Make Some Music!

This summer, kids and adults will explore beats and rhythm and make some joyful noise on two vibrant interactive sound sculptures newly installed in our Children’s Garden.

Original creations by our exhibits team, the playful sculptures were inspired by an installation they initially designed and fabricated for Harriet and Sayles Park last summer. Part of the city’s PopUp Providence initiative – an innovative urban place-making program that supported temporary and inexpensive artistic and cultural interventions to enliven neighborhoods across the city – the captivating musical components were well used and well loved.

Whether banging on drums or ringing bells, children inherently respond to making and sharing music. Designed to accommodate a range of physical abilities and skills, the sound sculptures invite children of all ages to play a variety of inventive percussion instruments in their own ways and create meaningful interactions with music and with each other. Making music together promotes confidence and social skills, as well as the development of language, mathematical and spatial thinking – and it's just plain fun!

By incorporating a variety of intriguing reclaimed objects and new materials, the sound sculptures offer kids a hands-on musical experience with both usual and unusual instruments, including bells and tongue drums fashioned from steel propane tanks, triangles and large wooden and metal chimes.

The sound sculptures will infuse the garden with creative exploration this summer and beyond, and inspire families to express themselves while discovering ways that everyday items can be playfully repurposed. Feel the beat!

Play at the Park!

For a fourth summer, the Children’s Museum is bringing playful hands-on activities to neighborhood parks across Providence, building on our efforts to advocate for and raise awareness of the critical importance of children’s play, and our commitment to provide opportunities for unstructured, child-directed play throughout the community.

Join us to build forts, blow bubbles, and discover other open-ended fun with loose parts, in conjunction with the "Celebrate Providence!" Neighborhood Performing Arts Series evening concerts.

PLAY AT THE PARK 
with Providence Children's Museum!
All events from 5:00 - 8:00 PM

Tuesday, July 7

Fargnoli Park | Smith and Jastram Streets

Music by Sidy Maiga + band (West African drumming) from 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Wednesday, July 15

Brown Street Park | Brown and Creighton Streets

Music by Roz and the Rice Cakes from 5:30 - 7:00 PM

Thursday, July 23

Dexter Training Grounds | Dexter and Parade Streets

Music by Sally Rogers and the Last Time String Band from 5:30 - 7:00 PM

Thursday, August 6

Harriet and Sayles Park | Harriet and Sayles Streets

Neighborhood Block Party starting at 5:30 PM

Thursday, August 13

Harriet and Sayles Park | Harriet and Sayles Streets

Neighborhood Block Party starting at 5:30 PM

Tuesday, August 18

Roger Williams Park | Broad Street entrance

Performance by ECAS Theater (spoken word, theater and music) starting at 4:00 PM

RSVP on Facebook for event updates.

Children’s Museum activities at the parks are free and open to the public and are part of our participation in Playful Providence 2015 – a citywide celebration of play commemorating Providence’s fourth consecutive recognition by KaBOOM! as a Playful City USA, and presented in collaboration with the Partnership for Providence Parks and the city’s Departments of Parks + Recreation and Art, Culture + Tourism.

Museum and Partners Present Pop-Up PLAY Day!

Click here for more information, and
RSVP on Facebook for event updates.

Beach Adventure Play

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

When I describe the adventure playgrounds I explored in England and Wales to Americans, they might be delighted or appalled, but they’re always surprised. Adventure playgrounds are places absolutely committed to kids’ free self-directed play. Children build (and destroy) their own play structures, often using hammers and nails; loose parts – old tires, mud, boards, buckets, rope – abound; and taking risks is encouraged as part of healthy development. These playgrounds have a long history in northern Europe, but are rare in the US (there’s one on the UK model in Berkeley, CA) and can look chaotic and dangerous to American eyes.

But the kind of play adventure playgrounds provide isn’t actually unusual here. In fact, it happens all the time and is completely acceptable – at the beach.

