By Jen B
We went to ImaginOn yesterday. This is another place that I am embarrassed to say I had never been, I guess I was waiting til my 2 1/2 year old seemed the right age. I knew it would be great, and it was.
I decided to take the train, to make it extra-special fun and also not have to worry about parking. The Seventh Street Station stop (the last stop) is literally right in front of ImaginOn. I was going to time how long it took to walk but I was less than one minute! I also tried an experiment on this trip, I did not take a stroller. With ImaginOn so close this worked out well.
First let me explain what ImaginOn is, for anyone who does not know. It is a collaboration between the Mecklenburg Public Library and the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte. The Children’s Theatre was on Morehead and the downtown library had a children’s section. Both were running out of space and the concept for ImaginOn was born.
So Claire and I walked in the front door around 10:45am. I did not know exactly what to expect in terms of layout. The best part about walking in the front door is that no one is there to take money, because it’s FREE! To my immediate left was the kids library section. Then beyond that was sort of an atrium of fun. There were musical instruments, big blocks, a fun little stage to dance on and put on dress up clothes. Claire ran around like a nut for about 30 minutes looking at and touching everything. They also had some computer games and stations but Claire was a bit young for those.
Soon after we arrived they announced there was “Boogie Woogie story time” in The Round, perfect! So we went over there to a round room with chairs made especially for storytelling. Little kids can sit up front on the floor and moms can sit on floor or in chairs. Claire was acting shy and sat in the chairs with me. A very animated lady read 2 books, then handed out ribbon wands to all the kids for a musical book, so cute. Most of the kids in here were from about ages 1 to 5 I would say.
We wandered back to the main area and first hit the potty, very clean and lots of stalls. (My only complaint about buildings designed for kids is: why do they not build kid-sized toilets and short sinks so kids can wash hands by themselves? Or a stool would be helpful)
So next we decided it was time to go to the library section. I loved that all the shelves were low so kids can reach everything and the books were not all jammed into the shelves. Lots of books were displayed facing out so you could see them. There were more computer game terminals here and lots of chairs, kids size too. One whole section was picture books and another section was non-fiction for older kids. They had a few books for parents too. the library staff was as nice as at any library. My only “complaint” is that I wish the library section had a door so that Claire could not run out. This is fine with one child but could be harder with 2 or more toddlers.
We checked out 5 books for Claire. They beauty of it is… it’s the Public Library so you can return the books at ANY library! This is key for me! After checking out Claire’s book on her library card (her “credit card” as she calls it), I got out my dusty-ole card to check out a book on good children’s books. I quickly realized that last time I had checked out a book. The computer said I owed $23!! What for I asked!?? Turns out…I was late in returning 3 wedding planning books. Now, I got married in 2004, wow. I paid up, fair is fair. The library has bags to put your books in (this was so nice since we were going home via train). And off we went, a 60-second walk back to the train about 12:30pm. (I will not talk about having to run after Claire to get out of the building, let’s just pretend it all went perfectly).
A word on strollers… there were lots of strollers at ImaginOn. Since it was cold out it would have been nice if I had a stroller to dump our coats and my backpack in. On the other hand, it was nice not to have to push it around. I think it’s a personal choice but it is a very stroller-friendly place.
MUCH MORE TO DO AT IMAGINON
I did not even scratch the surface on all the things you can do at ImaginOn. Here are a few more:
I did not even scratch the surface on all the things you can do at ImaginOn. Here are a few more:
CHILDREN’S THEATRE
As we have mentioned before they have shows all the time. Most are for kids 3 and up which is why I have never been. Here is a link to their production schedule. Most tickets cost $12 to $21 and the synopsis on each show tells you the appropriate ages.
As we have mentioned before they have shows all the time. Most are for kids 3 and up which is why I have never been. Here is a link to their production schedule. Most tickets cost $12 to $21 and the synopsis on each show tells you the appropriate ages.
STORY-TIMES
ImaginOn has fun little story times on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. I got a copy of the schedule when we were there are tried to find the coordinating page on their website to share it here. It’s pretty hard to sort through all their programs, the calendar I picked up has way more focus. So I am going to list the fun story times for kids for January, I am not sure if it changes monthly.
CUDDLE-UPS:
Story time for ages 3 to 16 months. Fridays at 10:30am
WADDLERS:
Story time for ages 17 to 24 months. Fridays at 10:00am
BOOGIE WOOGIE BOOKS:
Ages 2-5 get their groove on for story time. Fridays at 11:15am and Saturdays at 11am.
PRE-SCHOOL PICNIC:
Bring a lunch for a fun filled story time for kids 3-5 years old. Thursdays at 11:15am.
None of these seems to require registration, you can call 704-973-2720 to confirm times, especially after January.
CHILDREN’S THEATRE CLASSES:
They offer theatre classes for all ages, here is the link to the preschool aged classes, they have satellite locations so you may not need to go downtown.
SUMMER CAMPS:
Summer camp registration begins in February, here is the link but new info is not up yet. They have many at ImaginOn but also have satellite locations. The wesbite shows how many spots are left, but again it will not be be open til February.
Summer camp registration begins in February, here is the link but new info is not up yet. They have many at ImaginOn but also have satellite locations. The wesbite shows how many spots are left, but again it will not be be open til February.
There is so much more for kids of all ages, too much to list here. I suggest you go to ImaginOn and their website and just explore!
To sum up MY day…
–Round trip adult train ticket on the Lynx: $2.30
–Round trip kids ticket on the lynx: $0
–Admission to ImaginOn: $0
—Storytime: $0
–Cost to borrow 5 books: $0
–Late fees on books from 4 years ago: $23
–Access to an amazing facility like ImaginOn; PRICELESS
Readers, do you have ImaginOn tips? Have you been to their story times or camps or classes? Please share your experiences!
6 comments
They also used to do a puppet show the 3rd Monday of the month in the morning. It was wonderful. I haven’t checked the calendar to see if it is back, but my 21 month old enjoyed it. I am a huge fan of this place too. Great story.
we love to visit here. My 3 year old has lots of fun just exploring. It is a great FREE place to go!
I took my 10 month old to Cuddleups this past Fri. I really didn’t know what to expect and was astonished when I got there. First of all, it was just me and the baby. I didn’t have any friends with me, but quickly found every other mom and child in my position. There were about 35 moms/nannies and 35 children in the class. About 5 were walking and the rest were crawling or unable to yet. This was a great experience for me since I was able to talk to other moms and my son was able to interact with other children. My son is not in daycare and doesn’t interact with other children that often, so I have decided this is a definite every Fri for us. Hopefully we will see some of the friends he made last week. The story teller was full of energy and we sang songs and my little one chased after bubbles and moved chairs. This was a great Free activity for my child and Me!
My husband and I had the day off last week and took our 2 yr old on the train to Imaginon– we all had such a nice time together and grabbed a snack/drink at Reid’s grocery store and sat outside before taking the train home. Certainly a fun outing we’ll do again!
As an uptowner, we frequent Imaginon a lot and absolutely love this place! A tip for those that are driving, they have parking underneath their building that can be accessed from 6th street, but if that lot is full, which sometimes happens if there is a show going on, they will also stamp parking tickets from 7th Street station parking garage.
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