Learning About Learning: Circuit Blocks and Labels

The Museum is partnering with Brown University on a major National Science Foundation-funded project (award #1223777) to study how children develop scientific thinking skills and understand their own learning processes.  Museum researcher Suzy Letourneau shared this project update.

Last summer, the Museum opened the new Mind Lab space, which hosts ongoing research about children’s learning and development by the Museum and its academic collaborators.  When researchers aren’t in the space, there is a self-directed “circuit block” activity with batteries, motors and buttons that can be connected in many different configurations.  On the surface the activity is about electricity and circuits, but the deeper message we hope to convey is the important role of exploration and experimentation in learning about cause and effect.  The activity draws on scientific research that shows that when children make their own discoveries about how things work, they explore and learn more deeply.  Thus, we purposefully did not include step-by-step instructions with the blocks to encourage children to test their ideas and make discoveries.  While prototyping the activity, we found that children often systematically tried the blocks to see how they worked, experimented with different ways of making a circuit, and collaborated or shared their ideas with one another – all evidence of learning.

The exhibits team tested resources for adults to support children’s thinking as they play, including observation tools and prompts caregivers can use while playing with their kids (for example, questions to ask when kids get stuck or aren’t sure how to get started).  Caregivers who tried these resources were more engaged in the activity themselves, either by observing while their children explored and made discoveries, or by helping them work through challenges in different ways.  The team also created labels to communicate how children learn through experience, exploration and play, and offer research evidence to back up these ideas. 

The labels are based on Museum staff’s discussions and knowledge about the ways that play and exploration support children’s learning and development, and are informed by conversations with dozens of caregivers.  We asked caregivers what they noticed about their children’s play, what they thought about how children learn through play, and what questions they had about these topics.  Caregivers often agreed that kids learned through play, were very interested in research on children’s learning (including the research that happens at the Museum), and wanted to learn more.

We created prototype labels and resources using low-cost, temporary materials so we could get feedback and make changes easily.  Some show specific examples of different ways that children can learn through play, and others give illustrated summaries of research studies.  We asked visitors: What did the new materials make them think about or wonder?  Which parts were most interesting?  Was anything confusing or unclear?

Based on comments and suggestions, we revised the labels in the fall to make our messages clearer.  We’re also creating more illustrated research summaries, since they were visitors’ favorites.  And we added a “Guide for Grown-ups” to the circuit block activity to suggest ways that caregivers can support their children’s learning as they play together.  Over the next few months, Mind Lab will continue to be a site for ongoing research and prototyping that will help Museum staff learn alongside visitors.

Visit the Museum’s website and see previous blog posts for more information about the Learning About Learning project.

Research Update: Data Collection and Prototyping

The Museum is collaborating with Brown University on two major National Science Foundation-funded projects (award #1223777, 1420548). In the first project – Learning About Learning – Museum researchers are investigating how to make kids’ learning through play visible. In the second, researchers are examining the role of exploration and explanation in children’s causal learning. Museum researcher Suzy Letourneau shared this project update.

Since the start of the year, the Learning About Learning team has been prototyping two new activities that aim to reveal the learning that happens through play:

• Photo Mission: In February and March, we challenged caregivers to capture photos of their children problem-solving while they played at the Museum.  The idea was to focus families’ attention (and lenses) on kids’ powerful thinking and learning.

• Play Memories: Remember playing dress-up or building a tree house as a child? In March and April, we are inviting adults and kids to record their favorite memories of playing – past or present – and reflect together on the power of play.

In both activities, Museum researchers invite visitors to try the activities and then collect their feedback through a short interview. Our prototyping helps us understand how Museum activities can encourage families to think about the ways that play can support learning – while still being fun, too! (Click here for previous Learning About Learning blog updates, and visit the Museum’s website to learn more about the project.)

The research team is also embarking on a new three-year project in collaboration with Brown University and two other university/museum teams: the University of California, Santa Cruz and Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose, and the University of Texas at Austin and the Thinkery.  Together, the three teams will investigate how open-ended exploration and parent-child explanations might affect children’s causal learning in the museums.

In the next few months, researchers will be observing how families use different exhibits and will ask permission to video record as they play together.  The videos will help the teams learn more about how children and their caregivers naturally explore how objects in museum exhibits work, and how they explain their ideas to one another.  Studying learning in a busy environment like the Museum can be tricky, and this initial part of the project will help the teams think together about the questions we’ll be asking and how we can best learn about the ways that museum exhibits, educators and caregivers can support children’s learning.

Mind Lab: A Space for Learning About Learning

For more than a decade, developmental psychologists have conducted research at Providence Children’s Museum to explore how young children think and learn.  Researchers from Brown University and Providence College welcome visitors to participate in studies in the Museum’s Mind Lab each week.

