Bees are Black – with Gilt Surcingles –
Buccaneers of Buzz –
Ride abroad in ostentation
And subsist on Fuzz – (Fr1426)
Families are welcome at this celebration of all things pollination at the Emily Dickinson Museum Children’s Circus! Did you know Dickinson wrote around 100 poems about bees? She was a keen observer of the natural world, where hummingbirds, butterflies, beetles and bees captured her imagination. Perhaps such pollinators fascinated Dickinson because of their contributions to her gardens! At our Circus, learn more about the continued important of pollinators today, and the things you can do at home to improve the environment for them.
The Circus is $5 per family/Free to Museum Friends.
Stop by between 12 and 3:30PM to see what all the buzz is about!
*Saturday will be hot, but the circus must go on! We will have cold water on hand, snacks and drinks for sale, and a sprinkler “cooling station”.
Ongoing Activities
- Learn all about bees from a local beekeeper, and visit garden educators from Book & Plow Farm!
- Craft bee and butterfly finger puppets, or a handmade journal to take home
- Become your favorite pollinator at our face painting station ($3/face), then snap a picture at the photo booth
- Compete against other would-be-bees at our pollination bean bag toss and test your wits at our garden scavenger hunt
- Take a family-friendly journey upstairs to Emily Dickinson’s bedroom
Schedule:
- 12 p.m. Circus begins!
- 12:30 p.m. A Visit to Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom (first come first served, tickets at Welcome Tent)
- 12:45 p.m. Pollinator Relay Race
- 1:15 p.m. A Visit to Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom (first come first served, tickets at Welcome Tent)
- 1:30 p.m. Music & Puppets with Tom Knight
- 2:15 p.m. Garden Parade ending with the Emily Dickinson basket drop
- 2:30 p.m. A Visit to Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom (first come first served, tickets at Welcome Tent)
- 2:45 p.m. Pollinator Relay Race
- 3 p.m. A Visit to Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom
- 3:30 p.m. Circus ends
Tom Knight has been delighting children and their grown-ups with his original, interactive, musical puppet show since 1988. His unique blend of musicianship and puppetry celebrates reading (“the Library Boogie”), the environment (“the Garbage Monster”), and science (“The Solar System”), with hand-made puppets, catchy songs, and a high degree of audience participation. The strong visual elements appeal to children as young as 2, while fun lyrics engage children up to twelve, and adults alike. Following a successful puppetry career based out of Ithaca, New York, Tom relaunched his puppeteering business in Western Massachusetts. More info about Tom Knight.