As at an adventure playground, kids (and grown-ups, too) are free to alter the beach space to the limits of their abilities – dig a hole, engineer a canal system, build a castle. Open-ended play objects are everywhere – sand and water are the endlessly malleable ultimate in loose parts, plus there are shells, seaweed, sticks and stones to decorate your mud pies or sand sculptures, turn into drawing and digging tools, and wear as costumes. And appropriate risk is ever present. Small children, not yet ready to tackle deep water, challenge their own fear by running toward the receding waves and back to shore as the water rushes at them. More competent swimmers make decisions about which waves to ride and how deep to venture. And, for the most part, we let them use their own judgment to assess risk and their own abilities.

I think one reason we adults are so comfortable with open-ended, child-directed and somewhat risky adventure play at the beach is because we’re familiar with these activities. We indulge in riding waves and sculpting sand ourselves. Likewise, a lot of the adults I met at adventure playgrounds in the UK had grown up playing in just such places. They’re used to that kind of play in that kind of environment. Also, adventure playgrounds have playworkers, people well trained and experienced at supporting children’s play without directing it. Having knowledgeable adults on hand, paying close attention to what the kids are up to – but letting them – certainly mitigates any danger. Even if a child does fall off the zip line, there’s a grown-up who’ll help him out. The lifeguards at the beach play a somewhat similar role. They’ll warn us of real danger, such as a rip current, and they’ll help us if we get in trouble, but they don’t tell us how to play. They keep an eye on things without interfering.

We can learn a lot about our own attitudes toward free play and risk if we observe and reflect on our children’s and our own enjoyment of a day at the beach. Maybe we’re not as risk averse as we sometimes feel. Maybe our kids are a lot more competent and inventive than we realized.

Play at the Park!

For a third summer, join the Children’s Museum at neighborhood parks across Providence to build forts, make musical instruments, and discover other open-ended fun with loose parts.  The activities build on the Museum’s efforts to support unstructured, child-directed play throughout the community and are part of our participation in Playful Providence – a citywide celebration of play.

We're bringing activities to Burnside Park (downtown Providence, in Kennedy Plaza) Tuesday, July 1 from 3:00 - 6:00 PM.

Then join us to play at the park and enjoy evening concerts on these dates:

Tuesday, July 22 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM Fargnoli Park | Jastram and Smith Streets Music by Keith Munslow

Thursday, July 24 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM Dexter Training Ground | Dexter and Parade Streets Music by The American Band

Wednesday, July 30 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM Harriet and Sayles Park | Harriet and Sayles Streets Music by Extraordinary Rendition Band

Wednesday, August 6 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM  Harriet and Sayles Park | Harriet and Sayles Streets Performance by hip-hop dance group Project 401

Thursday, August 7 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM Bucklin Park | Bucklin and Daboll Streets Performance by Rhode Island Black Storytellers

Wednesday, August 13 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM Brown Street Park | Brown and Creighton Streets Music by Ravi Shavi

Museum activities are supported by the Providence Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative, a partnership among Mayor Angel Taveras, the City of Providence, Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, the Department of Public Parks and the Partnership for Providence Parks.

Pop-Up Play Day to Kick Off Playful Providence 2014

Click here for more information
or to volunteer at Pop-Up Play Day!

Snow Day Play Memories

Museum staff shared some of their favorite childhood (and grown-up!) memories of snow days and the imaginative - and sometimes risky - play they inspired.

Robin, Exhibits Director: 

My brother and I worked with all our neighborhood kids to build a huge (really huge) snow fort at the end of our dead-end street, where the plows dumped lots of snow. Ages 5 to 16 worked together to create walls and tunnels (probably not the safest, but fun). And then we split into teams and had WWIII, snowball style!

Olga, Early Childhood Learning Programs Developer:

I always loved and still love sledding. Especially at night. During nighttime sledding, I feel as I am sliding through an unpredictable and magical place, such as C.S. Lewis's Narnia.

