Summer of Play
School’s out, play is in.
Summer at Glazer Children’s Museum is all about play without limits.
During Summer of Play, families can expect a rotating lineup of creative experiences, including hands-on art projects, special guests, storytimes, and collaborative crafts. With a focus on making and creating, kids turn everyday materials into friendship bracelets, junk journals, and imaginative works of art.
It’s the perfect mix of structure and freedom, designed to keep kids engaged, inspired, and joyfully playing all summer long.
Dates & Details:
June 1-July 26, 2026
Junk journal with us all summer long.
Make your mark and create endless memories with a junk journal made from recycled materials and craft supplies. Bring your journal back each week to add new pages, flair, and memories inspired by our creative weekly themes as you tell the story of your summer.
Weekly Themes
Your junk journal is uniquely you! Our weekly themes are creative starting points, and our suggestions are simply to get those creative juices flowing for how you can start your spreads. How will you tell the story of your summer through your creative expression?
Start off your journal by creating a spread that shows off who you are! There are endless possibilities for this page, whether you create a self-portrait, collaging items that make you happy, or write a letter to your future self, this page is up to you!
Pop music, collectible characters, and all things cute! Create a spread inspired by your favorite parts of global pop culture. Dream up your own superstar stage persona, redesign your favorite trading cards, create a fan club badge, and so much more!
Bring the video games off the screen and onto the page! Share what your current video game obsession is, build your own game level, dream up your own video game idea, create pixel art, and more.
Bark, meow, chirp, time to add amazing animals to your junk journal! Design a page layout that doubles as a field journal for nature adventures, collage a habitat scene, add an imaginative animal character, or simply cover this page in paw prints!
Use your superpowers to create a super page! Design your superhero identity, complete with a super suit design; create an epic comic strip story, or chronicle your most epic showdown between your favorite hero and villain.
GCM will be closing early at 3pm on July 4, 2026.
Fantastic beasts, mythical adventures, and epic fantasy! Fill this page with dragons, create a map of your dream fantasy world, or write and illustrate a scene from your favorite fantasy series.
Teeny, tiny, mini making! Create a junk journal page with all things miniature. How small can you draw? What would your ideal tiny bedroom look like? What would you store in a tiny pocket on the page?
Finish off summer with a blast of color! Make this page as colorful as you can, from neons to holographics to glitter, and more. Sum up your summer with color and finish your junk journal.
Super Skills
Our MakeSpace crafts are carefully curated to enhance kids’ gross and fine motor skills, while also helping them develop essential everyday skills such as decision-making, trial-and-error, experimentation, collaboration, curiosity, and more!
Through this summer’s junk journaling craft, kids will build super skills like:
- Literacy & Storytelling: Creating characters, sequencing ideas, and expressing their thoughts through drawings, symbols, and words.
- Creative Problem-Solving, Executive Function, & Fine Motor: Planning pages, organizing materials, and cutting, folding, and layering recycled elements.
- Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): Making creative choices, reflecting on their experiences, and developing a sense of ownership of their creative process.
