Summer Fun with Passport to Imagination

Note: Our family enjoyed a free visit to Michaels for some crafting fun in exchange for sharing this program with my readers (and no clean-up after).

Crafts are something our kids enjoy, but make my heart start beating fast at the ensuing mess that may ensue – because, let’s face it, there are lots of messes to be made! We may have the basic supplies for projects on hand, but usually nothing too fancy.

This summer, Michaels is offering the Passport to Imagination Museum Road Trip program where THEY supply all of the craft supplies, ideas, and guidance for your kids – and the mess stays at the store. Your kids get to take home their fun projects and to me, that equals a HUGE win!

This year’s art projects are focused on various museums in the US and Canada and teach on technology, marine life, textiles, natural history, and more. Each week there are three classes (each class features a different hands-on project).

Our kids visited this week along with a few of their friends (which was great since it was over 90 degrees). The kids ranged in age from 7 up through 11 – and it was perfect for all of them.

Each of the kids received a ‘souvenir album’ where they can see the different projects that will be worked on each week and the go-along at home projects. The booklet also has fun games, book suggestions, and challenges for kids to work on during the course of the program. (Dear moms – there is also a 40% off coupon on the back cover – cough).

During their 2 hour visit they worked on creating a dinosaur skeleton dig project based on the T-Rex exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago. All of the supplies were provided by the store, including a 4×6 photo album where they will store the album projects they create (this week was a drawing of a dinosaur).

One of the things our kids loved were the at-home project suggestions. After their time at the store, they were excited to spend some time crafting and recreating a few of the projects they missed (above is the layers of the earth diagram). They also worked on a crayon resist art project too. 

Getting the kids crafting and focused on something other than technology during the summer months is also a HUGE win too! I love that the projects are hands-on and focused on learning about the world around us.  As a mom, I love that the projects for the summer are already planned out so we can see which ones our kids will be interested in creating. There are several that the kids are earmarking and wanting to attend in the upcoming weeks: a duct tape purse/wallet, a zoetrope, several Perler bead projects, and a fun biplane project as well.

Interested in Joining?

The Passport to Imagination program offers seven weeks of projects inspired by museums and exhibits. Each two-hour in-store project is $2 per child and takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon (note: there are 3 different projects each week). If you love the project, you can also purchase additional themed project kits to work on at home.

Week 1 – The Field Museum
June – Mon 16 / Wed 18 / Fri 20

Week 2 – Georgia Aquarium
June – Mon 23 / Wed 25 / Fri 27

Week 3 – PIMA Air & Space Museum
June Mon 30 / JULY Wed 2 / Fri 4

Week 4 – Perot Museum of Nature and Science
July-  Mon 7 / Wed 9 / Fri 11

Week 5 – Denver Art Museum
July – Mon 14 / Wed 16 / Fri 18

Week 6 – The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology  
July -  Mon 21 / Wed 23 / Fri 25

Week 7 – Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
July – Mon 28 / Wed 30     AUGUST – Fri 1

Sign up for Passport to Imagination at Michaels.com/Passport or visit your local store to register your children. You can view the projects online and see which ones you’d like to attend!