OK, I will have the final say here.
I must say that when I allocate funds to send people to a training experience or conference, this is the kind of blog that I would say is an example of what I would hope/expect to get. All of you took the time to craft detailed postings. And the blog was very thorough in that I not only got a clear idea of what happened at each session but at the same time, I got a good feel for the "learning" that happened with each of you as well as the "fun" you all had.
Bottom line is great job at blogging, and also for representing Rancho well at the 2011 ACM!
RK
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Final post-conference post - Jason
My last post—whew!
This was a fascinating, enlightening and tiring few days in Houston. What did I take away from it? I don’t think I saw the one exhibit or heard the one idea that is going to make the mobile library/museum a great place, but I did get a lot out of the conference. Most importantly, I think, I now have at least a passing familiarity with the language, concerns, challenges and opportunities of the children’s museum world. I think this will help me not only on the mobile project but to contribute more to the second floor project as it develops. There were a couple of recurring themes that emerged during the conference that I thought I’d address.
1. Technology in children’s museums. There seems to be a fairly fierce debate regarding the place of technology (meaning primarily content on electronic screens) in children’s museums. On one hand, there is a faction that sees hands-on, real-world activities engaged with other children and adults as of prime importance. Also pushing in this direction is the movement for more exercise to fight obesity in children. These people see too much screen time as a problem for children, and feel that the museum should be a place where the children are pulled away from glowing squares and thrown into a world of movement and interaction. They’re right.
On the other side are those who see the attractions and opportunities of technology as a powerful new educational tool. They cite the ability of technology to connect people around the globe, instantly deliver information and give children new opportunities for creative expression. They also point out that children are naturally attracted to electronic media and that, since they’re spending time in front of screens anyway, they should be spending that time on educational and enriching activities. They’re right, too.
I suspect these two camps aren’t as far apart as they think they are. I doubt there are many in the children’s museums world who would say that every exhibit and activity should have a screen whether or not it enhances the content, and I also doubt there are many who would say that nothing electronic should ever show up in a children’s museum. What I’ll take away from this debate is to be somewhat suspicious of the presence of electronic components in children’s museum exhibits, to ask why the screen is there, if it’s necessary and if the same information or features could be delivered without it.
2. The desirability and even necessity of collaboration between museums. Exhibits are very expensive to design, prototype and test. The actual fabrication and installation of the exhibits is only a fraction of the total cost. (Paul Martin of the Science Museum of Minnesota cited costs of $400/sq. ft. for start-to-finish cost for large exhibits, and only $90/sq. ft. for fabrication and installation.) Because of the expense of development costs, museums can stretch their tight budgets by sharing designs and exhibits or purchasing already designed and tested exhibits from other museums. The Smithsonian, IMLS and networks such as the Exploratorium’s ExNet facilitate this process, and many children’s museums offer exhibits that can be rented or purchased outright.
One idea I think we might borrow and adapt to our uses are the Houston Children’s Museum’s FLIP Kits, which are checked out through public libraries. These are a bit like our backpacks, but they add a page of ideas to extend the learning from the book into the real world with educational play activities designed to reinforce the concepts from the book using the included toys. One thing I don’t like about them—they only have one book. What I do like is that, by offering the suggested activities that connect both the toy and the book they reinforce the idea that both reading and play are important parts of early literacy skills, and that each can and should reinforce the other. I’d like to see something similar available on the museum mobile.
Of course, I sometimes felt a bit like a fish out of water, like I was surrounded by people who spoke a different language, but I did learn that we library people have some advantages entering this world. One session I attended was focused on a major research project that highlighted the need for museum staff to learn to ask open-ended questions rather than simply lecture when imparting information to kids. That comes naturally to us in libraries. It’s how we do our job at public service desks. And I think already understanding that will serve us well when we enter the museum world.
Finally, I’d like to thank Robert, Michelle and Renee for making it possible for me to attend this conference and Margaret, Angelica and Renee (again) for being the best traveling companions I could have hoped for. The conference was both much more fun and much more valuable with colleagues to talk thing over with at mealtimes.
And, finally, one complaint—the Houston Art Car Parade was held today (Sunday) and it’s an event I’d wanted to see for years. Couldn’t ACM have scheduled the conference to last one more day? Of course, even if there had been a session called “Words on Wheels: Building a Successful Mobile Museum with a Literacy Focus” I would have skipped it for to see the Art Cars.
That’s it for now. If anyone has any questions or would like to know more about anything I learned, please let me know.
This was a fascinating, enlightening and tiring few days in Houston. What did I take away from it? I don’t think I saw the one exhibit or heard the one idea that is going to make the mobile library/museum a great place, but I did get a lot out of the conference. Most importantly, I think, I now have at least a passing familiarity with the language, concerns, challenges and opportunities of the children’s museum world. I think this will help me not only on the mobile project but to contribute more to the second floor project as it develops. There were a couple of recurring themes that emerged during the conference that I thought I’d address.
1. Technology in children’s museums. There seems to be a fairly fierce debate regarding the place of technology (meaning primarily content on electronic screens) in children’s museums. On one hand, there is a faction that sees hands-on, real-world activities engaged with other children and adults as of prime importance. Also pushing in this direction is the movement for more exercise to fight obesity in children. These people see too much screen time as a problem for children, and feel that the museum should be a place where the children are pulled away from glowing squares and thrown into a world of movement and interaction. They’re right.
On the other side are those who see the attractions and opportunities of technology as a powerful new educational tool. They cite the ability of technology to connect people around the globe, instantly deliver information and give children new opportunities for creative expression. They also point out that children are naturally attracted to electronic media and that, since they’re spending time in front of screens anyway, they should be spending that time on educational and enriching activities. They’re right, too.
I suspect these two camps aren’t as far apart as they think they are. I doubt there are many in the children’s museums world who would say that every exhibit and activity should have a screen whether or not it enhances the content, and I also doubt there are many who would say that nothing electronic should ever show up in a children’s museum. What I’ll take away from this debate is to be somewhat suspicious of the presence of electronic components in children’s museum exhibits, to ask why the screen is there, if it’s necessary and if the same information or features could be delivered without it.
2. The desirability and even necessity of collaboration between museums. Exhibits are very expensive to design, prototype and test. The actual fabrication and installation of the exhibits is only a fraction of the total cost. (Paul Martin of the Science Museum of Minnesota cited costs of $400/sq. ft. for start-to-finish cost for large exhibits, and only $90/sq. ft. for fabrication and installation.) Because of the expense of development costs, museums can stretch their tight budgets by sharing designs and exhibits or purchasing already designed and tested exhibits from other museums. The Smithsonian, IMLS and networks such as the Exploratorium’s ExNet facilitate this process, and many children’s museums offer exhibits that can be rented or purchased outright.
