Toddle Towne | The Learning Center in Alton

10/16/2026

10/16/2026

The School Kids had a blast drawing Frankenstein!
They did a great job!

10/15/2026

Be sure to check out our 💜PURPLE BOARD💜 for the newest art project the Tarantula Class completed! They "copied" Frankenstein!!

10/14/2026

The Caterpillars had a great morning making Crumpled Leaf Collages!

10/13/2026

Halloween is creeping up on us, but it’s all treats — no tricks — this spooky season. Here's our ultimate Halloween parade guide. 🎃💀

10/13/2026

Come taste Toddle Towne's chili this Sunday!!!

🔥Downtown Alton Chili Cook-Off🔥
• Date: Sunday, October 18, 2026
• Location: FLOCK Food Truck Park & Bar, Alton, IL
• Admission: $10 for adults, $5 for kids 12 and under (door tickets only for chili samples)
🔥 Details: Features amateur and professional chefs competing across Individual, Organization, Business, and Restaurant categories, live music by Psychedelic Symphony, and a silver ladle for People's Choice.🔥

10/09/2026

Just a reminder, we will be CLOSED Monday for state mandated training.

10/09/2026

Friday Facts: a little Alton History

High on a limestone bluff above the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois, a massive painted creature with antlers, red eyes, and a long scaled tail has been watching over the water for centuries, in one form or another.

The real history starts in 1673, when French explorers Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet documented seeing a painted mural of two monster like figures on the bluffs, describing deer like horns, red eyes, and scaled bodies. Notably, Marquette's original account never mentioned wings at all.

The dramatic legend most people know today, about a brave chief named Ouatoga who supposedly defeated the man eating bird using an invisible shield from the Great Spirit, actually came from a writer named John Russell in 1836, who later admitted to friends that he had basically invented the story by blending Marquette's account with his own imagination. The original painted bluff was quarried away in the mid 1800s, and the Piasa Bird mural visitors see today, repainted most recently by artist Dave Stevens in 1999, is a modern recreation keeping a 350 year old story alive.

Does it change the story for you to learn the famous "ancient legend" part was actually written by one guy in 1836.

10/09/2026

Artists of the Week: 10/12-10/16
Ollivia
Aquarius
Sophia
Vera
Ariel