This month, the Museum opened a prototype of a new space for Mind Lab as part of a major three-year National Science Foundation-funded project (award #1223777) in collaboration with Brown University to study how children develop scientific thinking skills and understand their own learning processes.  The Museum is examining what children, caregivers and informal educators understand about learning through play in its exhibits and how to support children’s metacognition – the ability to notice and reflect on their own thinking – and adults’ awareness of kids’ thinking and learning through play. 

Located off the Play Power exhibit, the new Mind Lab space hosts ongoing research by the Museum and its academic collaborators and will share information on child development, learning and play.  The space will be open during most Museum hours with research-based activities for children ages 2 to 5 and ages 5 to 10, accompanied by information and resources for adults about the ways children learn.  Museum activities will give children opportunities to practice scientific thinking – noticing cause and effect, testing through trial and error, experimenting with different possibilities – and will help them see themselves as learners.  Meanwhile, the space will inspire adult visitors to notice and reflect on their children’s often systematic and purposeful play and to recognize the importance of self-directed play and exploration to child development.

Intern Alicia and Museum researcher Suzy prototype a cause and effect activity
with batteries and motors.

Over the summer and fall, Museum researchers will prototype and evaluate different activities for kids and tools for adults, and visitors will have plenty of opportunities to test them out and share their feedback.

Find out more about Mind Lab and the Learning About Learning project, and check back for more project updates.

Learning About Learning: What does learning through play look like?

The Museum is collaborating with Brown University on a major National Science Foundation-funded project (award #1223777) to study how children develop scientific thinking skills and understand their own learning processes.  In particular, Museum researchers are investigating how to make kids’ learning through play visible and are prototyping research activities in the Museum’s Mind Lab this summer. Museum researcher Suzy Letourneau shared this project update, which was also posted on Kidoinfo.

Imagine that you are 3 years old, playing with an interesting new toy. A grown-up shows you that the toy has some buttons. When she pushes a red button, nothing happens. When she pushes a blue button, nothing happens. But when she pushes both at the same time, some music starts to play. Now it’s your turn. What do you do?

Researchers who study child development use simple toys like this to answer questions about how children learn. What seems like a simple choice actually involves many underlying thought processes. As a child playing with this toy, you pay attention to what the grown-up is doing, notice the connection between the buttons and the music, and remember what you saw. Then you form a theory about how the toy works and decide what to do based on everything you’ve learned. You might even try different ways of playing with the toy, testing out your ideas.

When asking questions about how children learn, researchers don’t assume that children already know something. Instead, they carefully observe children’s behavior to find out how they interpret each experience, make each choice, and incorporate what they see or hear into what they already know. As a parent, you can watch your own children play through a scientific lens, observing your child’s thinking and learning in a new way.

Imagine another scenario: you are watching a 7-year-old build a castle out of blocks. She works on each part of the structure for a long time, adding one block at a time to make walls and a tower and adjusting when they start to wobble. She looks closely at her work, talking quietly about the characters that inhabit her imaginary kingdom. She smiles proudly and announces, “Look what I did!,” showing off her completed castle.

You can observe many thinking skills in this everyday situation. In order to construct the castle, she thought about what parts it should have, drawing on memories of castles she had seen before. She strategized by carefully placing blocks and fixing wobbly ones before moving on. As she talked about what she was doing, she put words to her ideas and kept herself focused. She reflected on what she was doing by looking closely at her work, and then by sharing what she had done with pride.

Thinking and learning can look different depending on the age and activity, but everyone – from infants to adults – shows their thinking as they play. Here are some thinking behaviors you can look for in any situation:

• Exploring materials: Kids test things out to decide what to do.
• Watching and imitating others: Kids learn how to start or what to try.
• Talking about what they’re doing: Kids learn to describe their thinking and stay focused on what they’re doing.
• Telling others what to do: Kids share ideas and strategies by collaborating or even by giving orders.
• Repeating over and over: Kids practice new skills and learn about cause and effect.
• Using trial and error: Kids learn from mistakes, make changes and try again.
• Focusing: Kids look serious and intense when they concentrate on something they’re interested in or challenged by.
• Expressing frustration: Kids reach obstacles, but working through challenges can help them learn to persevere and value the process of figuring things out.
• Sharing accomplishments and “ah-ha” moments: Kids reflect on their own learning by showing others what they’ve discovered.

Visit the Museum’s website and see previous blog posts for more information about the Learning About Learning project.

Learning About Learning: Supporting Kids’ Learning Through Play

The Museum is partnering with Brown University's Causality and Mind Lab on a three-year National Science Foundation-funded project (award #1223777) to study how children develop scientific thinking skills and understand their own learning processes.  Museum researcher Suzy Letourneau is investigating how to make kids’ learning through play visible and shared this project update.

