Friday, February 28, 2014

Grown-Ups at Play!

We love it when parents and caregivers have a great time at the Museum – playing with or without their kids! Staff and volunteers shared these stories of "big kids" at play.

A father sat by himself making a kaleidoscopic design in ThinkSpace, stacking and restacking tiles.  Referring to one of the challenge cards, he turned a tile and changed the order of the stack.  After a few tries, he checked the design he made against the original.  He then lifted his head, turned around and looked – perhaps for his family.  Finding no one, he put his completed design on the show-off shelf and selected a new challenge to try.  More than 20 minutes later, he was still in the same spot, working on another design, this time with a kid at his side.
Robin, Director of Exhibits

I like to engage adult visitors and give them an invitation to play.  A dad and his three girls came into Discovery Studio and I showed them a ball-in-a-cup toy and challenged him to try it. It turned into a family competition, and dad won! I saw them again the next week and he said, “Remember me? I’m the champion!” 
Wendy, Play Guide
A dad does some SERIOUS block building!

I was in Water Ways and started “seeding” the area with fun surprises.  I was inspired to do one of my favorites when I saw a young visitor using a watering can.  I set up three waterwheels on top of one another and set a watering can down next to them. When I walked by a few minutes later, a mother was pouring water into the wheels. She noticed me, grinned sheepishly and said, "I am such a kid sometimes."   I responded, "Who do you think put it there?"  We laughed together, creating a moment of emphasis on ageless fun.
Meg, AmeriCorps Museum Educator

Children were playing with homemade play dough in Discovery Studio. A dad with two children (daughter about 5 years old and son about 2) sat at the end of the table and started to work with the dough. “Is that a monkey or a dog?” I asked him. “I don’t know yet,” he replied. When I looked back 10 minutes later, he’d created a dinosaur, three ducks, a dog and a cat and had his beautiful creations all lined up!
Olga, Early Childhood Programs Developer

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