By Christy Young, Education Service Manager |

ClackCoKids’ 2nd Annual Night at the Museum was held on May 22, 2025. The evening showcased AMAZING artwork created by our Healthy Families, Head Start and Early Head Start programs. This year’s theme was “In Our Wildest Dreams.”

In March 2025, Teachers and Family Support Specialists embarked on a journey of discovery and critical thinking with classrooms and home-based families. First, the question was asked “What does ‘In Our Wildest Dream’ mean to you?” Answers included astronauts, wild animals, space, clouds, nighttime, sleep, wild things, superheroes, stars and moon. Based on the response, ClackCoKids staff read books such as “Eight Little Planets”, “How to Catch a Star”, “Where the Wild Things Are”, and “I Dreamed a Dream” with children to expand on their ideas.

By late March, our little engineers and artists had created plans for how to illustrate their dream. A child from Oregon City View Manor Center built a wooden block blueprint of how to build a rocket ship. A classroom from the Wichita Center modeled clay into wild animals for a cardboard zoo. Early Head Start classrooms used a variety of items while painting to create textures and movement. For weeks artwork was under construction, and the final results were more than we had imagined.

Children actively engaged in reading time, connected a story to their work, and explained their creative journeys to their families. They used engineering and math (STEAM) to create a plan and built larger objects that stood without support. In groups, children worked cooperatively, verbalized ideas, and followed a process for an extended period of time. Children acquired skills that could be utilized in other settings. “In Our Wildest Dreams” was more than an art project. This was a skill builder activity. We can’t wait to see what our ClackCoKids team “dreams up” for next year’s Night at the Museum event!