April Vacation at PEM 2024

PEM has a great lineup for kids and families during April Vacation 2024

Looking for things to do during your April Vacation on the North Shore? Peabody Essex Museum has a fabulous line-up of fun activities, performances, and tours for kids and families. Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the cultural exchange project that brought Yin Yu Tang to Peabody Essex Museum !

For this school vacation week, travel across the world without leaving Salem by learning traditional Chinese paper cutting with local guest artist Zhonghe (Elena) Li on Monday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons. Join us for film screenings in Morse Auditorium on Friday, and challenge yourself all three days with a museum-wide dragon scavenger hunt!

Daily Activities

Monday, April 15, 2024

Dragon Quest
10 am–5 pm

Available all-day. Learn about dragons in art and tradition around the world in a scavenger hunt that takes you across the museum. See if you can find all nine dragons — if you find them, a prize awaits you! Stop by the Information desk to pick up your dragon activity booklet.

Traditional Chinese Paper Cutting with Zhonghe (Elena) Li
1 pm and 2 pm | Create Space Studios
Same-day tickets are required for this timed workshop; capacity is limited. Tickets are available at the Information desk.
Spring has arrived! Frogs and ducks are appearing in neighborhood ponds. Chipmunks and rabbits are peeking out of their burrows and birds are building nests. Join artist Zhonghe (Elena) Li for a spring-themed lesson in Chinese paper cutting. She will show you basic skills using scissors, and you will create along with her and tell your own stories!

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Dragon Quest
10 am–5 pm

Available all day
Learn about dragons in art and tradition around the world in a scavenger hunt that takes you across the museum. See if you can find all nine dragons — if you find them, a prize awaits you! Stop by the Information desk to pick up your dragon activity booklet.

Traditional Chinese Paper Cutting with Zhonghe (Elena) Li
1 pm and 2 pm | Create Space Studios
Same-day tickets are required for this timed workshop; capacity is limited. Tickets are available at the Information desk.
Spring has arrived! Frogs and ducks are appearing in neighborhood ponds. Chipmunks and rabbits are peeking out of their burrows and birds are building nests. Join artist Zhonghe (Elena) Li for a spring-themed lesson in Chinese paper cutting. She will show you basic skills using scissors, and you will create along with her and tell your own stories!

Friday, April 19, 2024

Dragon Quest
10 am–5 pm

Learn about dragons in art and tradition around the world in a scavenger hunt that takes you across the museum. See if you can find all nine dragons — if you find them, a prize awaits you! Stop by the Information desk to pick up your dragon activity booklet.

Yin Yu Tang Film Screenings
12–4 pm | Morse Auditorium
Learn about the Yin Yu Tang home as well as daily life and celebrations in rural China through this series of documentary shorts.

  • “One Day in Ping Wei”
    Follow a little girl as she goes about her day in a town in Anhui Province, the home region of Yin Yu Tang, and learn about life in rural China through her eyes. (Pearl River Productions. Mandarin and English, with subtitles. Runtime: 30 mins.)
  • “Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home”
    Experience the journey of this 200-year old Chinese house as it is dismantled in its village, shipped to America and re-erected at the Peabody Essex Museum. The significance of homes and the families they shelter in Chinese culture is presented through vivid images of construction techniques and ceremonies and through interviews with Huang family members and participants in the Yin Yu Tang project. (Runtime: about 17 minutes.)
  • “Guo Nian: Passage into a New Year”
    Lunar New Year festivities in China often last two weeks and entail days of preparation. This film documents contemporary celebrations in the Huizhou region (the original home of Yin Yu Tang) and records reminiscences of New Years past. (Runtime: about 17 minutes.)
  • “Guomen: A Village Wedding”
    A young woman and her family prepare for her wedding in a village near Huang Cun, the original home of Yin Yu Tang. In the groom's household, they are readying the new couple's bedroom and a grand wedding feast. The bride, her father, and others describe the traditional rituals and emotional stress, while elders – some of them former residents of Yin Yu Tang – recall their own weddings. (Runtime: about 17 minutes.)

Traditional Chinese Paper Cutting with Zhonghe (Elena) Li
1 pm and 2 pm | Create Space Studios
Same-day tickets are required for this timed workshop; capacity is limited. Tickets are available at the Information desk.

Spring has arrived! Frogs and ducks are appearing in neighborhood ponds. Chipmunks and rabbits are peeking out of their burrows and birds are building nests. Join artist Zhonghe (Elena) Li for a spring-themed lesson in Chinese paper cutting. She will show you basic skills using scissors, and you will create along with her and tell your own stories!

