If you go!
Momaha.com play date: Joslyn Art Museum stroller tour
Where: Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 16
How does it work? Gather in Joslyn’s ConAgra Foods Atrium at 9:15 a.m. Activity starts at 10 a.m. Features a docent-guided stroller tour so moms, dads and caregivers can look at and talk about art with other adults while being mindful of young ones in arms and strollers. Tandem strollers and crying babies welcome.
Cost: Regular admission, $8 for adults; free for children.
RSVP by clicking here.

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Who said you can’t take a crying baby to the museum?

A new family program at Joslyn Art Museum encourages parents to take their pre-toddler children on a docent-guided “Stroller Tour” of its galleries. The first will be Jan. 16. and will double as a momaha play date.

If baby snoozes, snacks, coos or cries through the lecture, don’t worry. Such distractions are encouraged as part of the program.

“Mommy and me” events have become increasingly common, with parents able to get massages, learn to swim or dance and hone their cooking skills with their children. Stroller tours is among a growing niche that sells cultural tours to parents who want to mix intellectual stimulation with quality time with a toddler.

In fact, Bottle Rocket Stroller Tours launched in October with a two-pronged goal: to help mothers meet friends and share experiences with their babies, and to immerse the tiniest New Yorkers into the city’s culture scene.

The Whitney, Katonah and Guggenheim museums in New York offer stroller tours with extensive waiting lists, museum officials told the Wall Street Journal who wrote about stroller tours earlier this winter. And, more recently, the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis started hosting them.

Such tours have allowed new mothers to trade talk about pacifiers for banter about Picasso and surround themselves with like-minded parents for an hour or so.

According to WSJ.com, many of their customers are working parents — from bankers, investors, lawyers and doctors — on maternity leave.

Coordinators of the Omaha stroller tours hope to attract parents who want to experience art with their children. The tour will allow children to talk loudly and move around.

You also get to meet other parents who are interested in art, said Rachel Gibson of Joslyn. The tour really is for the adult, but it gives them time to do something with their child.

We’ll gather in Joslyn’s ConAgra Foods Atrium at 9:15 a.m. Activity starts at 10 a.m. Pettit’s Pastry will be donating treats, and we will be giving away a family membership, a handful of $20 Visa gift cards and other fun treats from the museum’s gift shop.

Click here to learn more about the stroller tour and register for the event.

 More Stroller Tour dates:

Space is limited; reservations are requested.
Questions? Call 402-661-3860 or email Youth and Family Programs Manger

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