I'’ve visited at
least 50 children’s museums over the last 25 years, probably more. And now I
have to see them all again. With Amelia.
If you follow this
blog, you know that Amelia and I took a road trip last week. Just two girls in
a car with a map. (and let’s be real – there were also snacks, a lot of DVD’s,
markers, paper, Kleenex, books, toys in various stages of incomplete and broken
- you get the idea.)
We visited four
North Carolina children’s museums. We’ve been visiting museums together since Amelia
was a baby, but this time was different. First, she is EXACTLY the right age
for a children’s museum. At 6 and ½, she's playful and full of imagination, she has the confidence and coordination to climb and independently explore,
she’s unafraid of looking silly, and she can read signs by herself. She also
knows what she likes.
Visiting four museums back to back lends itself to comparison and pattern
recognition—so naturally, Amelia wrote some reviews. That thing about kids
always telling the truth? It makes them excellent critics.
So, here are
Amelia’s reviews of our Fab Four, followed by my observations. If you’re
wondering about the peach ratings, well, it’s summertime in the South! Five peaches is the best.
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| Isn't everything better with a water slide? |
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| To be fair, there wasn't a gift shop, and I'm not sure what the bathroom problem was |
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| A museum for all sizes! |
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| The beanstalk climber, complete with surround staircase |
My observations: This was my first visit to
Winston-Salem, and I’ll definitely return. I loved Kaleidoscape, an
outdoor swinging, climb-through, oversized crocheted art installation. It was
gorgeous, and like nothing I’d seen before. Amelia climbed through it a few
times and then deemed it too “hot and scratchy” to make her top three
list. I also loved the Enchanted Forest,
a neighborhood of dramatic play environments each inspired by a different
story. Amelia recognized most of them and played in all of them. These “Story
Rooms” got a mention in her review. The exhibits all had a spirit of imagination and creative storytelling
to them, and this museum is on the brink of merging with a children’s theatre,
so watch for even more of this.
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| Kaleidoscape |
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| More of Kaleidoscape. Check the museum's website for much better photos. |
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| waiting for the donuts |
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| The Enchanted Forest. We think - or imagined - the lighting changed from day to night while we were there. |
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| She's right. This one had a particularly unwelcoming bathroom | | | |
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| No giftshop, bad bathroom, and oddly I only remember pretend food. Hmmm. |
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| Agreed. |
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| The garden. |
My observations: Amelia got it right. Not the best
we’ve seen, but we had fun there. Mostly because of the staff, who built forts
out of big blue blocks with Amelia for an unexpectedly long period of time.
I’ve seen these blocks in LOTS of museums lately and really never cared much
about them until staff brought them to life here. Another standout in
Greensboro is the Edible Schoolyard, an onsite farm-to-table cooking program
complete with an extensive garden and
demonstration kitchen. Again, Amelia found the garden a little too hot.
Did I mention that it’s summer in the South?
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| There's someone inside there, really earning her paycheck! |
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| Putting on a show |
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| Master of the balance beam |
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| The big big car thing with a slide was actually a plane |
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| Just a fraction of that gorgeous garden |
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| still with the big big big slide! |
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| The clear winner! If only the mac and cheese were unseasoned... |
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| Awww. And I love that she abbreviates "children's museum" |
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| This is the undersea room, adjacent to a yellow submarine. And then a pirate ship, excellent for diving. |
My observations: In the interests of full disclosure, I
must admit that I know this museum very well. Twenty years ago I worked with
the founders to open Exploris, and that experience remains one of my favorite
projects. Exploris rebranded itself as Marbles several years ago, but much of
Exploris is still there, and visiting is like going to see an old friend who is growing and thriving. The building is beautiful, the exhibits playful, and
the spirit of reinvention and experimentation is palpable. I agree with Amelia
– the only bad things she could think of were the pepper on her macaroni and
cheese, and someone stepped on her foot while she was playing sock hockey. But
come on, she was playing sock hockey!
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| She ran in, not to emerge for FIVE hours! |
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| diving off the plank |
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| under the sea |
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| waiting - literally - for money to fall from the sky |
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| sock hockey |
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| the winning race car |
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| all about the art room |
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| in the temporary space, there isn't a gift shop or food...unless you count the ENTIRE MALL outside! |
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| leave 'em wanting more! |
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| Amelia in the art room |
My observations: It’s not done yet. The museum is in a
temporary location, raising money and awareness while planning for a permanent
home. The exhibits are portable, and they are testing concepts. Amelia and I
were both a little bit museum-weary by the time we arrived, but she still
stayed happily in the art studio/maker space for over an hour. Maker spaces
seem to be the latest rage in the museum world, and Kidzu had a clear
explanation of the goal of this kind of experience right on the wall. Best
endorsement? There was a coin-drop maze in the lobby, to raise money for the
new museum, and Amelia put in her own money. The paper kind!
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| building a better boat |
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| the maker space |
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| plans for the future |
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| a museum supporter! |
There’s a lot more
I could say about our road trip – Amelia had as much fun at the Holiday Inn’s
swimming pool and buffet breakfast (“It’s better than Publix!”) as she did
at any of the museums. It was all one big adventure for her, and a precious
opportunity for us to have uninterrupted and unstructured time together. And as for the
museums, seeing them through Amelia’s eyes reinforced for me the value of these
places we build. She’s the target audience. Spending an hour chasing plastic
donuts through the endless cycle of a pretend donut factory, or waiting for
balls to drop from a giant piggy bank, or walking the plank of a pirate ship
wearing diving gear may not be the behaviors the museum planners intended or
expected, but that's the point. These are places that aren't complete without visitors and their imaginations. If the goal is to provide environments that facilitate
learning through play, then kudos to all of us who build them – they’re working!
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| 400 miles and 4 museums later, we're still smiling! |
Where should we go next?
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