One idea I think we might borrow and adapt to our uses are the Houston Children’s Museum’s FLIP Kits, which are checked out through public libraries. These are a bit like our backpacks, but they add a page of ideas to extend the learning from the book into the real world with educational play activities designed to reinforce the concepts from the book using the included toys. One thing I don’t like about them—they only have one book. What I do like is that, by offering the suggested activities that connect both the toy and the book they reinforce the idea that both reading and play are important parts of early literacy skills, and that each can and should reinforce the other. I’d like to see something similar available on the museum mobile.
Of course, I sometimes felt a bit like a fish out of water, like I was surrounded by people who spoke a different language, but I did learn that we library people have some advantages entering this world. One session I attended was focused on a major research project that highlighted the need for museum staff to learn to ask open-ended questions rather than simply lecture when imparting information to kids. That comes naturally to us in libraries. It’s how we do our job at public service desks. And I think already understanding that will serve us well when we enter the museum world.
Finally, I’d like to thank Robert, Michelle and Renee for making it possible for me to attend this conference and Margaret, Angelica and Renee (again) for being the best traveling companions I could have hoped for. The conference was both much more fun and much more valuable with colleagues to talk thing over with at mealtimes.
And, finally, one complaint—the Houston Art Car Parade was held today (Sunday) and it’s an event I’d wanted to see for years. Couldn’t ACM have scheduled the conference to last one more day? Of course, even if there had been a session called “Words on Wheels: Building a Successful Mobile Museum with a Literacy Focus” I would have skipped it for to see the Art Cars.
That’s it for now. If anyone has any questions or would like to know more about anything I learned, please let me know.
Saturday, May 21st - Jason
Saturday, May 21st
The plenary session this morning started with Susan Hildreth, the director of IMLS, announcing that their “Let’s Move Museums and Gardens” program, encouraging healthy physical activity for kids, is now officially part of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign. She showed a video message from the first lady to children’s museums congratulating them on joining the movement.
The keynote speaker for the day was Lisa Henson, Jim Henson’s daughter and the current CEO of the Jim Henson company. She described the history of the company and some of the ideas and philosophies behind the educational programming they have developed. The idea behind Sesame Street came from Jim Henson’s observation that children have a strong attraction and connection to TV, and that they learn things from it (such as memorizing advertising jingles). He realized that that, with fun, appealing programming, that same learning process could be used to teach children things like counting, the alphabet and reading. She said “ask not if a child is learning from media but what they could be learning.” This ties in with what Milton Chen said yesterday about using children’s natural connection and attraction to electronic media to an educational advantage by putting educational content on the screens they’re using anyway.
Also tying in with what Milton Chen said, she described the effort to incorporate visits to real science centers into the second season of their science-education show Sid the Science Kid. This is an animated show, but they have incorporated live-action sequences of real children doing experiments at a real science center. They also sponsor live Sid events at science museums around the country, with lots of activities and an appearance by a life-size Sid costumed character. This also recalls what Brad Larson said in the Technology in Children’s Museums session regarding tying electronic content to real life and inspiring viewers to engage in real-world activities related to what they see on the screen.
One other thing Lisa Henson mentioned that I liked was the idea that the remarkable creative atmosphere that exists at the Henson company comes out of encouraging diversity (of thought more than race, gender, etc.), unpredictability, humor and “weirdness” and that all these qualities can also be applied to children’s learning. It sounds kind of like the Jim Henson company is one big children’s museum. These are a lot of the qualities of the best children’s museums.
With the conference ending at noon, my only session of the day was “Theatrical Play is Child’s Play.” This focused on integrating theater, performance (particularly puppets) and make-believe into all aspects of children’s museum operations. The first speaker was Hyla Crane from Stepping Stones Children’s museum. She spoke about some of the developmental benefits that dramatic play can have for children. She mentioned that it helps teach them empathy by allowing them to pretend to be something or someone else and thereby see the world from someone else’s viewpoint. She also pointed out that it gives them a sense of control in a world where they often have very little.
Some of the programs her museum uses are Playmaking—a program where children develop characters, write plays and then either perform them or see them performed by local professional actors. She said this latter option gives the children a feeling of legitimacy to see adults acting out their words and stories.
She mentioned that, as someone with an arts background in a science-oriented museum, she at first had some difficulty fitting in. She found that reader’s theater was a good way to make her program relevant by developing and writing scripts about museum content and exhibits, which could then be rehearsed and performed by children. She also said that museum staff needed some help to learn how to use a puppet properly, so she brought in a professional puppeteer to give lessons. A related program run by her museum is YESS (Youth Enhancement Stepping Stones), a program for ages 12-18. It started out as a volunteer program for teens and has expanded to encompass performance. They are currently developing a reader’s theater program on bullying, which they will perform for younger museum visitors.
The other speaker was Alice Gonglewski from Please Touch Museum. She said they do three types of theatrical programs—Performances (scripted shows in their theater), improvised dramatic interactions (performers in character interacting with patrons spontaneously on the museum floor) and formalized programs (a program involving a specific, structured activity for kids). She made a few interesting points.
-Theater is a great vehicle for engaging visitors and disseminating information
- Many museums think their choices are to either do formal performances in a theater or no theater at all. This is not true. It’s not necessary to have either theater professionals or a theater space to incorporate theater into your museum. It can be informal and integrated into everyday operations and programs.
- They use puppets extensively for strolling improvisational interactions. A puppeteer will wander the museum and talk to visitors. They’re also great for keeping kids interested while waiting in line. I thought this was a great idea, but could be pretty expensive.
- Their “star” puppet—Pinky—does the museum’s video blog. This is a great idea because, rather than a staff member just droning on about what’s coming up at the museum, they have a humorous little film that kids would want to watch, too.
- New puppet characters are sometimes introduced to coincide with specific exhibits.
- And, unrelated to puppets, it’s a good idea to add dramatic play elements to everything you do. One example she gave—in a program on volcanoes, add a segment where the children attending can pretend to be erupting volcanoes or flowing lava covering everything.
I also wanted to mention that Alice Gonglewski was an excellent puppeteer, and she made it clear that it is a skill that needs to be learned, developed and practiced. When she used her puppet Pinky, it really did look like they were having a conversation, despite the fact that she moves her mouth when talking for Pinky. A couple of interesting tips she mentioned—always look at the puppet when the puppet is talking to you and make sure the puppet is looking at you when you’re talking, and explain what you’re doing before taking the puppet off, especially to young children. They can be freaked out if you just pull the puppet off your hand and toss it on the table.
The plenary session this morning started with Susan Hildreth, the director of IMLS, announcing that their “Let’s Move Museums and Gardens” program, encouraging healthy physical activity for kids, is now officially part of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign. She showed a video message from the first lady to children’s museums congratulating them on joining the movement.