We’ve observed many metacognitive skills in children’s play at the Museum. We also found that when families stayed longer in one exhibit, children showed a greater variety of these “thinking behaviors” in their play. This showed us that when children want to do the same activity for what seems like forever, they may be practicing something very important. As adults, we might be able to support children’s learning by encouraging them to reflect on what they’re thinking and doing.

For young children, reflecting might be as simple as being proud of something they’ve accomplished and sharing this with others. Children of all ages use their understanding of the world to anticipate what’s coming next, and they show surprise when unexpected things happen. Emotional reactions to successes, failures and discoveries can be great opportunities to think together about what just happened and what children are thinking about it. Older children might be able to describe what they did and why, or might be able to come up with another solution or change their plans after seeing what happened.

We also found that when children stated a plan or idea before starting to play (for example, deciding what they want to build, or choosing what character to pretend to be), they were more likely to reflect on their play later in their visit.  For young children, making a plan might be as simple as choosing some materials to use, or watching and trying to copy someone else. Older children might imagine what they want to create, build, or do in advance and then come up with their own strategy or collaborate with others to accomplish it.

We asked Museum play guides how they encourage children to plan or reflect on what they’re doing. Here are some of their suggestions:

• Let children watch you play and either copy you or do something different.
• Place something new and interesting nearby, and wait to see if children notice it. It might spark a new idea or inspire a different strategy.
• Let children put their own words to what they’re planning by asking, “What are you doing?” and “Can I help?”
• If children experience a setback, encourage them to try again. If they get stuck, ask, “What else could you try?”
• Show enthusiasm when children are proud and want to share what they’ve done. Use this moment to ask, “How did you do that?”
• Help children document their work so they can reflect on it later. Leave something behind (like on the show-off shelf in ThinkSpace), or take a picture of each step of the process along with the finished product.

Also see these past project updates:

• Learning About Learning
• Observations of Kids' Thinking Behaviors
• Parent Interviews

Learning About Learning: Parent Interviews

The Museum is partnering with Brown University's Causality and Mind Lab on a three-year National Science Foundation-funded project (award #1223777) to study how children develop scientific thinking skills and understand their own learning processes.  Museum researcher Suzy Letourneau is investigating how to make kids’ learning through play visible and shared this project update.

Over the last few months, we conducted interviews with nearly 90 parents and caregivers of children ages 3 to 11, asking what they think about when watching their children play, and what they think their children are thinking about. We also asked them to describe the specific behaviors that they noticed in their children’s play, and what these behaviors showed them about their children’s thought processes.

Parents reported playing many different roles during their visits. They supervised, taught, helped, encouraged, played along (or nearby), or just relaxed and watched their children having fun.  Many parents reflected on how their children played – what captured their interest, where they spent a long time, and what they were trying to do. Parents also thought about how their children have changed as they’ve grown, or how their children have particular strengths, quirks, and learning styles that showed up in their play.

A lot of parents noticed their children thinking while playing.  Nearly half (45%) reported seeing their children focus or concentrate on something – looking serious, being in their own worlds, and not being distracted by anything around them.  Others noticed their kids purposefully trying to accomplish something (23%), describing what they were doing (33%), or using trial and error to test things they were working on (20%).  Some parents also noticed their children being persistent and independent – not wanting help from anyone, even when things were difficult (25%), or being determined and not wanting to leave until they were “done” (38%).

All of these behaviors are indicators of children’s thinking; they show that children solve problems independently, articulate their ideas, keep their goals in mind, maintain their attention, and reflect on what they are doing. These skills are foundations of “metacognition” – mental processes that allow us to reflect on our own thoughts and knowledge. Although as adults we have accumulated a lot of experience thinking through unpredictable situations, children are still mastering these skills, and play offers many opportunities for them to practice.

Check back for future Learning About Learning project updates, and look for Museum researchers prototyping tools for visitors this spring.

Learning About Learning: Observations of Kids' Thinking Behaviors

The Museum is partnering with Brown University on a three-year National Science Foundation-funded project (award #1223777) to study how children develop scientific thinking skills and understand their own learning processes.  Museum researcher Suzy Letourneau is investigating how to make kids’ learning through play visible and shared this project update.

This summer, we observed over 80 families to find out how children show that they are thinking and learning through play in the Museum, in their interactions with exhibit materials and with other people.  We looked for behaviors that scientists and educators have identified as important for children’s thinking and learning, especially how children show independent and creative thinking and metacognition – their awareness of their own thought processes as they play. This skill includes not only “thinking about thinking” (for example, when you know that you’ve learned something before) but also the ability to plan, to solve problems strategically, and to reflect on your actions.