Janice, Executive Director: 

After a huge snowstorm when I was 6, our dad helped us make a snow fort. We piled snow into a mound the size of a garden shed at least and hollowed it out and then poured water on the inside and over the top so it froze solid. We played in that snow cave for weeks.

Young Janice and sister atop their snow fort.

Cathy, Education Director: 

Cross country skiing! • Creating showers of snow by shaking the trees • Playing board games by the wood stove for hours

Jennifer, Development Director: 

Shoveling off the nearby "Hockey Pond" seemed as much fun as the skating that followed!

To include the 6-month-old baby in our winter walks, I tied a low sturdy box onto a sled, put the bundled baby in the box so he could sit happily and see out, and off we'd go for snowy adventures.

Sarah, AmeriCorps Museum Educator: 

My favorite snow day activity was building snowmen with my little brother and finding different materials to make the face and accessories.

Megan, Communications Director: 

I spent most of my childhood in the nearly snow-less South, so I have few memories of playing in the snow. However, last winter, I LOVED watching kids of all ages sledding at India Point Park. They took a lot of carefully calculated risks, building jumps and soaring over them; there were quite a few spills along the way!

Those without sleds innovated, using materials like cafeteria trays, or reclaiming broken and abandoned plastic disks. Some especially daring sledders soared down three flights of snow-covered steps, which made for a fast but bumpy ride. I tried to “ski” down the steps in my boots and took a few spills of my own!

Happy Snow Day!

PlayWatch: Scenes from the Garden

These wonderful pretend play moments were witnessed recently in The Children's Garden:

A young girl, age 5 or 6, was very busy setting up a “birthday party” in Underland. She collected lots of natural materials and enlisted mom’s help in gathering baskets of sand. She laid everything out on the table in the fairy kitchen until it was just right, excitedly chattering to herself the whole time about the impending party.

Credit: John C. Meyers

A woman was walking her “puppy” (daughter, on all fours) on a “leash” (jump ropes knotted together and tied around the girl’s waist). They circled slowly and deliberately through the garden a couple of times, eliciting giggles from the staff who were watching. I said to mom, “Good thing you have her on a leash – you don’t want her to run wild!,” and immediately the puppy took off, yanking the leash out of mom’s hand and sprinting through the cave. Only moments later, the puppy had morphed into a kitten and meowed loudly several times as she passed by.

I love that both of these parents followed their children’s cues to get involved in and support their play, and gave them the freedom to have these deep pretend play moments!

– Megan Fischer, Communications & Marketing Director

A PlayFULL Summer at the Parks

This spring and summer, the Museum brought unstructured play to Providence parks for a second year, taking Imagination Playground blocks, fort building and other open-ended fun with loose parts to neighborhoods across the city.  Even though the weather wasn’t as cooperative as we’d have liked, we provided creative play experiences for 930 kids and family members, thanks to the support of the Providence Department of Parks and Recreation and the Partnership for Providence Parks.

We saw kids do some pretty incredible things and captured some of our favorite playful moments.

Imagination Playground blocks were a big hit, as always.

This giant structure was a tremendous collaborative effort.

 Adding loose parts created even more opportunities for play.

This grandma and grandson build a steep ramp and took turns rolling and catching balls. Much chasing and giggling ensued!

We also provided wood working with real tools, stick structures with dowels and rubber bands, and Rigamajig – a set of boards, pulleys, wheels, nuts and bolts that inspire creative construction.

This girl spent over two hours thoughtfully building an elaborate house. She draped it with fabric and added a doghouse. Though she welcomed construction help from other kids, when it was time to take it apart, she insisted on doing it ALL by herself.

This family with older kids approached reluctantly, skeptical about playing. But hours later, they were still busy building and rebuilding their house – here dad prepares the curtains!

This tiny teepee was barely built for two!

Cardboard was a hugely popular play material.