The keynote speaker for the day was Lisa Henson, Jim Henson’s daughter and the current CEO of the Jim Henson company. She described the history of the company and some of the ideas and philosophies behind the educational programming they have developed. The idea behind Sesame Street came from Jim Henson’s observation that children have a strong attraction and connection to TV, and that they learn things from it (such as memorizing advertising jingles). He realized that that, with fun, appealing programming, that same learning process could be used to teach children things like counting, the alphabet and reading. She said “ask not if a child is learning from media but what they could be learning.” This ties in with what Milton Chen said yesterday about using children’s natural connection and attraction to electronic media to an educational advantage by putting educational content on the screens they’re using anyway.
Also tying in with what Milton Chen said, she described the effort to incorporate visits to real science centers into the second season of their science-education show Sid the Science Kid. This is an animated show, but they have incorporated live-action sequences of real children doing experiments at a real science center. They also sponsor live Sid events at science museums around the country, with lots of activities and an appearance by a life-size Sid costumed character. This also recalls what Brad Larson said in the Technology in Children’s Museums session regarding tying electronic content to real life and inspiring viewers to engage in real-world activities related to what they see on the screen.
One other thing Lisa Henson mentioned that I liked was the idea that the remarkable creative atmosphere that exists at the Henson company comes out of encouraging diversity (of thought more than race, gender, etc.), unpredictability, humor and “weirdness” and that all these qualities can also be applied to children’s learning. It sounds kind of like the Jim Henson company is one big children’s museum. These are a lot of the qualities of the best children’s museums.
With the conference ending at noon, my only session of the day was “Theatrical Play is Child’s Play.” This focused on integrating theater, performance (particularly puppets) and make-believe into all aspects of children’s museum operations. The first speaker was Hyla Crane from Stepping Stones Children’s museum. She spoke about some of the developmental benefits that dramatic play can have for children. She mentioned that it helps teach them empathy by allowing them to pretend to be something or someone else and thereby see the world from someone else’s viewpoint. She also pointed out that it gives them a sense of control in a world where they often have very little.
Some of the programs her museum uses are Playmaking—a program where children develop characters, write plays and then either perform them or see them performed by local professional actors. She said this latter option gives the children a feeling of legitimacy to see adults acting out their words and stories.
She mentioned that, as someone with an arts background in a science-oriented museum, she at first had some difficulty fitting in. She found that reader’s theater was a good way to make her program relevant by developing and writing scripts about museum content and exhibits, which could then be rehearsed and performed by children. She also said that museum staff needed some help to learn how to use a puppet properly, so she brought in a professional puppeteer to give lessons. A related program run by her museum is YESS (Youth Enhancement Stepping Stones), a program for ages 12-18. It started out as a volunteer program for teens and has expanded to encompass performance. They are currently developing a reader’s theater program on bullying, which they will perform for younger museum visitors.
The other speaker was Alice Gonglewski from Please Touch Museum. She said they do three types of theatrical programs—Performances (scripted shows in their theater), improvised dramatic interactions (performers in character interacting with patrons spontaneously on the museum floor) and formalized programs (a program involving a specific, structured activity for kids). She made a few interesting points.
-Theater is a great vehicle for engaging visitors and disseminating information
- Many museums think their choices are to either do formal performances in a theater or no theater at all. This is not true. It’s not necessary to have either theater professionals or a theater space to incorporate theater into your museum. It can be informal and integrated into everyday operations and programs.
- They use puppets extensively for strolling improvisational interactions. A puppeteer will wander the museum and talk to visitors. They’re also great for keeping kids interested while waiting in line. I thought this was a great idea, but could be pretty expensive.
- Their “star” puppet—Pinky—does the museum’s video blog. This is a great idea because, rather than a staff member just droning on about what’s coming up at the museum, they have a humorous little film that kids would want to watch, too.
- New puppet characters are sometimes introduced to coincide with specific exhibits.
- And, unrelated to puppets, it’s a good idea to add dramatic play elements to everything you do. One example she gave—in a program on volcanoes, add a segment where the children attending can pretend to be erupting volcanoes or flowing lava covering everything.
I also wanted to mention that Alice Gonglewski was an excellent puppeteer, and she made it clear that it is a skill that needs to be learned, developed and practiced. When she used her puppet Pinky, it really did look like they were having a conversation, despite the fact that she moves her mouth when talking for Pinky. A couple of interesting tips she mentioned—always look at the puppet when the puppet is talking to you and make sure the puppet is looking at you when you’re talking, and explain what you’re doing before taking the puppet off, especially to young children. They can be freaked out if you just pull the puppet off your hand and toss it on the table.
Fri. 4:30 - 4:45 : Simple Stem for the 21st Century Learning Skills
Fri. 4:30 - 4:45
Simple Stem for the 21st Century Learning Skills
Presenters:
Keith Osfeld, Children's Museums of Houston
Rae Ostman, Science Center New York
Ali Stein, Science Cenetr New York
Michelle Kortenaar, Sciecne Center
Shawntel Landavazo, Musuem of Life and Science, Duram, NC
Maura Thompson, Thirteen WNET
Jacquelynn Accetta, Discovery Center Museum, Rockford, IL
This felt like a repeat of a session I went to last year - but better. I arrived and Keith O. said that we would be rotating tables and looking after different, simple program ideas at each table and introduced each of the other presenters who had experiments at each of the tables. He said we could spend 5 minutes and leave or th ewhole time at one table. I think we can use some of these in DC and family saturdays. Keith said he had burned all of the handouts and information onto cds, but forgot them. We could email him for drop box information. I will e-mail when I am back in the library.
Experiments -
- Share info about bird beaks and evolution. Then kids try their own bird beak (kids use chop sticks and toothpicks and under timed scenarios, use chart, try to grab as many items out of a cup (gummy fish) to see what is the most effective bird beak.
- Sid the science kid mobile. Give them a bag with straws, rubberbnds, paperclips, index card with holes punched out. Kids decorate and hang. Talk about balance, move the hanging pieces.
- Rainbow in a tube. Use large vials with stoppers. Mix specific amounts of acids/bases chemicals to create rainbow
- Name that zoom - Teach kids about magnification. Go to Name that zoom website show magnified pictures (we can use library book scans too). Make a twitter game - like 20 questions, where everyone gives a guess, response should be yes/no with clues - getting warmer, think about 3 legs.
- Nano experiment - Teach about different forces. Big cups and doll sized cup pour out water. Doll cup will not pour water because small - force of cohesion can overcome gravity because so small.
- Nano - duplo blocks with oven mitts. Right tool for right size.
- Nano - Magnetic field flags
- Find the rainbow, Special paper glasses and colored water bottles. Teach about light absorption and spectrum.