Scientists have found that children practice these skills through play, and that even very young children (as young as age 3) demonstrate early foundations of metacognition and independent thinking through their behavior, expressions, and body language. For example, even though a toddler might not be able to articulate what she is thinking, she might intentionally gather materials before starting to play, or systematically try one object after another. As children get older, they are able to describe their ideas, thoughts and plans, and they can share what they have learned with others.

In our observations, children showed many of these “thinking behaviors”:

They explored, planned, and set goals for themselves. Before deciding what to do, children explored in many different ways. Some rapidly tried many different objects, some watched what others were doing, and others looked at the exhibit from a distance. Once they had explored the environment, 21% of children stated a plan or idea out loud before beginning to play (“Let’s make a space shuttle!” “This will be the starting line.”); those who did were more likely to reflect on their accomplishments later. Children often announced their plans without any prompting from others. Instead, seeing how other children were playing, seeing examples of what others had made, or just seeing loose materials seemed to inspire them generate their own ideas. This shows why their initial explorations of the environment might be so important.

They focused and monitored their own behavior. We often observed children deeply focused on what they were doing, either working side by side with others or seemingly in their own world; 36% of children showed intense concentration. They stopped periodically to share their work with a family member or friend and then returned to what they were doing, often staying in one spot for a long time! Parents and caregivers were often supportive (and patient!) bystanders, offering encouragement when kids shared their work, stepping back and just watching, or by playing alongside their children. For example, an 8-year-old girl in ThinkSpace carefully created a huge sphere out of Jovos, ignoring everyone around her. Later, she lifted it up to show her mother and sister, who sat next to her building their own structures. 

Research has shown that when activities are challenging, children are more engaged and focused, more motivated to learn, and more confident and proud when they succeed.

They strategized and figured things out for themselves. Children used various strategies to solve problems or figure out how something worked. Many kids (59%) repeated actions over and over and observed the results each time, 41% learned from their mistakes or through trial and error, and 40% built off of something they had seen. Most children preferred to do things on their own; only 14% asked for help.

Children often talked about what they were doing with other children or with their grownups; we observed 34% of children “thinking out loud.” Sometimes they’d notice problems (“It’s stuck!” “Where did it go?” “Wait, this one has holes in it!”), or propose solutions (“We need more beanbags.” “I’m trying to find a bigger ramp.” “What if this piece goes over there?”). At other times children’s descriptions gave us a glimpse of what was going on in their imaginations (“It’s a four-eyed lion!”  “It’s like a castle. This is the gate to get in. You can wipe your feet right there.”)

Children tended to think out loud when they collaborated with others, working toward a common goal and coordinating their efforts. In these situations, 30% gave directions to others (“Put that piece up there.” “Wait, not yet!” “Ready? 1, 2, 3, go!”). Sometimes children collaborated with and directed their grown-ups too, and caregivers helped by asking questions or obediently following children’s instructions.

Researchers have studied the variety of ways that children communicate with one another as they play (directing, negotiating, narrating, describing) and what their playful conversations show about their development.

They reflected on their actions, both verbally (telling others about what they did) and nonverbally (by carefully observing their own work, or by expressing pride, delight, frustration, and surprise). We found that 41% of children got others’ attention to show off their discoveries or accomplishments (“Hey Mom! Look what I did!” or pointing to show someone), and 34% carefully observed their own work (for example, one 5-year-old girl built a tall tower out of unit blocks in ThinkSpace, and then walked all the way around it, looking at it from all angles with satisfaction). Adults sometimes helped kids document their work by taking a photo of the finished product.

Research shows that documenting and narrating/labeling children’s work can help children remember and learn from their experiences.  Reggio teaching methods are based in large part on the power of documentation of children’s works-in-progress, not just the finished product.

Check back for future Learning About Learning project updates!

Learning About Learning

This post was contributed by Museum Exhibits Director Robin Meisner.

For more than a decade, the Museum has opened its doors to developmental psychologists who explore how children think, learn and develop. Each week, researchers from The Causality and Mind Lab at Brown University and Kid Think at Providence College conduct controlled studies in the Museum’s Mind Lab to see how kids think about or react to certain games or situations. As scientists, the researchers make observations of many children and try to understand how they learn. They are not testing how “smart” an individual child is – they’re looking at how children (in general) think and what they can do at certain stages of development.

In late 2012, we expanded this work with researchers when we began a major three-year research project in collaboration with The Causality and Mind Lab, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (award #1223777). Researchers at Brown are looking at the development of scientific thinking in young children. At the Museum, we’re building on our interests in creating rich play environments and providing support for children, caregivers and Museum educators to notice and value the learning that happens through play. Specifically, we’re exploring how we might best support children’s metacognition – their ability to notice and reflect on their own thinking – and adults’ awareness and appreciation of kids’ thinking and learning through play, at the Museum and beyond.

