

Pricing: $150 per group of up to 25 students plus mileage.

Requirements/ Travel: Requires indoor room or shaded outdoor space between 60-74 degrees to ensure the health of the ambassador turtle. The location must be less than an hour from the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine. Requires a 15-minute reset time if multiple programs are offered in a row.

Standards: Supports Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards, especially in the areas of Social Emotional Development, Approaches to Learning, Creative Arts, Math, and Science.


Hello Humpback - Tot Biologists: Ages 2 to 5*

The ocean world comes to your classroom as we meet an inflatable humpback whale and explore whale anatomy. Use your senses to touch a real whale artifact and sensory ocean objects. Finally, get out your flippers as we engage in dramatic play to breach and flip like a whale as we listen to whale songs.

Program Length: 30 minutes 

Pricing: Pricing starts at $150 for groups of up to 25 students and $200 for groups of up to 50 students. Note: A 45-foot whale is used for groups of over 25 people. 

Requirements/ Travel:

45-foot whale requirements:

  • Space must be able to accommodate an inflatable whale 45 feet long, 6 feet tall, and 8 feet wide, plus space for children to sit to view the whale.  

  • There must be an electrical outlet available within 30 feet. 

  • Outdoor locations are weather permitting. Please be ready to provide a backup indoor location, or reschedule the program If it is raining or if strong winds are prevalent. 

  • Outdoor locations will need to have tie-down options. We bring stakes and rope but will need a dirt/grassy area to stake into or places to tie rope down. 

Standards: Supports Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards, especially in the areas of Social Emotional Development, Approaches to Learning, Creative Arts, Math, and Science. 


Growing Worms’ Growing Garden: Ages 2 to 5

Discover how living things around us grow with help from each other. Meet live red wiggler worms, use dramatic play to explore what it’s like to be a worm, and learn how they help the plants around them.

Program Length: 30 minutes 

Pricing: $150 per group of up to 25 students, plus mileage.

Requirements/ Travel: None.

Standards: Supports Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards, especially in the areas of Social Emotional Development, Approaches to Learning, and Creative Arts.


We Dig Dinos: Ages 2 to 5

ROAR! Step into the shoes of a paleontologist, as we embark on a faux dinosaur fossil dig using textiles and wooden bones. Learn how we know about dinosaurs and use standard and non-standard measurements to observe replica dinosaur fossils. Work together to follow clues to dig up and construct a dinosaur puzzle.

Program Length: 30 minutes 

Pricing: $150 per group of up to 25 students, plus mileage.

Requirements/ Travel: Requires a 15-minute reset time if multiple programs are offered in a row.

Standards: Supports Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards, especially in the areas of Social Emotional Development, Approaches to Learning, Creative Arts, Math, and Science. 


Pop + Fizz Science Experiment: Ages 2 to 5

Conduct a hands-on fizzy and science experiment in your classroom. Art meets science as we use a combination of baking soda, vinegar, and paint in a sensory eruption! Children try scientific tools to create and closely observe cause-and-effect reactions during this joyful learning through play experience. 

Program Length: 30 minutes 

Pricing: $150 per group of up to 25 students, plus mileage.

Requirements/ Travel: This experiment can get (just a bit) messy, and we will need 15 minutes between multiple sessions offered to clean up. An indoor setting with tables and chairs is preferred. 

Standards: Supports Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards, especially in the areas of Social Emotional Development and Approaches to Learning.


Ages 5 to 8: Kindergarten and Elementary Classroom Programs 

The Children’s Museum & Theatre’s Kindergarten through Elementary School Programs are designed to take place in classrooms. They explore topics through objects, dramatic movement, experiments, and hands-on learning, and they are informed by the Next Generation Science Standards.

The average length of a program is approximately 45 minutes. Kindergarten and Elementary programs are designed for children ages 5-8.

Tiered pricing is available. Book back-to-back to accommodate more classrooms during an outreach trip. Programs accommodate up to 25 students. Prices start at $200 for the first program, plus mileage. $120 for each additional program. Title 1A schools receive a 50% discount on outreach costs.

Are you unable to afford the cost of a program? Don't hesitate to contact bookings@kitetails.org or 207-828-1234 to express your interest in these experiences. Our staff will contact you regarding availability!

Options


Blackbird Beats - Interactive Musical Performance: Ages 5 to 8

A musical adventure inspired by Ashley Bryan’s beloved tale. This one-performer show invites children to become colorful birds from Africa, celebrating diversity and the beauty of Blackness. Through beatboxing, dancing, and playful sound-making, young audiences will help bring the story to life in an engaging, hands-on experience. Aligned with Black and Brown studies curriculum, this dynamic performance reinforces themes of self-love and community. Let’s move, groove, and shout together—because Black is beautiful, UH HUH!