- See sound waves - build a speaker cup, put a balloon and salt on top
- Build a speaker, mp3 player, index card/spoon, cup and copper tape
Simple Stem for the 21st Century Learning Skills
Presenters:
Keith Osfeld, Children's Museums of Houston
Rae Ostman, Science Center New York
Ali Stein, Science Cenetr New York
Michelle Kortenaar, Sciecne Center
Shawntel Landavazo, Musuem of Life and Science, Duram, NC
Maura Thompson, Thirteen WNET
Jacquelynn Accetta, Discovery Center Museum, Rockford, IL
This felt like a repeat of a session I went to last year - but better. I arrived and Keith O. said that we would be rotating tables and looking after different, simple program ideas at each table and introduced each of the other presenters who had experiments at each of the tables. He said we could spend 5 minutes and leave or th ewhole time at one table. I think we can use some of these in DC and family saturdays. Keith said he had burned all of the handouts and information onto cds, but forgot them. We could email him for drop box information. I will e-mail when I am back in the library.
Experiments -
- Share info about bird beaks and evolution. Then kids try their own bird beak (kids use chop sticks and toothpicks and under timed scenarios, use chart, try to grab as many items out of a cup (gummy fish) to see what is the most effective bird beak.
- Sid the science kid mobile. Give them a bag with straws, rubberbnds, paperclips, index card with holes punched out. Kids decorate and hang. Talk about balance, move the hanging pieces.
- Rainbow in a tube. Use large vials with stoppers. Mix specific amounts of acids/bases chemicals to create rainbow
- Name that zoom - Teach kids about magnification. Go to Name that zoom website show magnified pictures (we can use library book scans too). Make a twitter game - like 20 questions, where everyone gives a guess, response should be yes/no with clues - getting warmer, think about 3 legs.
- Nano experiment - Teach about different forces. Big cups and doll sized cup pour out water. Doll cup will not pour water because small - force of cohesion can overcome gravity because so small.
- Nano - duplo blocks with oven mitts. Right tool for right size.
- Nano - Magnetic field flags
- Find the rainbow, Special paper glasses and colored water bottles. Teach about light absorption and spectrum.
- See sound waves - build a speaker cup, put a balloon and salt on top
- Build a speaker, mp3 player, index card/spoon, cup and copper tape
Sat. 10:45 – 12 : Innovative Exhibitions: And How to Get There
Day 3
10:45 – 12
Innovative Exhibitions: And How to Get There
Kathy Kraft, Scienteer - Science Center, Ithaca New York
Keith Osfelt, Children's Museum of Houston (former science teacher)
Clifford Wagner, Clifford Wagner Science Interactives
Greg Belew, Hands On, Inc.
This session was ok – I give it a B-. There were only 8 people who came. The panel was all people who build exhibits, and that I have seen in other sessions. The panel was definitely all science exhibit builders and the feel of their exhibits that they build is very stripped down, basic function. It felt like they were missing the artistic touch and creativity.
One of the presenters, Keith O., said “exhibits are a tool” not a piece of art –therefore they need to be changed to keep up with the visitors. I do agree that change is needed – but I think the artistic and creatively value of a piece is just as important. It’s a statement about your museum and a marketing tool as well.
When the session started we were told we would see three short 5 minute presentations, then we would break into a group (not enough for groups plural), then we could leave and “crash” another session. I sat next to an exhibit builder from Arlington, VA and an exhibit tech from Massachusetes. Each of the three presenters did a slide show about an exhibit that they felt was innovative. They were all longer than 5 minutes.
NY covered one that they got a grant for (about nanos), Houston told us about Invention Convention, and the last gentleman shared a n exhibit here people sat with tvs rotating around them and one where they could make palm trees sway.
After there presentations they opened the floor to discussion and - La Habra shared their story about bee hive troubles and closing the exhibit - creating a cave instead. Also VA shared about rehabbing a tree and adding a fish tank and animals to it.
Interesting to hear their take. Everyone seemed like a do it yourselfer, and not much talk about innovation or good ideas. More like – quick solutions.
10:45 – 12
Innovative Exhibitions: And How to Get There
Kathy Kraft, Scienteer - Science Center, Ithaca New York
Keith Osfelt, Children's Museum of Houston (former science teacher)
Clifford Wagner, Clifford Wagner Science Interactives
Greg Belew, Hands On, Inc.
This session was ok – I give it a B-. There were only 8 people who came. The panel was all people who build exhibits, and that I have seen in other sessions. The panel was definitely all science exhibit builders and the feel of their exhibits that they build is very stripped down, basic function. It felt like they were missing the artistic touch and creativity.
One of the presenters, Keith O., said “exhibits are a tool” not a piece of art –therefore they need to be changed to keep up with the visitors. I do agree that change is needed – but I think the artistic and creatively value of a piece is just as important. It’s a statement about your museum and a marketing tool as well.
When the session started we were told we would see three short 5 minute presentations, then we would break into a group (not enough for groups plural), then we could leave and “crash” another session. I sat next to an exhibit builder from Arlington, VA and an exhibit tech from Massachusetes. Each of the three presenters did a slide show about an exhibit that they felt was innovative. They were all longer than 5 minutes.
NY covered one that they got a grant for (about nanos), Houston told us about Invention Convention, and the last gentleman shared a n exhibit here people sat with tvs rotating around them and one where they could make palm trees sway.
After there presentations they opened the floor to discussion and - La Habra shared their story about bee hive troubles and closing the exhibit - creating a cave instead. Also VA shared about rehabbing a tree and adding a fish tank and animals to it.
Interesting to hear their take. Everyone seemed like a do it yourselfer, and not much talk about innovation or good ideas. More like – quick solutions.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Interactivity
Going to the Association of Children's Museums conference is intense, fun, tiring and inspiring. The days are long starting with 7:30 breakfast and last sessions ending at 5:45, followed by dinner and blogging, or a quick bite, a museum visit and blogging. I am very appreciative that I could attend a second time and be able to compare this year's Interactivity with last year's. I have known some passionate librarians and I see this same quality in many of the presenters and museum staff I have met. Most are surprised but very welcoming of we librarian interlopers and seem genuinely interested in how we are bringing play to our libraries.
Family-Focused, Mission-Driven Fundraising Events
Farah Salem, KidZeum Executive Director
Adam Braniger, Minnesota Children’s Museum
This presentation was supposed to focus on fundraisers other than the annual gala but the three scheduled presenters pulled out for some reason and the two people who filled in apparently had very little time to prepare. Farah’s 15,000 sq. ft. museum will open soon in Springfield, IL, providing play opportunities for children of all abilities. So far they have only put on gala-style fundraisers that don’t involve children but there were some good ideas to take away.
They have held two Murder Mystery events, the first in 2010 and the second just this year. They have been inspired by the “Clue” game and she has gotten local sponsorship for portions of the event including the weapons such as a local construction company to sponsor the hammer. But you don’t know which is the actual weapon at the start of the event so various things can be sponsored.