This cardboard dwelling – colored inside and out with chalk – had a fabric “carpet” and constantly changing occupants.

This box was occupied by one of its territorial “owners” for well over two hours!

We saw A LOT of inspired fort building with cardboard, dowels, fabric and more.

Forts...

...forts...

and MORE forts!

Thanks to our caped play crusaders and to everyone who played with us this summer!

MORE Play at the Park!

We've had a great time playing at parks across Providence so far this summer, although the weather hasn't been nearly as cooperative as we'd have liked! And we have 4 more events at coming up in August, including one new addition.

PLAY AT THE PARK 
with Providence Children's Museum!

Friday, August 2 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM

Roger Williams Park | Broad Street entrance

Performance by ECAS (bilingual music, dance and theater) from 3:00 - 7:30 PM

Tuesday, August 6 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM

Fargnoli Park | Jastram and Smith Streets

Performance by Island Farm Bluegrass Band from 6:00 - 7:30 PM

Wednesday, August 7 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM

Brown Street Park | Brown and Creighton Streets

Performance by Smith & Weeden from 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Tuesday, August 13 • 3:00 - 6:00 PM

Burnside Park | Downtown in Kennedy Plaza

Plus the Downtown Farmer's Market and other playful activities with Kidoinfo

JOIN US!

Play at the Park!

For a second summer, play with the Children's Museum at neighborhood parks across Providence! Stack and create with big blue Imagination Playground blocks, build three-dimensional structures from wooden dowels and fabric, blow bubbles with an array of wacky tools, and discover other open-ended fun with loose parts.

These activities build on the Museum’s efforts to support unstructured, child-directed play throughout the community and are part of our participation in Playful Providence – a citywide celebration of play commemorating Providence’s status as a Playful City for the second year, presented in collaboration with the Partnership for Providence Parks and the Providence Department of Parks and Recreation.

PLAY AT THE PARK 
with Providence Children's Museum!

Wednesday, July 17 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM

Harriet and Sayles Park | Harriet and Sayles Streets

Plus DJs, performers and other activities from 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Thursday, July 18 • 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Dexter Training Grounds | Dexter and Parade Streets

Performance by Jesus Andujar & Grupo Sazon (music from the Spanish Caribbean: salsa, merengue and Latin jazz) from 6:00 - 8:00 PM; salsa dance workshop 6:00 - 6:30 PM

Thursday, July 25 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM

Dexter Training Grounds | Dexter and Parade Streets

Contra dance to fiddle, mandolin and guitar music performed by Rachel Panitch, Andy Grover and Max Newman, with contra dance caller Linda Leslie from 6:00 - 8:00 PM

Friday, August 2 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM

Roger Williams Park | Broad Street entrance

Performance by ECAS (bilingual music, dance and theater) from 3:00 - 7:30 PM

Tuesday, August 6 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM

Fargnoli Park | Jastram and Smith Streets

Performance by Island Farm Bluegrass Band from 6:00 - 7:30 PM

Wednesday, August 7 • 5:00 - 8:00 PM

Brown Street Park | Brown and Creighton Streets

Performance by Smith & Weeden from 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Tuesday, August 13 • 3:00 - 6:00 PM

Burnside Park | Downtown in Kennedy Plaza

Plus the Downtown Farmer's Market and other playful activities with Kidoinfo

Leave No Child Inside

The first conversation in our Speaking of Play series – Leave No Child Inside – featured an enthusiastic exchange of ideas and resources for increasing kids’ outdoor playtime.

Some of the issues

Credit: Susan Sancomb

• Kids today play outside considerably less than their parents did, potentially less than any generation in history.
• The quantity of kids’ homework is increasing and impacts time for play.
• Kids have too much structured time, both in and out of school.
• Some schools and communities lack appropriate spaces for play – or other kids who play outside.
• Low-income kids’ opportunities for free play and outdoor play are especially limited and they are at a higher risk for play deprivation.