Program Length: 30 minutes 

Pricing: $200 per group of up to 100 students plus mileage.

Requirements/ Travel: There must be an electrical outlet available within 10 feet of the presenter’s space. Access to a projector and projector screen is not required but enhances the program. CMTM staff will bring their own speaker and loop pedal.

Standards: Supports Maine’s Visual and Performing Arts Standards.


Meet the Turtle: Ages 5 to 8

A special guest animal ambassador comes to you! Act out how a turtle moves, play a game to explore turtle adaptations and meet a real turtle. Get hands-on to explore animals' relationship to habitats by creating a mini-habitat for a box turtle, sea turtle, or tortus using textiles and natural materials. 

Program Length: 45 minutes 

Pricing: Book back-to-back to accommodate more classrooms during an outreach trip. Programs accommodate up to 25 students. $200 for the first program, plus mileage $120 for each additional program. Title 1A schools receive a 50% discount on outreach costs.

Requirements/ Travel:  Ideally the program takes place in a classroom with tables and chairs. Requires an indoor room or shaded outdoor space between 60-74 degrees to ensure the health of the ambassador turtle. The location must be less than an hour from the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine. Requires a 15-minute reset time if multiple programs are offered in a row.

Standards: Supports Next Generation Science Standards


The Magnificent Marshmallow Experiment: Ages 5 to 8

Let’s experiment! Collaboratively explore the scientific method as you experiment with air pressure and molecules to create massive marshmallows, bursting balloons, and exploding foam. Students will then work in small groups to conduct their own bell jar experiments. 

Program Length: 45 minutes 

Pricing: Book back-to-back to accommodate more classrooms during an outreach trip. Programs accommodate up to 25 students. $200 for the first program, plus mileage $120 for each additional program. Title 1A schools receive a 50% discount on outreach costs.

Requirements/ Travel: Ideally the program takes place in a classroom with tables and chairs. 

Standards: Supports Next Generation Science Standards


Earth Rocks: Ages 5 to 8

Rocks, minerals, and fossils are clues to what the earth looked like millions of years ago. Act out a dramatic rock cycle and explore how the earth has changed over time. Get up close and personal with a collection of real ocean fossils, volcanic rock, and glittering crystals.

Program Length: 45 minutes 

Pricing: Book back-to-back to accommodate more classrooms during an outreach trip. Programs accommodate up to 25 students. $200 for the first program, plus mileage $120 for each additional program. Title 1A schools receive a 50% discount on outreach costs.

Requirements/ Travel: Ideally the program takes place in a classroom with tables and chairs. 

Standards: Supports Next Generation Science Standards

Earth Rocks

Vermiculture - Worms and our World Ages: Ages 5 to 8

Discover how worms magically transform waste through vermiculture–worm composting! Meet live red wiggler worms, use dramatic play to explore what it’s like to be a worm, and learn how they help the plants around. Conduct an experiment to see how worms adapt to their environment.

Program Length: 45 minutes 

Pricing: Book back-to-back to accommodate more classrooms during an outreach trip. Programs accommodate up to 25 students. $200 for the first program, plus mileage $120 for each additional program. Title 1A schools receive a 50% discount on outreach costs.

Requirements/ Travel: Ideally the program takes place in a classroom with tables and chairs. 

Standards: Supports Next Generation Science Standards


A Whale’s Tale - Ocean Ecosystems: Ages 5 to 8

Meet a life-sized whale named Piano, named after a humpback whale in the Atlantic Ocean. Take on the role of scientists as we observe whale anatomy, act out a dramatic food web, listen to whale songs, and explore whale artifacts. Together we will discover that Piano is connected to ocean animals and humans as part of an ocean ecosystem. The more we learn about how we are connected to the ocean, the more we can protect it too.

Program Length: 45 minutes 

Pricing: Book back-to-back to accommodate more classrooms during an outreach trip. Programs accommodate up to 50 students. $200 for the first program, plus mileage $120 for each additional program. Title 1A schools receive a 50% discount on outreach costs.

Requirements/ Travel:

45-foot whale requirements:

  • Space must be able to accommodate an inflatable whale 45 feet long, 6 feet tall, and 8 feet wide, plus space for children to sit to view the whale.  

  • There must be an electrical outlet available within 30 feet. 

  • Outdoor locations are weather permitting. Please be ready to provide a backup indoor location, or reschedule the program If it is raining or if strong winds are prevalent. 

  • Outdoor locations will need to have tie-down options. We bring stakes and rope but will need a dirt/grassy area to stake into or places to tie rope down. 

Standards: Supports Next Generation Science Standards