A Matter of Taste was another event sponsored by a local grocery chain. They had one caterer but 150 vendors for beer, wine and spirits pairings. All the beverages were donated because those vendors want access to the grocery chain—nicely done.
Adam’s presentation was closer to the Family Focused events of the title. In 2010 they switched from a gala to a Grand Family Ball with a Wizard of Oz theme. It coincided with a WOZ exhibit they had at the time. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.456152314992.225342.20172614992
I totally would have gone to that. Adam had more slides of the decorating than is shown on facebook and it was beautiful. One dining room had a Kansas theme, another Glinda’s castle, and another the Wizard’s throne room. It seemed a lot like a Cultural Arts Nights but with dinner and later in the evening music and dancing after children might be taken home. They offered “Swag” Bags for sale each with set items in them but some with premiums and you wouldn’t know until you opened it if you received one of those.
There was a little time at the end for others to share their experiences. In Louisiana someone has an event near Halloween called Night at the Booseum. It wasn’t a sleepover (darn!) but sounded like lots of fun. Another shared that her local school district (missed where this was) and the local trolley system partner for the Polar Express for 15-20 nights in December and raised $200,000. Tickets sold out quickly, the children are encouraged to wear PJs, the book is read and hot chocolate is served onboard. We need a Cucamonga Trolley
Adam Braniger, Minnesota Children’s Museum
This presentation was supposed to focus on fundraisers other than the annual gala but the three scheduled presenters pulled out for some reason and the two people who filled in apparently had very little time to prepare. Farah’s 15,000 sq. ft. museum will open soon in Springfield, IL, providing play opportunities for children of all abilities. So far they have only put on gala-style fundraisers that don’t involve children but there were some good ideas to take away.
They have held two Murder Mystery events, the first in 2010 and the second just this year. They have been inspired by the “Clue” game and she has gotten local sponsorship for portions of the event including the weapons such as a local construction company to sponsor the hammer. But you don’t know which is the actual weapon at the start of the event so various things can be sponsored.
A Matter of Taste was another event sponsored by a local grocery chain. They had one caterer but 150 vendors for beer, wine and spirits pairings. All the beverages were donated because those vendors want access to the grocery chain—nicely done.
Adam’s presentation was closer to the Family Focused events of the title. In 2010 they switched from a gala to a Grand Family Ball with a Wizard of Oz theme. It coincided with a WOZ exhibit they had at the time. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.456152314992.225342.20172614992
I totally would have gone to that. Adam had more slides of the decorating than is shown on facebook and it was beautiful. One dining room had a Kansas theme, another Glinda’s castle, and another the Wizard’s throne room. It seemed a lot like a Cultural Arts Nights but with dinner and later in the evening music and dancing after children might be taken home. They offered “Swag” Bags for sale each with set items in them but some with premiums and you wouldn’t know until you opened it if you received one of those.
There was a little time at the end for others to share their experiences. In Louisiana someone has an event near Halloween called Night at the Booseum. It wasn’t a sleepover (darn!) but sounded like lots of fun. Another shared that her local school district (missed where this was) and the local trolley system partner for the Polar Express for 15-20 nights in December and raised $200,000. Tickets sold out quickly, the children are encouraged to wear PJs, the book is read and hot chocolate is served onboard. We need a Cucamonga Trolley
Closing Plenary
On Saturday morning the closing Plenary featured the presentation of the Great Friends to Kids Award given to the Jim Henson Company. Most people my age can tell you where they were when they heard John Lennon died; I can tell you where I was when I heard of Jim Henson’s untimely death. I have been a fan since Rowlf the dog appeared on the Danny Kaye Show. Rowlf played piano and had a crush on Lassie.
Lisa Henson accepted the award on behalf of her family and the company which she and her four siblings now run. She described her father as an innovator in technology and explained how he used the television screen and the proscenium for his puppets so they spoke directly to the audience and appeared more “real”. They blend great storytelling with wonderful characters. Although there were no film clips of Rowlf we were treated to an early black & white clip of Kermit as well as samples of some of their ground-breaking developments and more recent shows like Sid the Science Kid. Of course she also talked about Sesame Street which really brought television and learning into a great learning partnership. Also a great marketing partnership in my opinion.
The Plenary session ended with Sarah Orleans of the Portland Children’s Museum inviting us to Interactivity 2012 “The Wonder of Learning”. This rose city has more coffee houses and microbreweries than any other in the country. We all went home with a little bag of coffee but oddly enough no samples of the microbrews. ;-)
Lisa Henson accepted the award on behalf of her family and the company which she and her four siblings now run. She described her father as an innovator in technology and explained how he used the television screen and the proscenium for his puppets so they spoke directly to the audience and appeared more “real”. They blend great storytelling with wonderful characters. Although there were no film clips of Rowlf we were treated to an early black & white clip of Kermit as well as samples of some of their ground-breaking developments and more recent shows like Sid the Science Kid. Of course she also talked about Sesame Street which really brought television and learning into a great learning partnership. Also a great marketing partnership in my opinion.
The Plenary session ended with Sarah Orleans of the Portland Children’s Museum inviting us to Interactivity 2012 “The Wonder of Learning”. This rose city has more coffee houses and microbreweries than any other in the country. We all went home with a little bag of coffee but oddly enough no samples of the microbrews. ;-)
Getting the Message Out
Getting the Message Out How 3 museums got the message out on the importance of play. Process
(This session had a change of topic and took place at the end of the day Thursday but I had a few issues accessing my notes so I've posted it out of order)
John Robinson, Madison Children's Museum exhibit developer (we rode to the airport with John).
Madison opened a new facility in August and has room to expand in same building. Visitation could not grow in old space but business has been crazy since they opened. From 2,000 members they jumped to over 6,000 in less than a year. They do a huge number of birthday parties with little publicity. Exhibits now are more open-ended. Need to nurture the messages of the exhibits. The recent protests in Wisconsin were practically outside their doors which also impacted their business but not in a negative way. Huge level of use caused them to review guiding principals--could be called values. Play, place, critical thinking, resiliance are all important. Sounds like they have been so busy they don't even have time to think about getting their message out but just deal with what's going on inside their doors.
Nancy Plasket, Chicago Children's Museum located at Navy Pier. They reach 700,000 people annually via visitors and outreach. Foundational documents of core beliefs. Play and Learning connect. Do all staff understand your purpose? They have created position papers on topics such as Play, Learning, Corporate engagement, Roll of adult in Play, Health & Wellness, State of Play in Chicago's Communities. They did town hall brainstorming to create list of topics. Teams from multiple departments participated. They brought in experts then determined what does it mean to us as a children's museum. Began in 2007, worked on through 2009 then Health & Wellness paper was very challenging, leveraged partnerships to address this, approved in 2011 also took 2 years. Meant to be internal documents that guide their decision making. "We strive for . . . " Again the idea of core values as in Madison.
