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

Join us to try a variety of playful open-ended activities – to build forts, blow bubbles, send rockets soaring, play parachute games, and more. Activities take place evenings in July and August from 5:00 - 8:00 PM during Celebrate Providence, the city’s Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative performances, and are free to the public.

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

Thursday, July 7

Bucklin Park | Bucklin and Daboll Streets

Tuesday, July 12

Fargnoli Park | Smith and Jastram Streets

Wednesday, July 13

Harriet and Sayles Park | Harriet and Sayles Streets

Thursday, July 21

Dexter Training Grounds | Dexter and Parade Streets

Wednesday, July 27

Harriet and Sayles Park | Harriet and Sayles Streets

Thursday, August 4

Billy Taylor Park | Camp and Cypress Streets

Unstructured, child-directed play is vital for kids’ healthy growth and development, and the Museum is bringing play to public spaces to combat children’s growing play deficit and to make high-quality play experiences available to all kids and families. As a strong advocate for the critical importance of open-ended, child-directed play, we're excited to continue partnering with Providence parks to bring creative play opportunities to kids and families in communities throughout the city.

Children’s Museum activities at the parks are part of its participation in Playful Providence – a citywide celebration commemorating Providence’s fifth consecutive designation as a Playful City USA by KaBOOM!, which recognizes communities commended for prioritizing play. Events are supported in part by Hasbro Children's Fund.

A Summer of Play with Providence PlayCorps

Providence PlayCorps returns for a third summer of unstructured play at parks throughout the city!  We are proud to be part of this innovative collaboration between the Children’s Museum, the City of Providence’s Department of Parks + Recreation and Healthy Communities Office and the Partnership for Providence Parks to activate low-income neighborhood parks across Providence with free play, art and creative exploration in conjunction with the free federal summer meals program.

Teams of trained play facilitators are a consistent presence at community parks throughout Providence.  They provide activities and materials to engage neighborhood children in physically active play, improving the overall safety of the parks while encouraging more children to take advantage of free, nutritious summer meals.  By working in neighborhood parks, PlayCorps fills the gap when school is out to ensure that Providence youth are active, safe and healthy over the summer.

PlayCorps activities take place from July 5 to August 19, 2016 (Monday to Friday from 11 AM to 2 PM) in these parks:

• Cabral Park (Fox Point)
• Bucklin Park (West End)
• Father Lennon/Camden Street Park (Smith Hill)
• General Street Park (Wanskuck)
• Harriet & Sayles Park (South Side)
• Joslin Park (Olneyville)
• Wallace Street Park (Silver Lake)

Join PlayCorps members for an exciting summer of play.  Enjoy a free summer meal (age18 and under) and build forts, blow bubbles, make art, make music, explore nature, make friends and SO much more!

To learn more and for updates and activity announcements, visit www.PlayCorps.org and follow PlayCorps on Facebook.

Providence PlayCorps is a collaboration of the City of Providence’s Department of Parks + Recreation and Healthy Communities Office, the Partnership for Providence Parks and Providence Children's Museum.  PlayCorps 2016 is also supported by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, a Health Equity Zone grant through the Rhode Island Department of Health, PODS and the Rhode Island Foundation.
 

Play – Not Just for Kids!

The need for play doesn’t end with the childhood years – it’s also important for grown-ups to have time to slow down, explore their interests, be creative, be silly and have fun with their friends! That’s one of the reasons we're presenting our third annual PLAY ON! event on Saturday, June 11 from 7:00-10:00 PM.  This night out just for “big kids” provides adults with a playful after-hours adventure at the Children’s Museum – an opportunity to build tall block towers, investigate the power of air, construct water and mist fountains, solve puzzles and design challenges, and a whole lot more.

Research shows that playing for the pure joy of it – not with any goal or intended outcome – is good for all of us, and in so many different ways.  Play promotes creativity and imagination, boosts brain function, and is a tool for problem solving.  Play can relieve stress and foster resiliency.  Play can keep us active and healthy, and help improve our relationships with others.  According to this Boston Globe article about grown-up play, “People who exhibit high levels of playfulness – those who are predisposed to being spontaneous, outgoing, creative, fun-loving, and lighthearted – appear to be better at coping with stress, more likely to report leading active lifestyles, and more likely to succeed academically.”