Some of the ideas

• What if schools devoted time to outdoor education, to learning in outdoor environments?  If, starting in 1st grade, every child at every school could spend at least one week outside?
  (Inspired by The Wheeler School, where each 6th grader spends 8 weeks in an outdoor classroom and demonstrates better focus than in a traditional classroom.)

• What if schools gave less homework, and found ways to make it more creative and interesting or involve the outdoors?

• What if parents joined forces and reclaimed kids’ out-of-school time (which makes up 80% of their waking hours), and allowed kids to play outside in their neighborhoods together?

• What are YOUR ideas of ways to ensure kids get more outdoor playtime?

Outdoor play resources shared

• Children & Nature Network
• RI Families in Nature
• RI Environmental Education Association
• Partnership for Providence Parks
• Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
• Beyond Ecophobia, Childhood and Nature, Children’s Special Places, and Place-Based Education by David T. Sobel

The lively discussion often hit upon the hot-button issue of recess, conveniently the topic of the next conversation in the Speaking of Play series. Join the great recess debate on Tuesday, April 2 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM at the Providence Athenaeum!

‘Where Do the Children Play?’ October Screenings

Providence Children's Museum is partnering to present two free public screenings of "Where Do the Children Play?" in October. This provocative documentary examines an issue of growing concern among pediatricians, mental health experts, educators and environmentalists: more and more children are growing up with limited time and opportunities for unstructured play, especially outdoors. An audience discussion will follow each screening, led by Museum director Janice O'Donnell and other panelists. The film will be shown:

Wednesday, October 3 • 6:30 - 8:30 PM 

The Providence Athenaeum 

251 Benefit Street • Providence, RI 02903

Space is limited. RSVP to Lindsay Shaw at lshaw@provath.org or (401) 421-6970 ext. 17. 

Other panelists include Linda Atamian, co-founder of The Mariposa Center; Dr. Jane Dennison, pediatrician; and Julia Steiny, education columnist and director of the Youth Restoration Project. Presented by the Providence Athenaeum, Providence Children's Museum and the Partnership for Providence Parks.

Thursday, October 11 • 6:30 - 8:30 PM 

Blackstone Valley Visitor Center 

175 Main Street • Pawtucket, RI 02860

Space is limited. RSVP to Jane Blanchette at blanchettej@psdri.net or (401) 729-6293. 

Other panelists include John Blais, Pawtucket Parks and Recreation director; Dr. Elizabeth Lange, pediatrician and former RI American Academy of Pediatrics chapter president; and Cindy Larson, LISC senior program officer. Presented by Pawtucket Child Opportunity Zone (COZ), Pawtucket Citizens Development Corporation, Pawtucket Parks and Recreation Department, and Providence Children’s Museum.



Also join the conversation about the importance of play on the Museum's community discussion listserv, "PlayWatch: Connecting the Community to Promote Children's Play."  To read the PlayWatch archives or to join the list, visit www.PlayWatch.org.

A Summer of Play at the Parks

We had a great time taking Imagination Playground and other hands-on fun to Providence city parks this summer, where we engaged 850 kids and family members in unstructured play.  And we saw kids do some pretty amazing things! Staff shared some reflections, favorite moments and observations of the especially creative ways kids used the big blue blocks.

Sarah, AmeriCorps Museum Educator:

Children really remembered Imagination Playground.  When kids from one event showed up at a second event, their excitement was evident:  "I remember these blocks!  This time I'm going to build…!"

I loved watching older children play with younger children.  When something risky was happening such as climbing on a tall stack of blocks or building a bridge to walk across, many times the older children would "safe-proof" the structure before allowing the younger ones to proceed.  It was very sweet.

Alex, AmeriCorps Museum Educator:

It was a blur of happy kids frolicking, whacking, jumping, building and playing. There was a lot of good self-governing. One time, when too many kids tried to fit into a block house, a 4-year-old said, "why don't we try to make it bigger!"