Meagan Fisher, Providence Children's museum, Communications and Marketing.
Meason focused on how we develop our message into an advocacy role. They developed a new strategic plan, reviewed core messages.
How do we ensure our core messages are shared by our staff and volunteers? We need to be deliberate in our message about play. Define play. Providence created exhibit called "Play Power" which focuses on play inself, not themed, what children are gaining, take-home material. This infused all of their work and documentation and fundraising. Formalize what they've been noticing what happens in museum, value of play, importance of our work. Feeling the mesage is shared by staff and board. Created poster that describes value of play--distributing through pediatricians offices. Also a book Play with Your Kids Strategic plan with play advocacy as focus.
I plan to contact Meagan to see if they will send us a copy of the poster.
(This session had a change of topic and took place at the end of the day Thursday but I had a few issues accessing my notes so I've posted it out of order)
John Robinson, Madison Children's Museum exhibit developer (we rode to the airport with John).
Madison opened a new facility in August and has room to expand in same building. Visitation could not grow in old space but business has been crazy since they opened. From 2,000 members they jumped to over 6,000 in less than a year. They do a huge number of birthday parties with little publicity. Exhibits now are more open-ended. Need to nurture the messages of the exhibits. The recent protests in Wisconsin were practically outside their doors which also impacted their business but not in a negative way. Huge level of use caused them to review guiding principals--could be called values. Play, place, critical thinking, resiliance are all important. Sounds like they have been so busy they don't even have time to think about getting their message out but just deal with what's going on inside their doors.
Nancy Plasket, Chicago Children's Museum located at Navy Pier. They reach 700,000 people annually via visitors and outreach. Foundational documents of core beliefs. Play and Learning connect. Do all staff understand your purpose? They have created position papers on topics such as Play, Learning, Corporate engagement, Roll of adult in Play, Health & Wellness, State of Play in Chicago's Communities. They did town hall brainstorming to create list of topics. Teams from multiple departments participated. They brought in experts then determined what does it mean to us as a children's museum. Began in 2007, worked on through 2009 then Health & Wellness paper was very challenging, leveraged partnerships to address this, approved in 2011 also took 2 years. Meant to be internal documents that guide their decision making. "We strive for . . . " Again the idea of core values as in Madison.
Meagan Fisher, Providence Children's museum, Communications and Marketing.
Meason focused on how we develop our message into an advocacy role. They developed a new strategic plan, reviewed core messages.
How do we ensure our core messages are shared by our staff and volunteers? We need to be deliberate in our message about play. Define play. Providence created exhibit called "Play Power" which focuses on play inself, not themed, what children are gaining, take-home material. This infused all of their work and documentation and fundraising. Formalize what they've been noticing what happens in museum, value of play, importance of our work. Feeling the mesage is shared by staff and board. Created poster that describes value of play--distributing through pediatricians offices. Also a book Play with Your Kids Strategic plan with play advocacy as focus.
I plan to contact Meagan to see if they will send us a copy of the poster.
Fri Houston Children's Museum
I had a great time, they’re very friendly, very hard working, believe in what they do and have tried very hard. There museum has been voted #1 by parents magazine. I think it is a good museum for the community because they like it. It is not my favorite museum based off of the other museums I’ve seen. My comments and feedback are based off of what I think would work with what our library team has responded to. What were my first impressions, that might be first impressions of someone who could use our future space?
______________________
Short version –
What I was not crazy about - no theme, felt disjointed and hodgepodge, multiple color schemes, what I felt was poor color choices, felt like done simply/basic - made it feel "garage made", poor spacing, walkways, distances and pathways, felt like too many exhibits – took away impact, not enough clear direction / maps, no clear footpath / travel path through museum, sad prisoner chickens
Good – library branch, colorful, lots of exhibits – even if child didn’t spend a lot of time at an exhibit – easily get 2 hours, shade sails covering back, nature area, “think tank area” with magnetic art pieces, memory game spinner wall, individual tables for puzzle solving, build your own ball run, footprint stampers, puppet stage
Use now – memory game, magnetic art pieces, ball run, footprint stampers
We also ran into Maeryta at the museum. She is sending RK & MP an email about an upcoming grant. She was so kind and sang our praises from the roof tops – “you’re so cutting edge”, “amazing”, and introduced us to a gentleman named Ben – working on CASE. He is about 30 minutes form Rancho and will be contacting us to talk to us. They worked together on the Los Angeles Science Center.
_______________
Long / detailed version:
We arrived at the museum driving first by the parking structure (underwhelming) decorated only with a banner with children’s faces (also noticed children’s faces at pretend city). Would have liked something more personalized, theme based, eye catching. I think if the parking structure is the first thing people see – it should be as eye catching as the building to announce the presence of the museum.
We then drove around the block circling the museum to get a full view. The color scheme is a pastel color scheme – pale yellow, orange, mint green, with some spring purples and pinks thrown in. For some reason I felt like it should be brighter? It needed a theme (something local to Texas – maybe chili peppers, stars, red white and blue). Instead we saw, what looked like a wooden slat fence with an easter feeling design of flowers and birds of chain link.
The front of the museum felt a bit like cheesecake factory – the columns, colors, a mixture of Egyptian and other cultural themes. It just felt like an odd mix between cheesecake, spring easter slats, and the local plain faced Houston buildings. I think the scale seemed odd - that children should be greeted by such a large scale entrance. It seems like that would be intimidating for children who already view the world from a smaller vantage point. There is also a row of cutout children (see Margaret's blog).
Once inside the museum, we were greeted by very high ceilings with colorful arches (keeping with the rainbow pastel theme). The front had exhibit pieces that attracted donations, the ticket window booth, and a very long walkway – which for our benefit was filled with tables and our dinner stations. This brings me to my next complaint – spacing and footpaths. Renee, Margaret, and I all complained through museum about the odd space choices. Certain areas were given an exhorbitant amount of space, other areas had ridiculous amount of exhibits crammed together. So in this enormous hallway were smaller rooms (for birthday parties? Crafts?) and a library branch!
They are staffed library branch (museum staff, but there is a full time librarian. Collection stays on shelf, but can be transferred for holds to other libraries. 3 storytimes a day – no registration for families.
Families can leave their driver’s license at ticket booth to come in to library and not use museum. They also had the flip kits (themed book packs - with activities I believe) in mesh bags - available at all the Houston branch libraries.
Off of the giant entryway are two exhibit areas – A technology area – with a large robot made of phones, a phone booth, a cell phone chart, and several other exhibits. This area led into another area “The Think Tank”, which seemed like an early learning area. Great exhibit ideas – a magnetic wall with artistic shaped sculptural pieces that stick together, a large memory wall with rotating panels, and an s shaped table with lots of segments for individual puzzle projects.