Yes, play is critically important for children’s physical, social, emotional and cognitive development – but let’s not overlook its significance in helping us become happy, healthy adults as well!

For more ideas and info about why grown-ups need to play, too:

• Bring Back Recess — No, I Am Not Kidding (Huffington Post)
• Adult Playtime: 6 Ways to Bring More Fun into Your Day (Chopra Center)
• The Business Case for Adult Recess (Fast Company)
• Permission to Play (Huffington Post)
• The Psychological Case for Adult Play Time (Pacific Standard)

PLAY ON! takes place on Saturday, June 11 from 7:00-10:00 PM at Providence Children’s Museum and is just for grown-ups, ages 21+.
 
Advance tickets are $15 for Museum members and $20 for non-members, available online until 5:00 PM on Friday, June 10. Limited tickets will be available at the door for $25.
 
For more information: Website | Facebook

THE LAND Screening and Discussion

Providence Children’s Museum is partnering with Grand View Child Care Program to present a screening and discussion of “The Land” at Rochambeau Library, 708 Hope Street in Providence, on Monday, May 2 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM. The event is free and open to the public – click here to RSVP.

The 2015 documentary short film is about the nature of play, risk and hazard and is set in a Welsh adventure playground where children climb trees, light fires and use hammers and nails.  The Land is a playspace rooted in the belief that kids are empowered and understand their own capabilities and limits when they learn to manage risks on their own.  The film has attracted national attention after being featured in a number of recent articles including “The Overprotected Kid” a provocative piece in The Atlantic by Hanna Rosin that provides a look at adventure playgrounds and how “a preoccupation with safety has stripped childhood of independence, risk taking, and discovery – without making it safer.”

Credit Hanna Rosin

Following the screening, join a conversation about the film, adventure play and the benefits of risk to kids’ physical and emotional development.  Discuss ways to foster healthy risk-taking in kids’ play, and how to provide kids with opportunities for adventure play.

The screening and conversation are part of the Museum’s commitment to advocate for and raise awareness about the critical importance of self-directed play for children’s healthy growth and development.

See the trailer, and click here to learn more about the film:

Click here to RSVP!

PlayWatch: Stories of Creative Play

The only two other people in Water Ways were a man and his son, who was approximately 3 years old and completely engrossed in throwing balls into the vortex. I began painting a flower on the slate wall and, within 30 seconds, I heard a small voice. "Can I paint with you?” The little boy had wandered over to investigate what I was doing. "Absolutely! What would you like to paint?" Without hesitating, he answered, "Let's paint a police chase! And the truck is faster than the police cars! And they have sirens and are going fast!"

I was uncertain how to paint sirens with water, but the two of us gave it a shot. We painted two police cars, a pickup truck and a very winding road on which the chase was taking place. As the water began to evaporate from the slate board, we would touch up certain spots and add details like flat tires on the police cars. Once the picture was done, the little boy admired it for a second before he ran off to find his dad. As I looked at the painting, I could see the remnants of my flower. I was grateful the boy and his imagination had come along because the picture we made together was much more exciting!

– Maggie Dawson, Experience Coordinator

A little girl, about 3, was in Play Power with her father. Dad was playing with the creature columns, and I was about to say 'hello' to the girl when I noticed she had a very determined look on her face. I watched as she slowly started taking staggered steps, like you'd see in a western movie stand off. "Red light," she said, and stopped. "Green light.” I was confused until I realized she was playing "red light, green light" with her reflection in the dome mirror!

– Megan Beauregard, Experience Coordinator

Support Recess for Rhode Island

The Museum is proud to be a founding collaborator of Recess for Rhode Island, a coalition of organizations and individuals advocating for a statewide recess policy that:

• Recognizes that children’s self-directed free play is essential to their cognitive, physical, social and emotional health and well-being.
• Provides at least 20 minutes of recess – optimally 30-40 minutes – every day for all elementary school students (active outdoor play as often as possible).
• Allows children to freely engage with each other and determine their own play, within reasonable boundaries, during well-supervised recess.
• Stipulates that physical education class and mandated participation in adult-led sports and games, while also beneficial, shall not replace recess.
• Prohibits denying recess to an individual student or a class as a disciplinary measure. 
• Requires accommodations during recess for children with mental and physical disabilities.
• Recognizes that for some children a supervised school setting is the only safe place self-directed play is available.

