A Frightfully Good Time at #FrightSchool 2016

It can be difficult to find an affordable and family friendly Halloween outing in Muncie. Add in the unpredictable weather of late October in Indiana and it can seem impossible to get everybody out of the house for some Halloween fun.

A young boy in a snowman costume and wearing a paper bat hat shows off a paper wind catcher.
This pint-sized Olaf (Frozen) was very proud of his Ghoulish Bat Hat and his Jack-O’-Lantern Wind Catcher!

Fortunately, our museum educator Claire – whose responsibilities include public programming and event planning – had a plan. A spooky plan: design a Halloween event for ghouls and monsters of all ages to visit the National Model Aviation Museum, perhaps for the first time! Throw in a fun pun (#FrightSchool is a play on AMA’s Flight School educational program) per Claire’s modus operandi and you’ve got yourself the bones of a scary fun event!

A woman dressed an in velvet doll costume helps a young girl make a paper craft.
One of our volunteers, dressed as a porcelain doll, instructs a tiny Captain Phasma (Star Wars) on how to create a Jack-O-Lantern Wind Catcher.

The second best part of Halloween is wearing your costume (the first being, of course, trick-or-treating) so the Museum offered free admission to kids in costume when accompanied with a paid adult.

A young boy in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume watches as he plays with a "ghost" paper napkin parachute.
Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) is awestruck by the Spooky Ghost Parachute – our educator in the background looks like she’s having just as much fun!

The event took place during open hours on Saturday, October 29th so families could have the opportunity to visit and enjoy both the museum exhibitions and the craft projects at their own pace. Upon leaving the Museum, the first 25 children received a gift bag containing non-food Halloween treats (including a timeless favorite, a set of plastic vampire fangs) and a free family pass for a future visit. With the newest addition to the Adventure Hangar, Spinning Tops to Whirling Props: the Wright Brothers’ Progress in Aviation, opening soon, families have a perfect excuse to return!

A young boy in a Yoda costume runs through the museum's gallery.
Yoda (Star Wars) had a great time exploring the exhibit space!

#FrightSchool was part of Claire’s ongoing effort to plan events aimed at the local Muncie community and improve the overall visitor experience at the Museum – at a final head count of 52, we’d say it was a huge success!

A family, including a child dressed as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, works on paper crafts together.
Entire families – including Raphael (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), a Grim Reaper, and a witch – had a great time doing projects and learning more about model aviation!

#FrightSchool was the first in our new series of family events, and second event overall following the popular Hops & Props, a 21+ evening event which took place on October 1st. We are very excited to be starting a tradition of providing a wide range of annual programming to our community!

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For more information on the National Model Aviation Museum, including our location, hours and admission fees visit: www.modelaircraft.org/museum

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