Drawing from fields like developmental psychology, informal education and museum visitor studies, the Museum’s exhibits team has looked at studies on the types of learning that naturally occur through play, when children start to become aware of their own thinking, and how the design of museum environments encourages visitors to reflect on their learning. Last summer, the team conducted observations in three of our exhibits – Play Power, ThinkSpace and Water Ways – and documented how children ages 3 to 11 interacted with exhibit materials and the people around them. We looked for indicators of children’s learning through play, such as critical thinking and problem solving. Next, we interviewed parents and caregivers about what they notice children doing in the exhibits, asking them to reflect on their children’s thinking.

Based on findings from our observations and interviews, we’ve begun to develop and test new tools and activities to make the learning that happens through play visible to adults and children. So don’t be surprised if you’re asked to test out new materials and share your thoughts when visiting the Museum this year – completely voluntary, of course, but we’d love your feedback. Stay tuned for future Learning About Learning project updates!

Discovery: A Summer Learning Story

We’re reflecting on the incredible contributions of our 2012-13 AmeriCorps Museum Educators as their service year comes to a close. Leah Taradash shared this story about facilitating play-based summer enrichment activities to support school readiness for rising kindergartners.

The day that Michael learned that red and blue makes purple was a magical day at Asa Messer Elementary School.

As we planned the curriculum for our summer as part of Kid's Bridge, a kindergarten prep program for low-income children, we knew that we wanted to provide the children with new experiences that would inspire their creativity and inquisitive nature while getting them ready for school. Color mixing with paints was the perfect activity – it introduced materials such as paint and paintbrushes, allowed for creativity, incorporated scientific principles, and is just plain fun. After listening to the book Mouse Paint, the kids were excited to learn that they would use paints to mix colors, just like the mice did. I couldn't help but smile as they mixed different combinations of red, blue and yellow to make green, orange and purple and shouted their discoveries with glee.

When it was Michael's turn, he pointed to a cup that a previous child had mixed and said, "I want the purple paint!" He looked skeptical when I told him that to make purple he would have to use red and blue.  "I have to put them together? With this?" he asked as he picked up the paintbrush, making it clear that he had probably never used painting materials before. I watched him ever so slowly pick up the brush and dip it into the red paint. "I put it in there?" he asked, pointing to the blue. I nodded and he placed the paintbrush inside the cup of blue. "It's not working. Where's the purple?" "You have to mix it together," I said, and moved my hand in a stirring motion. "And maybe add some more red." He began to stir the paint together, adding a bit more red to the mixture, until suddenly flecks of a deep purple began to appear. Michael looked up at me with such wonder in his eyes and yelled, "It did it! It made purple! It really happened!" He spent the next five minutes experimenting with adding different amounts of red and blue to his paper and seeing how he could make different shades of purple.

Watching Michael and the other children's joyful reactions to discovering the science behind color mixing made me proud to  give them the opportunity to make discoveries about things that adults often take for granted.

Raising Spatial Thinkers

This article, by Early Childhood Programs Coordinator Mary Scott Hackman, was also posted on Kidoinfo. 

I recently had the privilege of watching my granddaughter, at 9 months, negotiate the positioning of her body.  I could see the wheels turning as she tried to move into a sitting position, thinking “if I do this, this might happen…”  As she pulled herself up into what I refer to as the ‘majestic triangle,’ she brought her hands together celebrating the growing sense of herself in space.  She was really thinking spatially – developing an intuitive understanding of shape and space, a skill that is necessary to navigate the world around us on a daily basis.

Spatial thinking begins in infancy and develops over a lifetime.  As infants reach and grasp for things, they are increasing the number of neurons in their developing brains.  When a baby crawls under a small table and ducks his head, he is developing spatial sense.  As a preschooler unpacks and repacks a toy bin, she is thinking spatially.  Puzzle making, navigating an obstacle course, packing a backpack, all require thinking in this specific way.

Research shows that if we are not naturally gifted at thinking spatially, we can improve our skills with practice.  And we, as parents and educators, can help our children improve their spatial thinking abilities by giving them challenges and opportunities.  Here are a few tips and ideas:

• One of the most important ways you can begin the process is by using spatial language and gestures with your youngsters – big and small, up and down, near and far, rotate, turn.

• Take a walk through your office and pick up a stapler, a pencil cup, a ruler and a paper clip.  Position these objects on a large sheet of paper and trace around them.  The next time your 4-year-old is looking for an activity, roll out the paper and put the objects in a basket, inviting her to match the items to their outlines.

•  Gather a large plastic container and many small items, like ping-pong or golf balls.  Ask your kindergartener to predict how many balls will fit in the container.  Try the challenge again with other objects of different shapes and sizes.

