Talking Back: Cole, Age 3 (and 4!)

It's been quite some time since we've shared the musings of Cole, one of our most prolific and pensive young visitors, who is now older and even wiser. Here are some of his collected thoughts from the year past, left in response to queries on our talk back boards:

How does your family play together in winter?

How do your kids play before or after school?

What are your favorite places to visit in Rhode Island?

  

How do you encourage creative play?

Thank you, Cole (and Cole's dad), for keeping up your correspondence. As always, we enthusiastically await your next communiqué – though we do challenge you to broaden your motifs beyond the recurring hot coffee (and other calming beverages). We expect that you'll more than rise to the occasion.

(PS – A belated happy birthday to Cole!)

Talking Back: Cole, Age 2

We’ve had a mysterious and astute toddler visitor in recent months, known to us only as “Cole, Age 2," who has left several philosophical and eloquent notes in response to queries on our talk back boards:

How do you play with dirt and mud?

What kind of art do you make?

The knowledge – and penmanship – represented in these messages are truly impressive for such a young child. Cole, it’s clear that you’ve experienced a great deal in your first two years, and we eagerly await your next correspondence.

Celebrating the Legacy of Dr. King

Each year, the Museum presents a day of special programming to commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Storytellers and actors Rochel Coleman and Valerie Tutson bring history to life through songs and stories as they portray well-known Civil Rights activists and ordinary Americans who changed the world. Families also explore a display about Dr. King's life and work and can choose to participate in an interactive anti-discrimination activity, during which they wear a red or green tag and encounter “red only” and “green only” labels throughout the Museum – on lunchroom tables, bathroom doors, water fountains and more.

The activity and performance inspired reflection, thought-provoking conversations, and these wonderful responses to the question, “What will you do to fight racial discrimination?”:

And what will YOU do?

Thanks to Providence Tourism Council and Herman H. Rose for their support of this event.

Talking Back: Snow Play

On the Talk Back board in Play Power, we're asking visitors how they like to play in the snow. Here are some of their playful responses, in words and pictures:

Talking Back: How Many? How Much?

This winter, we hosted a delightful display of intriguing objects in our atrium walkway that challenged visitors to determine How Many? How Much? An accompanying talk-back board prompted them, “Do you wonder how many there are of something? What?”

Here's a selection of the clever, thoughtful, imaginative responses and ponderings they shared:

We were especially charmed by their curiosity and musings about the Museum itself!

Inspired by Nori, our rooftop dragon, we presume!

We bid farewell to the exhibit and welcome its replacement next week.

Talking Back: Snow Day!

This post is inspired by the coming storm! Here are some ways Museum visitors told us they like to play in the winter, shared recently on the Talk Back board in Play Power:

Click here for more wonderful illustrations of how visitors like to play in the snow.

And here are lots of playful ideas for getting outside all winter long – whether it's chilly or mild, snowy or dry – from KaBOOM! and Kids Outdoors:

• Four tips for fighting winter cabin fever
• 12 Great Outdoor Winter Activities for Kids
• If these snowmen can play outdoors, so can you

Let us know how YOU like to play outside in the winter. 

Happy snow day!

Talking Back: Playtime

Recently, on the Talk Back board in Play Power, we asked visitors "How do your kids play before or after school?"  Here are some of their responses, in words and pictures: