Very exciting! I so wish CLA and ALA would take a tip from these exhibitors. Be prepared for a million pictures.
We started with lunch and then hit up the exhibitors – including museum consulting and design companies, manipulative companies, exhibit rental companies, other museums with rentals. For some reason it seemed smaller this year – but it could have just been a different space (economy we thought maybe?).
Highlights –
Argyle – picture of tot area
Boss – amazing ball machine – we all want for 2nd floor!
Jack Rouse – pin wall!
Kidzibits – lightbright
Luckey climber – enough said!!
Snug vs. Imagination playground – Jason is leaning towards IP – I’m Snug, this is something (if we have money) we can get right now and use at SRP kick off, finale (any cultural arts night – school nights, outreach visits). It works inside and out – but I think we would want outside because gross motor play = fun = laughing = noise = shushing.
Playcore – learning materials – working with snug
Argyle Design – Designed the “Kidtroplis” area of the Houston Museum as well as the “Waterworks” area of the Houston Museum. We got to see photos of a very nice tot area - "Port Discovery" Baltimore. It was of a tot area – Maragret, Renee, and I loved – will probably be in all our blogs. It was beach themed – had a great immersive quality. Had small “walking bridge” which seems to be in all tot areas – this one lined in beach stones – appeared as waves on the outside, but appeared as sand and pebbles on the inside – great tactile experience. Really well done.
Boss Display - Renee and I saw last year – they have a gorgeous “Rube Goldberg” piece in San Diego called “The Kuegelbahn.” They had another really nice ball piece – three pieces with clear front, rainbow balls. We asked about cost of a small section of it and materials. The clear front - “lexicon” front – which is better because screws wont crack and does not scratch as easily. The base is made of “boat board” or marine board – very durable form of plastic. I believe the cost for the small section (4 x 8) was about $7,500. Renee, Margaret, Jason and I thought was super!
Jack Rouse – Very friendly, knowledge, open about pricing. They had a photo of a pin wall they built. For a 4 x 8 section – it would be about $4,500 – 6000 for just the pins alone through a separate vendor. They will build an automatic reset case for the pins – total cost with the pins $25,000 - $30,000. There work was really nice quality, very polished.
Mindsplash design – We sat at their table on the first day of conference during the breakfast hour. Very friendly. They are the museum consultation and design firm, with experience from Dupage. They had a cute airway wall exhibit with air tubes – scarves and balls.
Kidzibits – Renee and I also spoke with this group last year. They create a light bright exhibit. Renee spoke to him about pricing – which I recall being very expensive. Houston has a small lightbright exhibit in their tot area – not sure – but could be from them?
Luckey Climbers – Wow. Wow. Wow. I hope our second floor will be able to have one. Both Jason and I saw it and knew hands down – that’s it – it’s awesome! We need one of these! Luckey Spencer was very nice when we spoke with him – being an artist he’s a bit eccentric, but very nice! His booth was really simple with just a few posters. He had a gorgeous huge climber with rainbow colors - $400,000. He said a smaller climber, closer to the one we saw at the Houston museum would probably be $100,000. I asked him about construction – onsite, offsite? Time? He said about 2 to 3 weeks. The bolt all of the climbing poles together at the shop, it’s the cabling that takes time, which they do on site.
Murphy Catton – They did Pretend City. Asked about sq. ftg. Cost. Told us it is all custom. Nice, but absolutely zero info. I did get a squishy frog from them.
Science Kinetics – Margaret found some neat stuff there. She loves their electric harp and their “coin vertex” or hyperbolic ___? $2,000 for basic floor model.
Children’s museum of San Jose – Selling pin walls – for a 4 x 4 section $16,000 (gives 66,000 pins) – with no case. They say there pins are better. They also have a gear set (not any better than the ones Margaret found for us)./ These just have number s and can stack.
Ontario Science Center – They had cool looking ball tracks and runs, but they did not operate well.
Imagination Playground – Very cool. Part of big movement for “loose parts play”, free play, child driven play. New York City has huge park (staffed by attendants). Pieces are all light blue, stack easily together (pieces can be stacked on top of each other into a tower – putting children as high as 4 ft off the ground. Purchased storage cart has wheels and can be kept outside. Jason is a fan! He thinks it might be safer – lighter weight – so if children hit each other, not hurt as hard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHVAn7SdmbU
Snug – Sat in a session that discussed story of snug. Created by visual artists, through experiments and children – over a period of 3 years? Has been in UK for 4 years? UK has a large public area “Gillets Square” – you tube video of it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnxOcMUDDG0&NR=1. Someone puts pieces out at beginning of day (no staffing, no policing, no stealing), someone puts it wawy at the end. Chicago Museum has indoors. Chatanooga also has indoors (they also presented at several sessions). Snug is heavier (children can still pick up – but more substantial. Bright colors, but not primary and obnoxious. Polyurethane coated? Seem sturdier. Smallest set starts at $4,995 handles about 15 children at a time. Starter kit - $8,995 will play about 20 – 25 kids. I’m a snug fan because it was created based of experimentation, are colorful appealing to more of the senses – thus more learning, more substantial and durable, unique tested shapes. It will be harder on a staff end to move and set up, but the Snug representative said the way they do it in England is involve the children. This is there play. They carry it out and put it out away “like little ant helpers.”
Wentzcope microscope – This was cool. I think it is an extra rather than a necessity. Very cool though. It was a huge microscope that you can see standing up and don’t need to look into. We got to see cards with pieces of things to look at up close – tea, spices, bugs (eww), FEATHERS.
Playcore – First time at ACM – seems like a good company with products built on lots of knowledge. The woman with the company was a former teacher, whose passion is play and inclusion. They’re sending Margaret and I free booklets on play activities and verbage on how to talk about inclusive play. I think we can use this to support current programming (and as we grow) – especially in establishing (down the road) – scripts and training materials. While they’re an outdoor company – and we don’t have much of an outdoor space yet – there may be some products we can adapt or think about for future use.
Benees – Had cool vinyl covered squares – you can print custom images. We liked the zebras and animal squares. The didn’t look very durable. He said his set lasted two years. They could be cleaned with a light bleach solution, but not scrubbed. Depending on cost – something very cute for family place area, but not a necessity.
• Did not see booths for these vendors advertised in booklet– Nassal, redbox, heartland scenic studio, exhibits inc, big think creative alliance, Clifford wagner science, Kubik Maltie, Lexington (Skirball designers), Saw Horse Studio, Universal Services , Vee
It was very good to see what’s out there and keep a pulse on whose doing what, pricing, and what is available.