•  Save your cardboard jewelry boxes.  When you have a critical mass, line a shoebox with them in a way that 10-12 boxes fit perfectly.  Dump out the jewelry boxes and present your 5- or 6-year-old with the challenge of finding the way to fit them into the shoebox.

•  The next time you go on a trip, invite your 6-year-old to pack his own suitcase.  (This is not only good for spatial thinking, it’s great for his sense of self!)

•  When your 8-year-old accompanies you to the grocery store, ask the clerk if she can do your bagging.

•  On a hike, discuss navigation and have your child practice using a compass and a map.

This hands-on experience is important to raising a successful spatial thinker.  Your child will thank you years later when the GPS dies and she knows how to read a road map!

Why Spatial Thinking?

Spatial thinking is integral to everyday life and is necessary to navigate, explore and survive in the world. People think spatially all the time – when tying shoes, reading maps, finding the way to school or work, packing suitcases, building snowmen, doing jigsaw puzzles, designing costumes, climbing trees or slicing pizza. Spatial thinkers are engineers planning bridges, pilots flying airplanes, doctors reading x-rays, electricians wiring houses, meteorologists predicting weather, bakers decorating cakes, geologists studying fossils and trapeze artists flying through the air. Kids are spatial thinkers, too!

Put simply, spatial thinking is about developing an intuitive understanding – a sense – of shapes and space. It’s about the location and shape of objects, their relations to each other and the paths they take as they move. It’s about the ways we can change, manipulate, represent, reason and communicate about shapes and spaces.

Spatial thinking is an important problem-solving tool and – as research shows – a key to kids’ interest and success in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines. The connection to the arts and design is pretty clear, too. Research also suggests that, while everyone (at any age) can become a better spatial thinker with practice, spatial thinking skills may be most malleable early in life and, for young children, hands-on experiences are especially significant. However, while kids learn the basics of shape and space, spatial thinking isn’t systematically taught in schools.

In order to build strong spatial sense and become proficient at spatial thinking, kids need to opportunities to...

• Actively explore shapes and spaces in unusual and playful ways
• Practice imaginative abilities (e.g., rotating objects in their minds)
• Experiment with the interaction between space and body by, for example, inhabiting spaces and or changing perspectives
• Investigate shapes and spaces through fine and gross motor activities
• Explore shapes and spaces through sound and touch in addition to visual methods
• Hear and use spatial language and gestures
• Experience and play with tools of representation for spatial thinking (diagrams, maps, etc.)

Spatial thinking is powerful and fun – and the more time and opportunities kids have for this kind of play, the better their spatial sense will become. That’s exactly what Museum visitors will discover when ThinkSpace opens next week!

 – Contributed by Exhibits Director Robin Meisner 

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Much of our understanding about the development of spatial thinking in young children has been influenced by the research of Dr. Nora Newcombe and her colleagues at the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center.

More about the importance of spatial thinking:

The Benefits of Spatial Thinking (FABBS Foundation)

Spatial thinking, the way we navigate the world and manipulate the space around us, is crucial to problem solving.

Spatial Intelligence in Children (Parenting Science)
Spatial intelligence is an essential tool in many fields, yet it's relatively neglected at school.  Experiments suggest that we can improve a child's spatial thinking skills by a substantial margin.

Why Don't We Value Spatial Intelligence? (Psychology Today)
For students who are not talented with words and numbers but who are talented with mentally rotating figures and shapes, there is often very little to recognize and challenge them in the regular school system.

Supporting Summer Learning

The Museum serves low-income preschool and elementary school-aged children year-round through MuseumCorps, our AmeriCorps program. This school year, MuseumCorps members provided stimulating hands-on learning experiences to 1,300 children in Head Start and out-of-school time programs in disadvantaged communities in Providence and Pawtucket. New this summer, we are expanding summer enrichment programming, designed to combat summer learning loss in math and reading skills, to serve another 200 children.

Children living in poverty often lack enriching opportunities that children from affluent families have – quality preschool, after-school and summer programs, exposure to cultural organizations like museums, travel, even shared reading in their homes – leading to a shocking achievement gap.

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation reports that children in all socioeconomic groups learn at the same rate – at least when it comes to basic skills – during the school year. Nearly all of the differences in achievement between poor and middle class children are rooted in the inequities they experience beyond school, namely in early childhood learning and out-of-school time opportunities. These inequities are especially pronounced during the summer months. Studies show that all children lose an average of 2.6 months of grade-level equivalency in math skills over the summer. But while middle class children continue to learn or hold steady in reading and language skills, lower-income children lose ground, resulting in an average gap of three months in reading skills.