There was then a building area above these two exhibits with a build your own ball run, periscopes, and more. The color scheme was odd – dark purple with a strip of yellow and black tape here and there, and a small piece of brick façade. Did not “feel” like a building area. It felt like a big colorful building with lots of toys set out - missing the special spark. At Minnesota and Denver – you “feel” like this is special place and you are special for being there.
Off of this area we went outside to the back patio. The famous waterworks station was out there. They had the area covered with shade cloth tied to poles (liked that – colorful – no sun). Water was everywhere, my pants were soaked. It seemed like they might have issues with proper drainage and sloping. That is *KEY* to remember if we want any water areas. They had a special coating on the floor out there. I think it was sprayed on – it didn’t look like mats.
I thought it was ok. Neat idea, everyone has a water area. I bet the kids love it. Again, it felt very simple, generic, no theme. It would have been so much more exciting to have a seuss stack of cups and odds and ends and dump out a fish bowl. Not that there needs to be a character – just that immersive quality, eye catching.
The nature area had a beautiful garden, looked like the pirates of the carribbean shack in the water. Inside was a hodgepodge – a poop picture on the wall, butterfly area, bug area, a weird incubater cage with eggs, and the worst – a weird incubator cage with live baby chicks!
These poor chicks are kept in a glass bubble – no parent chicken, and forced to stand on wire mesh all day. I found out later that they are "traded out" with the poultry farm when they are too large. I’m sure there entire day is spent with hoards of small children banging on the glass. Did you see finding nemo? Just say no - to imprisoned baby chicks. I think this is a great opportunity to use technology – or have a chicken coop – free range – outside, with a happy chicken family. What’s with the horrible prison?
Other gems from the outdoor exhibit -
Inside the exhibit areas – just kept coming! Great for parents and kids – bad for all you reading the blog.
Environmental area – one of the worst areas as far as space was concerned – one of the few areas that tried to create a theme or ambiance.
There was a fishing pond teaching about the bad things that are in water, along with a well, and a microcope area. An allergy exhibit in a tree – with 4 different exhibits inside as well as pinball lung machine.
There was also a moldy refridgerater and small hut with 3 more exhibits inside, as well as a ball exhibit. All this was in a space about the size of juvenile nonfiction at VG. This left not a lot of room to walk – certainly not if you have parents, kids, and strollers (as Renee pointed out). It was just too much. It took away the impact of the exhibit and learning. It would have made more of an impact if they had just done the water exhibit or all about squirrels house and allergies.
Then we traveled into a Mexican town exhibit based on Benito Juarez’s town - Yalalag. See Margaret’s blog. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Ju%C3%A1rez Coloful, again – just seemed disjointed. Why in this space? How tie in? Only a mexican café.
The rest of the space was more of a gallery. This piece was cool. Staff members actually traveled to Yalalag a purchased toys and artifacts and brought back. I think it would have been neat to make "kidtroplis" - there town into Yalala - tie it together (important to community, culture, and kids favorite activities of pretend play, market area).
Next – is really a blur. There were three other floors. Which did not all link, some had separate elevators. Again, without a theme – it felt generic, like “chuck e cheese” – as Margaret says. There was what seemed to be a math area – nothing mind blowing. A physical fitness area - with some good standouts – obstacle course, rock wall.
There was some neat tech stuff (felt chuck e cheese) virtual jumprope with a flashing light (neat), light up dance floor chase the light.
And – the show stopper …. The Luckey climber! Aaahhhhhhhh!
Super cool. I did go inside. Very sturdy, pockets of spaces adults can hunch over in, other spaces narrow to crawl. It humongous metal poles bolted together for strength. Very sturdy walking circle shapes, and a netting. I did get a little claustrophobic in there. I also felt like a wanted a hand rail a few times, but the mesh helped me. Awesome. Hated the grayish blue color scheme which felt like a lunchroom or gym. It had several entry points off of the bottom floor, middle of staircases, and top floor. Signage about shoes was only on the bottom floor – should have signs at all entry points. It is a crazy workout by the way. My legs were so weak from my climb, I almost fell down on the bus later trying to get out of my seat!
The tot area – Margaret and I agreed – felt more plain - painted walls (nothing making it pop to feel special).
This was entire floor off of a separate elevator. About the size of VG children’s area and ref desk. Refdesk and homework center area together about the size of opening /walkway to tot center shoe area. Felt flat, again like toys thrown in there. Spacing very odd again. Huge amounts of space in walkways. Exhibits for tots crammed together. Liked the light bright wall. Liked the spinner block wall (both of those on Margaret's blog). I did also like the small ball pits and the flowers.
There was also a basement level area called Invention Convention – which looked like Jason’s mecca. We lost him in there. Liked the theme – tons of exhibits. There was a rocket stomp, roller coaster, all run, art area, light table, and about 7 other exhibits.
They had a great gift store – but it was so packed and we had 5 minutes to get to the bus we had no time to buy anything.
So again – good museum. Happy for community. Just looking through critical eyes of what I think would and wouldn’t work for us here. Gad they are happy, successful, and helping children.
______________________
Short version –
What I was not crazy about - no theme, felt disjointed and hodgepodge, multiple color schemes, what I felt was poor color choices, felt like done simply/basic - made it feel "garage made", poor spacing, walkways, distances and pathways, felt like too many exhibits – took away impact, not enough clear direction / maps, no clear footpath / travel path through museum, sad prisoner chickens
Good – library branch, colorful, lots of exhibits – even if child didn’t spend a lot of time at an exhibit – easily get 2 hours, shade sails covering back, nature area, “think tank area” with magnetic art pieces, memory game spinner wall, individual tables for puzzle solving, build your own ball run, footprint stampers, puppet stage
Use now – memory game, magnetic art pieces, ball run, footprint stampers
We also ran into Maeryta at the museum. She is sending RK & MP an email about an upcoming grant. She was so kind and sang our praises from the roof tops – “you’re so cutting edge”, “amazing”, and introduced us to a gentleman named Ben – working on CASE. He is about 30 minutes form Rancho and will be contacting us to talk to us. They worked together on the Los Angeles Science Center.
_______________
Long / detailed version:
We arrived at the museum driving first by the parking structure (underwhelming) decorated only with a banner with children’s faces (also noticed children’s faces at pretend city). Would have liked something more personalized, theme based, eye catching. I think if the parking structure is the first thing people see – it should be as eye catching as the building to announce the presence of the museum.
We then drove around the block circling the museum to get a full view. The color scheme is a pastel color scheme – pale yellow, orange, mint green, with some spring purples and pinks thrown in. For some reason I felt like it should be brighter? It needed a theme (something local to Texas – maybe chili peppers, stars, red white and blue). Instead we saw, what looked like a wooden slat fence with an easter feeling design of flowers and birds of chain link.