Visit www.RecessRI.org to sign on to support a statewide recess policy that promotes time for play, and find resources and research about the importance of recess.

Also follow Recess for Rhode Island on Facebook for the latest recess news and updates.

THE LAND: A Film and Conversation About Risk and Adventure Play

Providence Children’s Museum and Providence Children’s Film Festival proudly partner to present the Providence premiere of “The Land” – a powerful 2015 documentary short film about the nature of play and risk – at the Museum on Thursday, October 22 from 6:30 - 8:00 PM.

The film is set in The Land, a Welsh adventure playground where children climb trees, light fires and use hammers and nails.  It’s a playspace rooted in the belief that kids are empowered and understand their own capabilities and limits when they learn to manage risks on their own.  The film has attracted national attention after being featured in a number of recent articles including “The Overprotected Kid” a provocative piece in The Atlantic by Hanna Rosin that provides a look at adventure playgrounds and how “a preoccupation with safety has stripped childhood of independence, risk taking, and discovery – without making it safer.”

Credit Hanna Rosin

Following the screening, join a lively conversation about the film, adventure play and the benefits of risk to kids’ physical and emotional development.  Discuss ways to foster healthy risk-taking in kids’ play, and how to provide kids with opportunities for adventure play with panelists Erin Davis, “The Land” filmmaker; Michele Meek, filmmaker and educator; and Janice O’Donnell, Providence PlayCorps director and former Children's Museum director.

The screening and conversation are part of the Museum’s commitment to advocate for and raise awareness about the critical importance of self-directed play for children’s healthy growth and development.

The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited – click here to RSVP.

See the trailer, and click here to learn more about the film:

Also check out these recent articles about adventure play and the importance of risk to children's development:

• Where The Wild Things Play  Adventure playgrounds may look like junk piles but offer kids tremendous opportunities for free, unstructured play. (NPR)

• The Value Of Wild, Risky Play: Fire, Mud, Hammers And Nails  An interview about risk and adventure playgrounds with “The Land” filmmaker Erin Davis. (NPR)

• Let kids take risks when they play  Free, moderately risky play - without adult intervention - helps kids become healthy, resilient adults. (Boston Globe)

• 5 ways to let a little more risk into your child's day (and why that's a good thing)  "A risk-averse childhood is full of missed adventures." (Washington Post)

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.

Providence PlayCorps Returns!

After a successful pilot in 2014, Providence PlayCorps expands this summer!  An innovative collaboration between Providence Children's Museum, the Partnership for Providence Parks and the City of Providence’s Healthy Communities Office and Department of Parks + Recreation, PlayCorps activates low-income neighborhood parks across the city with free play, art and creative exploration in conjunction with the free federal summer meals program.

Teams of trained play facilitators are a consistent presence at neighborhood parks throughout Providence.  They provide activities and materials to engage neighborhood children in physically active play, improving the overall safety of the parks while encouraging more children to take advantage of free, nutritious summer meals.  By working in neighborhood parks, PlayCorps fills the gap when school is out to ensure that Providence youth are active, safe and healthy over the summer.

From July 6 to August 21, weekdays from 11 AM to 2 PM, PlayCorps will coordinate play activities in these parks:

• Billy Taylor Park (Mt. Hope)
• Bucklin Park (West End)
• Father Lennon/Camden Street Park (Smith Hill)
• General Street Park (Wanskuck)
• Harriet & Sayles Park (South Side)
• Wallace Street Park (Silver Lake)
• Zuccolo/Pastore Park (Federal Hill)

In addition, play facilitators with the PlayCorps “Playmobile” – including several members of the Museum's AmeriCorps team! – will travel to other parks and events throughout the summer.

The PlayCorps team participated in a very successful Pop-Up Play Day at Roger Williams Park on June 20, and on Monday they’ll be dispatched to their parks to begin to connect with the community and kick off an exciting summer of play – building forts, blowing bubbles, making art, making music, exploring nature, making friends and SO much more!  We’re delighted to have worked with thoughtful and committed partners to expand this important program and look forward to seeing how it grows and develops this summer.

