Joe was an old man. The 75-year-old lived very happily in a village and had a beautiful family. Joe had four grandchildren, and they visited him during their holidays.

During one vacation, Joe was preparing his home for the kids: cleaning and buying their favorite foods. After he finished working, he realized he lost his favorite watch. The watch was a gift from his wife when their first child was born. Joe loved the watch very much, especially after his wife's death. He was very upset about losing it.

    Once his grandchildren came, they promised him they would find the watch.

    One granddaughter asked: "Grandpa, do you remember when you saw the watch last before it went missing?"

    "I guess when I was cleaning the barn(谷仓)!" Joe replied.

    The children looked for more than two hours with Joe, but they could not find it. The kids were now also sad, but they tried to comfort(安慰) their grandfather.

    One grandson went back to the barn to search again. Joe asked why he was going there a second time. But the little boy just asked the others not to follow him and to remain silent.

    He was there for about fifteen minutes and then rushed to his grandfather. He found the watch and happily gave it to Joe.

    Joe was surprised and asked how he was able to find it. The little boy replied: "I sat there without making a noise, and the barn was so silent. After a few minutes, I heard the ‘tick, tick' sound and found the watch."

    Joe hugged and thanked the little boy.

    I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch(牧马场). The last time I was there he told me his story. When he was young, his family was too poor to have a house to live in.As a result , when he was in high school, all the students were asked to write a paper about what they wanted to be and do when they grew up. That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of owning a horse ranch. He also drew a picture to show a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a beautiful farm. The next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F. Roberts asked, “Why did I receive an F?” He teacher said, “This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money.” Then the teacher added, “If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.”

    The boy went home and thought about it for a long and hard time. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, “ Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.”Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He told his teacher “you could keep the F and I still keep my dream”.

    He tells me this story because I am sitting in his 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of the 200-acre horse ranch. “I still have that school paper now.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two years ago that  teacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.” When the teacher was leaving, he said, Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer.During those years I stole a lot of kids' dreams. Luckily, you had enough gumption not to give up on yours. .”

    Mr. King is the manager (经理) of a hotel. One day all of the hotels in the city are full because there is a large meeting. In the evening, three men come into the hotel and ask for rooms. Mr. King says there are no rooms because of the meeting. The men are unhappy.

    Mr. King wants to help them. He remembers that Room 418, a very small room is empty. He asks them if they would share (分享) a room. The three men says yes. Mr. King says the room would be thirty dollars, ten for each one (每一个). Each man gives him the money and then they go up to the room.

    Mr. King soon begins to feel sorry. The price is too high for that small room, he thinks. He says to his assistant (助手), Here is five dollars. Take the money to the men in Room 418. I ask too much for their room.

    The assistant takes the money. While she is on the way there, she starts to think, "How can three men divide (分配) five dollars? So the assistant returns (还) one dollar to each man and she keeps the two dollars for herself.

    Each man pays ten dollars at first. After the assistant returns them one dollar each, each pay nine. There are three men. So $9x3= $27. The assistant keeps $2. $27 + $2= $29. Where is the missing (消失的) dollar?

    Chicago Children's Museum (CCM) is to improve children's lives by creating a small society for children to play and learn in.

    About Us

    Chicago Children's Museum is a place where families and children are encouraged to create, explore, and discover together through play. We focus on literacy, science, math, art and health.

    Some of Chicago Children's Museum's most popular exhibits include: Dinosaur Expedition(恐龙之旅)，where kids can dig for dinosaur bones; Water Ways (水道探险), which shows the wonders of water; Kids Town, where children buy and sell in shops and build their own city; Play It Safe(小小消防员), a firehouse that invites families to learn about fire safety through play.

    Chicago Children's Museum is a not for profit cultural center.

    History

    Located at Navy Pier(海军码头) since 1995, Chicago Children's Museum is I now one of the city's top cultural attractions and the second most visited children's museum in the country. Chicago

Children's Museum serves more than 650, 000 visitors per year throughout Chicago.