When: 
Monday, April 15, 2024 - Friday, April 19, 2024 10am - 4pm
Prices: 
Included with Museum Admission
Phone: 
978-745-9500
Glen Urquhart School Pre-K through 8th grade in Beverly MA

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point

Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
7:00 am to 6:00 pm

Saugus Iron Works Park Grounds & Estuary Walk

Take a hike along the Saugus River Estuary ande explore the Saugus Iron Works Park grounds in Massachusetts
Learn about the natural world in Saugus while ecploring the park ground ast the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site in Massachusetts.
7:00 am to 7:00 pm

A Colorful Christmas at Castle Hill

A Colorful Christmas by the Sea is a weekend of festivities hosted by the Trustees of Reservations at Castle Hill in Ipswich Massachusetts
Visiting Castle Hill at Christmas is a time-honored tradition. Don’t miss this year’s Travels with the Cranes. Each room in our 1920s mansion is decorated for the holidays drawing inspiration from Crane travels around the world, including Paris, Japan, Egypt, and New York.
10:00 am to 8:00 pm

Deck The Halls: Hammond Castle

A holiday themed tour of Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester Massachusetts
Come to Hammond Castle for the 6th annual Deck The Halls holiday celebration. Hammond Castle Museum will be dressed for the holidays inside and out. Delight in the enchanting ambiance of Christmas and White Birch trees, meticulously arranged garlands, festive wreaths, and the warm embrace of...
10:00 am to 4:00 pm

CraneOutdoors: Sunday Family Snowy Owl Prowl

Join the Trustees of Reservations at dlife Refuge in Ipswich Massachusetts in search of the Snowy Owl!
Wide-open coastal sites are the location of choice for wintering Snowy Owls; common perches are dunes and salt hay staddles. In winters past, these owls have been frequent visitors to the Crane Wildlife Refuge.
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

A Christmas Carol Panto

Theater in the Open celebrates the holidays with their interpretation of Dickens' Christmas Carol at the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport!
Bah, humbug! Theater in the Open celebrates the holiday season with this Dickens classic, presented in true TITO style. So be prepared for anything to happen!  
3:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Trustees Winterlights at Stevens Coolidge Place

The Trustees of Reservations Winterlights at the Stevents-Coolidge Place North Andover North Andover.
Winterlights is back! Join the Trustees for a magical outdoor experience at Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens, and see the gardens aglow with your favorite light installations as well as marveling at new components. Bring the whole family for a fun and safe outdoor experience. Winterlights runs...
4:30 pm to 8:00 pm

Monday, December 23

Saugus Iron Works Park Grounds & Estuary Walk

Take a hike along the Saugus River Estuary ande explore the Saugus Iron Works Park grounds in Massachusetts
Learn about the natural world in Saugus while ecploring the park ground ast the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site in Massachusetts.
7:00 am to 7:00 pm

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point

Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
7:00 am to 6:00 pm

Sing & Dance with the Music Man

Sing & Dance with the Music Man Brian Doser in Hamilton visit Massachusetts
Come join the fun at Community House Of Hamilton & Wenham Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings at 10am for 30 - 45 minutes of great music with Brian Doser! Sing and dance with the Music Man during a family concert, featuring familiar and original tunes, performed by local dad and musician,...
10:00 am to 10:45 am

Deck The Halls: Hammond Castle

A holiday themed tour of Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester Massachusetts
Come to Hammond Castle for the 6th annual Deck The Halls holiday celebration. Hammond Castle Museum will be dressed for the holidays inside and out. Delight in the enchanting ambiance of Christmas and White Birch trees, meticulously arranged garlands, festive wreaths, and the warm embrace of...
10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Lego Time at MPL

Children in grades 2 and up are invited to come to the Manchester Massachusetts Library's Lego Club
Drop-in, unstructured Lego building fun! Come with friends or come to make new ones, this program is for kids ages six and up. 
3:30 pm to 4:30 pm

Tuesday, December 24

Saugus Iron Works Park Grounds & Estuary Walk

Take a hike along the Saugus River Estuary ande explore the Saugus Iron Works Park grounds in Massachusetts
Learn about the natural world in Saugus while ecploring the park ground ast the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site in Massachusetts.
7:00 am to 7:00 pm

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point

Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
7:00 am to 6:00 pm

Music Together - Tuesday in Marblehead

Marblehead, Beverly Farms, Hamilton, Salem, Peabody Music Together
Music Together® is a research-based music & movement program for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and the grown-ups who love them. Music Together® of Salem classes make it easy for parents/primary caregivers to play a crucial role in activating their child's music development. Classes are 45...
10:00 am to 10:45 am

Deck The Halls: Hammond Castle

A holiday themed tour of Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester Massachusetts
Come to Hammond Castle for the 6th annual Deck The Halls holiday celebration. Hammond Castle Museum will be dressed for the holidays inside and out. Delight in the enchanting ambiance of Christmas and White Birch trees, meticulously arranged garlands, festive wreaths, and the warm embrace of...
10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Wednesday, December 25

Christmas Day

12:00 am to 11:59 pm