Clearly low-income children are most in need of academic support and enrichment, and Museum Learning Clubs serve a critical need. We’ve added 4 new MuseumCorps members to our existing team of 12 and together they will serve 15 groups of kids at Boys & Girls Club in the Fox Point and South Side neighborhoods of Providence, Capital City Community Centers (Smith Hill Summer Program), Highlander Charter School, Louie's Place at South Providence Neighborhood Ministries, Nickerson House Community Center, Pawtucket Child Opportunity Zone and Silver Lake Community Center over the summer.

Under the guidance of our MuseumCorps members, these kids will design paper airplanes and gliders to discover the properties of air, track the sun's movement through a sun spotter telescope, investigate the wonder of nature by handling worms and dissecting owl pellets, explore problem-solving and design challenges as they conduct “egg drop” experiments, and try plenty of other fun and engaging hands-on activities that will curb their summer learning loss.

Learn more about the importance of summer learning in Rhode Island from RI After School Plus Alliance (RIASPA).

Pretend Play is a Literacy Activity

This article, by Museum Executive Director Janice O'Donnell, was also posted on Kidoinfo.

Your 3-year-old can recognize the first letter of her name when she sees it in print or maybe hit the right letters on the electronic game when the recorded voice says “B… ball… B.”  You think she’s pretty smart.  She is, but not because she’s beginning to recognize letters.  Let’s face it – chimpanzees can learn to do that.  Where you can really see and celebrate her developing literacy skills is in her pretend play.

Children’s capacity for pretend, or fantasy, play begins very early and is marvelous in its creativity.  When children pretend, their thinking is fluid, flexible and amazingly responsive to new information, ideas and resources.  Renowned educator Vivian Gussin Paley recorded this kindergarten dialogue in her 2004 book, A Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play:

“Someone has to be the wolf,” Red Riding girl said, putting on the red velvet cloak.
“I’m not the bad guy,” argued Erik, in a vest and tie.
“You’re really the dad hunter but you pretend huge teeth.”
“Like a wolf?  See it bited me so my teeth got stronger like a wolf.”

While practicing social skills like cooperation and compromise, children create their story’s plot, characters, even backstory.  They understand the elements of storymaking well before they read or write.  And of even more importance, they internalize the rich complex world of stories – and are primed to become enthusiastic readers.

There is no research showing that children who learn to read by age 5 have stronger literacy skills long term than children who begin reading at 7.  In fact, recent research by Sebastian Suggate of University of Otago, New Zealand, demonstrates there is no difference.  Suggate theorizes that “…the most important early factors for later reading achievement… are gained without formal reading instruction… play, language and interactions with adults… prepare the soil well for later development of reading.”

Given enough unstructured screen-free time, children will naturally engage in pretend play with other kids and by themselves.  Young children will often invite you – their grown-ups – into the play.  Accept the invitation and follow their lead.  It’s fun and it’s really interesting to observe their imaginations in action.

You can let them know you value their pretending by taking it a step further.  Keep a box of dress-up clothes within easy access.  Capes, pieces of glittery fabric, silly hats and old Halloween costumes inspire fantasy play.

Listen to them as they play and write down their story.  For example:

Little Red Riding Hood walked through the forest.  Suddenly she saw a wolf.  She started to run away.
“Wait,” he said.  “I’m not really a wolf!  I’m your dad!”
“But you have huge teeth!” said Red
“Because a wolf bit me and my teeth got huge and strong,” said dad, “but I won’t bite you!”

Read the story to them and ask them to add to it and illustrate it.

Or tell their stories back to them.  On vacation last summer my grandchildren spent days on an elaborate fantasy involving an elf, a princess and a ninja.   At bedtime I began the story, “Once upon a time a princess lived in the forest with her best friend the elf.  One day a ninja came to the forest…”  Of course the kids corrected and embellished and wanted stories about the ninja, princess and elf again and again.

Pretend play is a literacy activity.  For that reason, the Children’s Museum’s team incorporated a lot of pretend play elements in its design for the new Chace Children’s Discovery Library at Providence Public Library.  Raise readers by reading them books and telling them stories – and by allowing plenty of opportunity to make their own stories.

Mind Lab at the Museum

This post was contributed by Museum Exhibits Director Robin Meisner.

At Providence Children’s Museum we’ve teamed up with developmental psychologists at Brown University and Providence College to create Mind Lab, a research partnership exploring how children learn – what our young visitors know and how their understanding develops and changes as they grow.

We’ve been hosting researchers at the Museum for almost a decade and are pleased to work with such active and engaged scientists.  To celebrate her first anniversary with Mind Lab, Dr. Jennifer Van Reet, assistant professor of psychology at Providence College, shared the results of one of her studies.