For updates and activity announcements, follow PlayCorps on Facebook and Twitter.

PlayCorps is supported by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the City of Providence’s Department of Parks + Recreation, Healthy Communities Office, and Health Equity Zone grant through the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Museum and Partners Present Pop-Up PLAY Day!

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

PlayWatch: Rigamajig

This story was shared by Experience Coordinator Maggie Dawson.   

I was setting up Rigamajig and began building a contraption to use as an example. I started assembling what I thought could be the sides of a car. One of our Play Guides, Josy, came in and eagerly said that she would love to add to it. I told her that I couldn't wait to see what she created.

When I came in a half-hour later to see how the activity was going, I saw Josy working hard with two boys, approximately 5 years old. My simple car had turned into an elaborate cart with a tall pulley system affixed to the top! The boys were having so much fun and were excited about making it taller and adding ropes and more wheels. Josy was wonderful and enthusiastic about their creation as well.

I loved seeing how adding more minds and creative ideas resulted in a completely different structure than what I initially imagined. Moreover, it was impressive to see how one of our Play Guides could foster imagination and encourage two young visitors to build something awesome!

What-a-majig? Rigamajig!

This article, by Museum Interim Director/Communications Director Megan Fischer, was also posted on Kidoinfo.

This month at the Museum, invent creative contraptions with Rigamajig, an intriguing large-scale building kit featuring wooden planks, wheels and pulleys plus rope, nuts and bolts. Conceived by our friend and RISD Industrial Design professor Cas Holman, Rigamajig inspires kids’ imaginative hands-on play, encourages engineering exploration, and cultivates collaborative construction.

Since we first introduced Rigamajig, we’ve seen kids tinker and build with tons of wonderful results, including countless forts, a mobile movie projector, small sleds and larger transport vehicles, and plenty of clever creations that defy definition!

See some great examples in this video of Rigamajig:

One of my favorite Rigamajig moments illustrates perfectly why we offer this activity especially for the Museum’s older visitors. Last summer, when we took Rigamajig out to the Museum’s annual play at the park events, an 11-year-old boy and his 10-year-old sister spent an hour constructing a wide cart, precisely placing each piece. When they were done, the boy pulled his sister a few feet in the cart – and one of the wheels popped off!

The resilient duo regrouped and remedied the dilemma to ensure the rebuilt cart was even better than before. This time, they decided to add a few decorative touches. Choosing from a selection of interesting “loose parts,” they added fabric to pad the seat, long plastic strips to circle the steering column, and some puffballs for good measure! Working together cooperatively and seamlessly, they negotiated the different ideas each sibling introduced and solved engineering and aesthetic challenges to come to an end product they were both quite happy with. Throughout their design project, their mother watched with a smile but gave her focused engineers plenty of time and space to achieve their vision.

Join us to devise your own Rigamajig creations on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, March 17, 18, 24 and 25 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM; check the calendar for future dates and times.

Learn more about Rigamajig:

• No Instructions, No Right Answers: A 263-Piece Building Kit For Curious Kids (Fast Company/Co.Design)
• Interview with Cas Holman (KaBOOM!)

Water Ways is NOW OPEN!

Our imaginative new Water Ways exhibit has opened to exuberant splashing, spirited squirting and all-out squeals of delight!

On Thursday, we invited a dozen kids, ages 1 to 12, for a sneak peek and to test things out for us. The initial response: they surged and swirled around the room in a flurry of excitement, enthusiastically trying each activity and rushing on to the next. After a while, they settled in, and kids of all ages (and some grown-ups!) were deeply immersed in interactive water play.

Water is intrinsically fascinating.  The ultimate “loose part,” it naturally invites open-ended play and exploration.  Water play is a mesmerizing sensory experience that fosters creativity, stimulates curiosity and promotes problem solving for all ages and abilities.  It offers children endless possibilities to engage with science – to notice, question, experiment and develop a sense of wonder about the world around them.

Water Ways motivates visitors of all ages to think, ‘What does water do?’ and ‘What can I do with water?’ by inviting them to splash, discover and playfully experience water in ways new and familiar while investigating its properties in different forms – liquid, ice and mist.  Some scenes from the all-new Water Ways...

Transforming the size and shape of billowing mist and water domes by turning valves that regulate the rush of water.