The front of the museum felt a bit like cheesecake factory – the columns, colors, a mixture of Egyptian and other cultural themes. It just felt like an odd mix between cheesecake, spring easter slats, and the local plain faced Houston buildings. I think the scale seemed odd - that children should be greeted by such a large scale entrance. It seems like that would be intimidating for children who already view the world from a smaller vantage point. There is also a row of cutout children (see Margaret's blog).
Once inside the museum, we were greeted by very high ceilings with colorful arches (keeping with the rainbow pastel theme). The front had exhibit pieces that attracted donations, the ticket window booth, and a very long walkway – which for our benefit was filled with tables and our dinner stations. This brings me to my next complaint – spacing and footpaths. Renee, Margaret, and I all complained through museum about the odd space choices. Certain areas were given an exhorbitant amount of space, other areas had ridiculous amount of exhibits crammed together. So in this enormous hallway were smaller rooms (for birthday parties? Crafts?) and a library branch!
They are staffed library branch (museum staff, but there is a full time librarian. Collection stays on shelf, but can be transferred for holds to other libraries. 3 storytimes a day – no registration for families.
Families can leave their driver’s license at ticket booth to come in to library and not use museum. They also had the flip kits (themed book packs - with activities I believe) in mesh bags - available at all the Houston branch libraries.
Off of the giant entryway are two exhibit areas – A technology area – with a large robot made of phones, a phone booth, a cell phone chart, and several other exhibits. This area led into another area “The Think Tank”, which seemed like an early learning area. Great exhibit ideas – a magnetic wall with artistic shaped sculptural pieces that stick together, a large memory wall with rotating panels, and an s shaped table with lots of segments for individual puzzle projects.
There was then a building area above these two exhibits with a build your own ball run, periscopes, and more. The color scheme was odd – dark purple with a strip of yellow and black tape here and there, and a small piece of brick façade. Did not “feel” like a building area. It felt like a big colorful building with lots of toys set out - missing the special spark. At Minnesota and Denver – you “feel” like this is special place and you are special for being there.
Off of this area we went outside to the back patio. The famous waterworks station was out there. They had the area covered with shade cloth tied to poles (liked that – colorful – no sun). Water was everywhere, my pants were soaked. It seemed like they might have issues with proper drainage and sloping. That is *KEY* to remember if we want any water areas. They had a special coating on the floor out there. I think it was sprayed on – it didn’t look like mats.
I thought it was ok. Neat idea, everyone has a water area. I bet the kids love it. Again, it felt very simple, generic, no theme. It would have been so much more exciting to have a seuss stack of cups and odds and ends and dump out a fish bowl. Not that there needs to be a character – just that immersive quality, eye catching.
The nature area had a beautiful garden, looked like the pirates of the carribbean shack in the water. Inside was a hodgepodge – a poop picture on the wall, butterfly area, bug area, a weird incubater cage with eggs, and the worst – a weird incubator cage with live baby chicks!
These poor chicks are kept in a glass bubble – no parent chicken, and forced to stand on wire mesh all day. I found out later that they are "traded out" with the poultry farm when they are too large. I’m sure there entire day is spent with hoards of small children banging on the glass. Did you see finding nemo? Just say no - to imprisoned baby chicks. I think this is a great opportunity to use technology – or have a chicken coop – free range – outside, with a happy chicken family. What’s with the horrible prison?
Other gems from the outdoor exhibit -
Inside the exhibit areas – just kept coming! Great for parents and kids – bad for all you reading the blog.
Environmental area – one of the worst areas as far as space was concerned – one of the few areas that tried to create a theme or ambiance.
There was a fishing pond teaching about the bad things that are in water, along with a well, and a microcope area. An allergy exhibit in a tree – with 4 different exhibits inside as well as pinball lung machine.
There was also a moldy refridgerater and small hut with 3 more exhibits inside, as well as a ball exhibit. All this was in a space about the size of juvenile nonfiction at VG. This left not a lot of room to walk – certainly not if you have parents, kids, and strollers (as Renee pointed out). It was just too much. It took away the impact of the exhibit and learning. It would have made more of an impact if they had just done the water exhibit or all about squirrels house and allergies.
Then we traveled into a Mexican town exhibit based on Benito Juarez’s town - Yalalag. See Margaret’s blog. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Ju%C3%A1rez Coloful, again – just seemed disjointed. Why in this space? How tie in? Only a mexican café.
The rest of the space was more of a gallery. This piece was cool. Staff members actually traveled to Yalalag a purchased toys and artifacts and brought back. I think it would have been neat to make "kidtroplis" - there town into Yalala - tie it together (important to community, culture, and kids favorite activities of pretend play, market area).
Next – is really a blur. There were three other floors. Which did not all link, some had separate elevators. Again, without a theme – it felt generic, like “chuck e cheese” – as Margaret says. There was what seemed to be a math area – nothing mind blowing. A physical fitness area - with some good standouts – obstacle course, rock wall.
There was some neat tech stuff (felt chuck e cheese) virtual jumprope with a flashing light (neat), light up dance floor chase the light.
And – the show stopper …. The Luckey climber! Aaahhhhhhhh!
Super cool. I did go inside. Very sturdy, pockets of spaces adults can hunch over in, other spaces narrow to crawl. It humongous metal poles bolted together for strength. Very sturdy walking circle shapes, and a netting. I did get a little claustrophobic in there. I also felt like a wanted a hand rail a few times, but the mesh helped me. Awesome. Hated the grayish blue color scheme which felt like a lunchroom or gym. It had several entry points off of the bottom floor, middle of staircases, and top floor. Signage about shoes was only on the bottom floor – should have signs at all entry points. It is a crazy workout by the way. My legs were so weak from my climb, I almost fell down on the bus later trying to get out of my seat!
The tot area – Margaret and I agreed – felt more plain - painted walls (nothing making it pop to feel special).
This was entire floor off of a separate elevator. About the size of VG children’s area and ref desk. Refdesk and homework center area together about the size of opening /walkway to tot center shoe area. Felt flat, again like toys thrown in there. Spacing very odd again. Huge amounts of space in walkways. Exhibits for tots crammed together. Liked the light bright wall. Liked the spinner block wall (both of those on Margaret's blog). I did also like the small ball pits and the flowers.
There was also a basement level area called Invention Convention – which looked like Jason’s mecca. We lost him in there. Liked the theme – tons of exhibits. There was a rocket stomp, roller coaster, all run, art area, light table, and about 7 other exhibits.
They had a great gift store – but it was so packed and we had 5 minutes to get to the bus we had no time to buy anything.
So again – good museum. Happy for community. Just looking through critical eyes of what I think would and wouldn’t work for us here. Gad they are happy, successful, and helping children.
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