Janice, Executive Director:

One boy (8 or 9) and his friend had a jolly time building for quite awhile and then they invented a new game.  They laid blocks on the ground in a line and walked on them like a bridge. The rule was you could not step on the ground. The last kid had to pick up the last block and pass it forward down the line to the leader who placed it on the ground and everyone moved forward.  The process was repeated over and over, with sometimes great distances between blocks so kids had to really stretch to reach the next one without stepping on the ground. They used the smallest blocks as well as the long ones to create additional step stone challenges.

Other kids joined them.  Eventually almost every kid there was engaged in this game and the line was really long, snaking its way through the previously constructed structures.  All ages played together laughing and cooperating in this game of their own invention.

Megan, Communications Director:

Kids constructed so many wonderful things: a basketball hoop that was used for a lengthy group game, bunk beds and other furniture, a gas station with moveable gas pumps and…

Roller coaster cars

A spa complete with a tanning bed/massage table

An ice cream/lemonade stand

A comfortable combination bed/couch (which the boys decided should be called a "bouch!")

A girl and young boy created an impressive dentist's chair and took turns giving one another a check up.

Two girls used several long curved blocks as the base of a fishing boat and added a stack of wheels to the back to be a fish barrel. Then they made a fishing pole from a noodle and a wheel and headed out to sea!

A group of 7 or 8 kids worked together to build an elaborate car, combining lots of plastic tubes and other loose parts with the blocks. It was a tremendous collaborative effort!

We also brought other activities and loose parts to complement Imagination Playground. Sarah's lively hula hoop games were always a huge hit, and kids constantly invented games of their own.

Try It at Home! - Summer Fun

The Museum's play specialists compiled a list of some of our favorite activities to keep kids busy and having fun throughout the summer.

BUBBLE PLAY

• Basic Bubble Solution  Mix one cup of Dawn® dishwashing liquid with a gallon of water.  Let it sit open to the air overnight for stronger bubbles.
• Bubble Wands  Gather ordinary household items and recycled materials with hoop shapes and built-in holes, like slotted spoons and plastic six-pack rings, and use them to blow and launch bubbles. 
• More about bubble play

WATER PLAY

• Sidewalk Spray Art  Ask a friend to lie down on the sidewalk or driveway.  Using a spray bottle, squirt the ground around your friend’s body with water until it is completely outlined, then check out the shape that’s left behind!  Try spraying other designs and patterns.
• Water Painting  Paint with water on a large rock or the sidewalk.  Use natural materials as brushes.
• Float a Boat  Build boats out of tree bark, sticks and leaves and race them down a stream or across a puddle or pool.

MUD PLAY

• Mud Pies  Use kitchen tools like muffin tins, condiment containers and a garlic press to mold mucky “treats” and decorate them with found natural materials. 
• Mud Painting  Use brushes, grasses or your fingers to make a marvelous mud-painted mural on the sidewalk or driveway. 
• More about mud play

 AROUND THE BLOCK

• Obstacle Course  Set up a crazy course in your yard using jump ropes, hoops, balls, chairs and more and have a relay race.  Take turns designing new courses.
• Neighborhood Safari  Talk a walk through a park or around your neighborhood.  Take paper and crayons and do rubbings of tree bark, buildings and other surfaces.  Collect leaves and twigs for a nature collage or other art project.
• Bug Out!  Capture insects, worms, spiders and other cool creatures and use a magnifying glass to compare their parts.  Find a field guide at the library and learn how to identify insects.  Be sure to release the critters when you’re done with your observation!

AT THE BEACH

• Rock On  Stack rocks of different shapes and sizes to create artful stone sculptures. 
• Shadow Art  With a friend, take turns forming funny positions and different shapes with your bodies.  Trace each other's shadows with a stick in the sand and decorate them with shells, pebbles and other beach materials.  (Also try this in dirt, or with chalk on pavement.)

What favorite activities would you add to the list?