The mist dome is a water dome with mist pumped inside so that the surface tension of the water traps the mist. When the water surface is broken, the mist wafts out in captivating clouds.

Sending balls, boats, and other loose parts and spiraling and twisting through vortexes  – whirling "water tornadoes," as kids describe them – and figuring out how to change the way the water moves.

Connecting pipe pieces to form fountains that funnel the flow of mist and water.

Investigating, scooping and sculpting crushed ice using a variety of tools.

Painting watery designs on a large slate wall.

Building mazes and damming water cascading downstream with blocks and sandbags.

Scooping and pouring water at toddler-height troughs and squirting and squeegeeing in an expanded play area especially for the Museum’s smallest visitors.

And droplet-shaped labels offer adults prompts and ways to play, encouraging them to notice and appreciate the learning that happens as children splash and explore.

Don’t miss out on the exhibit that visitors declare is “Super duper fun,” “Wicked awesome,” and “Splashtastic!” – come experience the all-new Water Ways for yourselves!

And see the posts below for a peek at the process of creating Water Ways.

Water Ways is supported in part by The Norman & Rosalie Fain Family Foundation and June Rockwell Levy Foundation.
All photos copyright Providence Children’s Museum and may only be used with permission.

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.

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.

Rigamajig!

New this summer, invent creative contraptions with Rigamajig, an exciting large-scale building kit featuring wooden planks, wheels and pulleys plus rope, nuts and bolts. Conceived by RISD Industrial Design professor Cas Holman (a great friend of the Museum!), Rigamajig inspires kids’ imaginative hands-on play, encourages exploration of engineering, and cultivates collaborative construction.

We’ve seen kids tinker and build with Rigamajig with some wonderful results, including a mobile movie projector, lawnmower and sled, an elaborate home/doghouse, and plenty of inspired creations that defy definition!

See some great examples in this video of Rigamajig, filmed in part at the Museum:
 

Join us to explore Rigamajig most Wednesdays, July through mid-August, from 2:00 - 4:00 PM, and at the Museum’s summer Play at the Park events.

Learn more about Rigamajig: (featuring photos taken at the Museum!)

• No Instructions, No Right Answers: A 263-Piece Building Kit For Curious Kids (Fast Company/Co.Design)
• Interview with Cas Holman (KaBOOM!)

Rigamajig and other Museum spatial thinking activities are supported by National Grid.

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.

Introducing PlayCorps

This summer, Providence Children’s Museum is partnering with the Partnership for Providence Parks and the City of Providence’s Department of Parks and Recreation and Healthy Communities Office to launch PlayCorps, a pilot program to activate Providence parks with play, art and creative exploration, in conjunction with the summer meals program.

The summer meals program ensures children receive free, nutritious meals when school is out. However, kids who need summer meals haven’t always taken advantage of the program because there’s little else to do at some of the parks and meal sites. Thus emerged the big idea: what if we enliven these public spaces with playful activities so that kids want to spend time there throughout the summer? They’ll get the needed meals as well as opportunities for creative play and exploration!

From June 30 to August 14, teams of play facilitators will be stationed in five Providence parks to coordinate play-based activities on weekdays from 11 AM to 2 PM:

• Bucklin Park (West End) 
• Father Lennon/Camden Street Park (Smith Hill) 
• General Street Park (Wanskuck) 
• Harriet and Sayles Park (South Side) 
• Zuccolo/Pastore Park (Federal Hill)

In addition to collaborating on the design of the PlayCorps program, the Museum’s primary role is providing play-based training and advisory support. Over the last week, Museum director Janice O’Donnell trained participants on playwork techniques – supporting children’s play without directing it, types of play, observing kids and understanding their play cues, how to support risk taking in play, and more.

The team participated in a very successful Pop-Up Play Day at Roger Williams Park last weekend, and on Monday they’ll be dispatched to their parks to begin to connect with the community and kick off a summer of play. We’re delighted to have worked with thoughtful and committed partners to shape this pilot program and look forward to seeing what happens this summer. As Janice says, “The big goal is that kids come and use the parks without us – that play can go on if we create playful spaces that really work. That, to me, would be success beyond measure.”

Pop-Up Play Day to Kick Off Playful Providence 2014

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