"Every week, my students and I look forward to our time in the Mind Lab. With the generous help of Museum visitors, we have been exploring the development of pretend play in preschoolers.  One project we recently completed had some really intriguing results!

All of my research is focused on discovering how people are able to pretend and figuring out in what ways pretending is beneficial. One way I do this is to find what other important abilities are related to pretending. In this project, I looked at an ability called inhibitory control, which we all use to control our minds and bodies. And we use it all the time! Every time you stop yourself from saying something you know you shouldn’t, or wait until after dinner to eat dessert, you are using your inhibitory control.

After measuring the inhibitory control and pretending abilities in a lot of different ways, I discovered that 3- and 4-year-olds who have the most inhibitory control are also the best pretenders. I also found that playing a particular type of game – games just like “Simon Says” – caused better pretending!  This type of game is special because it requires a certain kind of inhibitory control that helps you switch back and forth between two different rules (like when Simon says to do something versus when he doesn’t).  Other types of games, like waiting games or follow-the-leader games, did not have the same effect.

This project revealed quite a bit about pretend play that we did not know before. Now we know how important inhibitory control is for children’s pretend play, and we know that exercising children’s inhibitory control can help them to be better pretenders. This new information can now be used by people who work with children – like the staff at Providence Children’s Museum."

Dr. Van Reet models an activity from one of her studies.

Working with scientists gives the Museum an opportunity to learn about current research and create more meaningful, developmentally appropriate child- and adult-focused learning experiences, including hands-on activities for children, workshops for caregivers, and exhibits and environments for all visitors.

From Jennifer’s study we might consider…

• Incorporating an appropriate inhibitory control game into our greeting for groups visiting the Museum;
• Including such a game in take-home materials that compliment our programs; or
• Designing an exhibit component that encourages the use of children’s inhibitory control skills.

Further conversations with Jennifer also suggest that there’s good reason to think that the inhibitory control/pretend play connection works both ways – that good pretend play has a hand in the development of strong inhibitory control skills.  And, like anything else, many children need practice at pretend play to become “good” at it.

Visitors to the Museum have lots of opportunities to engage in and practice pretend play.  All of our exhibits have components specifically designed to foster such play – for example, the bridge and crane in Iway, the underground kitchen in Underland and, perhaps less obviously, the casts in Bone Zone or blocks in Shape Space.  Museum Play Guides are trained to spark, seed and join children’s play – to help create richer, deeper play.  From the Museum’s perspective, an interesting future research study might investigate whether such play experience do indeed contribute to building a child’s inhibitory control skills.

Joyful Learning

This article by Director of Education Cathy Saunders was also posted on Kidoinfo.

Now that kids are back in school, I’ve been contemplating the challenge of keeping learning a joyful experience rather than a task that must be endured.  At the Children’s Museum, we know that the best kind of learning happens when the learner wants to acquire new knowledge or skills, and when the experience is joyful and satisfying.  Yet the truth of the matter is that many of us (children and adults) have had un-joyful, un-playful and un-satisfying learning experiences in our lives.

Even though I was kid who thrived in a school setting, like most people I have frustrations associated with school.  I remember the uncertain feeling I had when I was segregated as a slow reader in 2^nd grade and the terror I had of presenting in front of the classroom in 3^rd grade.  And I have some negative associations with learning outside of the classroom, too.  After a trip to the Museum of Science, there was always a dreaded moment in the car ride home when my dad would ask, “What did you learn?”  A great cloud would suddenly descend upon my afternoon of watching chicks hatch in the giant incubator because I wasn’t able to articulate my new understanding of how hard a baby bird had to work to get out of its shell.

When we watch our young ones go off to school it can be hard not to project some of our negative associations, and we can get tangled up in our children’s academic pressures.  The result is that we can lose sight of what a fun endeavor learning is, and that can be contagious to our kids.  Children look to us to model behaviors about everything, including attitudes about learning.  They need us be their advocates and cheerleaders as life-long learners.  It’s understandable that they get frustrated; we need to listen to their fears and be patient.  We need to show them that we believe in them and their abilities as creative thinkers and problem solvers.

Children need to see us as excited learners, too.  Quick, grab a pen and make a list of 10 things you’ve learned recently.  My list includes learning the basic rules of a football game (my nephew plays Division III football), that hydrangeas change color based on the soil type, three new yoga poses, and how to create a personalized map on Google.  What does your list include?  Go ahead and share your curiosity and celebrate your new skills and growing knowledge with pride.  It’s great for children to see that we learn, and that we enjoy it.

We want children to know that learning is about being fully engaged and curious about something.  It’s about mastering something new.  It can happen slowly or quickly.  It can happen in groups or alone.  It can be joyful and self directed.  It is a skill in and of itself that, once developed, can make school a lot more fun and interesting.