Friendship: A Head Start Story

We’re reflecting on the incredible contributions of our 2012-13 AmeriCorps Museum Educators as their service year comes to a close this week. This story was shared by Amanda Nico and Leah Taradash, members of the team that served 1,000 Head Start preschoolers in 58 classrooms in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls with fun-filled Museum explorations and a year-long series of imaginative activities to help them understand and value diversity.

Amanda: In Head Start classroom activities, we focused on how friends can be both similar to and different from one another and that is okay. We read the book Alex and Lulu: Two of a Kind by Lorena Siminovich, which tells the story of a dog and cat who are friends but like to play different things, then we talked with the children about some of their differences and similarities.

Leah: During the next activity of our friendship curriculum, children created a book of what they like to do with their friends. Every child illustrated a page and we recorded their words under their pictures, then put them all into a binder and read the book to the class.

The Head Start team was very excited about this activity's potential but we never could have predicted the inspiring results reflected in the children's words and pictures. Their friendship stories were all different; some children chose specific things they liked playing with their friends, like basketball and drawing, while others thought about ideas like the leaves changing red in the fall or two friends getting into a fight and needing to say they're sorry. No matter what the story, it was clear that every child put a great deal of thought into how to represent themselves through their words and drawings.

Amanda: In one class, a child named Cecilia drew and we recorded her story about her friend: "Lyla was screaming too loudly and I was painting flowers and being an artist and being different. Lyla was white and Cecilia was brown and then we were sleeping and that is the end." Her teacher marveled at how she really listened and understood the message of the story we read in the previous lesson.

Leah: Presenting their pages as a class book also created a sense of classroom unity, giving the children the opportunity to learn about each others' interests while taking pride in their individual pages. The icing on the already delicious cake was seeing their excitement when we told them that the book would be left in their classroom so they could read it whenever they want!

Upstairs/Downstairs

This week we welcomed Upstairs/Downstairs, a playful new puppet display created by AmeriCorps Museum Educators Mandy Roach and Bridget Sullivan. Mandy described their inspiration and process as they worked with the Museum’s collection of Betty Huestis marionettes.

We threw around a lot of different ideas before Bridget came up with having a large kitchen on top and a smaller kitchen underneath the floorboards so it’s kind of a play on scale. If you look at the top, it mirrors the characters and objects below. You can imagine it goes from big to small to smallest and that if you could look under the mouse house, maybe there’s a flea or cockroach kitchen!

We went through the collections and decided what puppets and characters and other collections items we were going to use. I really loved the old toys and wanted to incorporate them in the display, either as toys or by transforming them into something else. That’s where my inspiration came – for the things we didn’t have, what were we going to create and how?

I made the couch from a lot of recycled materials, like old jewelry boxes, fabric, crayons, corks, buttons – materials you can imagine that a mouse might use to make its own couch. The stove is a metal cup with belt buckles for the burners and the whole frame is a potato masher. If you keep looking, you can really see the props and the details and what they’re made of. I hope kids are inspired to think, “I can make that” from materials they have at home!

Bridget added, "I really liked that we were able to incorporate the idea of spatial thinking into the case with different perspectives and the scale of the two kitchens – and that it was an exercise in spatial thinking for me to create the components in the scene!"

Spot the Robot

Spot the Robot, a charming new display created by AmeriCorps Museum Educators Amanda Nico and Ryan Peters, invites visitors to peer into the atrium walkway window boxes to discover Robbie the Robot’s mischievous after-hours Museum explorations.

Ryan: We wanted to tell a simple story: we follow the robot on his adventure through the Museum at night, but kids also get to watch the Museum collections come to life and interact with one another.

Amanda: Creating the boxes was a lot of fun and I found myself really inspired by different exhibits when making my boxes. I'm also really happy that we found a way to display so many collections items that guests would otherwise never see.

Robbie masquerades as a marionette.

Ryan: I wanted to create scenes that conveyed movement and I also tried to pack tons of detail into each box, to give the sense that even after you've found the robot there are still little things that bring you back to the box and keep it fresh.

Robbie's hands-on exploration of art materials in Discovery Studio.

The boxes are paired with a hunt challenging visitors to follow the clues to spot the robot in each scene. They’ll be on display for a few months, so check them out on your next visit!

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!

After the Beanstalk: Jack, Jill and the Giant

This post about a new interactive Museum performance was shared by AmeriCorps Museum Educator Francesca Montanile.

When the theatre team assembled for our first meeting, we had no idea what our new play would be.  Despite the uncertainty, there was an excitement in the air.  Dozens of ideas were tossed around, but we kept coming back to a sequel to Jack and the Beanstalk. The ideas for different scenes, participatory challenges, and plot twists came naturally, buzzing with possibility. We gathered a team of theatre makers and educators to refine our storyline and the script was born.

The 20-minute performance tells the story of Jack, who is kidnapped and taken to Cloud Town after breaking the Giant’s crown. His sister Jill enlists the audience to help rescue him.  In Cloud Town, they tackle a series of spatial thinking challenges to escape. In the end, they must meet the Giant face to face!

One of our guiding principles throughout the process was to make the play as participatory as possible. The Museum is a place for play and exploration, and we wanted our audience to be a part of the story.

To me, the creation of the play itself felt like a puzzle. It was inspiring to see how many people from the Museum’s community chipped in and added an essential piece to the final product. From the backdrop sewn by Philenda, to the rock set piece made by the exhibits team, to the contributions of fellow AmeriCorps members – finger puppets sewn by Amanda and brilliant set and props by Sarah and Mandy – the play was collaborative in every sense of the word. The Giant’s evolution was like a visual timeline of our process.  From its humble beginnings as a huge blue yoga ball to a loveable big-eyed puppet, many hands helped apply paper maché and many minds brainstormed its mechanics.

When the morning of the opening performance arrived, I began to get a little nervous. It felt like a piece of our puzzle was missing.  As I spoke my first lines, it became immediately clear: the children in the audience were the missing piece! All of a sudden, the story was alive and exciting. The challenges were urgent. The Giant was gigantic!

The play is a joy to perform because the energy kids create is infectious. Their tendencies to speak aloud, get the “wiggles,” and experience the story in real time might be a challenge in a conventional theatre setting but become assets as they transform into our play’s heroes.

After the Beanstalk is presented Mondays through August 12 at 10:30 & 11:30 AM and 12:30 & 1:30 PM; recommended for ages 3 and up.

New in Play Power!

The most recent addition to our Play Power exhibit is an intriguing tabletop activity that invites visitors to use colorful metal chains to create imaginative designs on magnetic easels.  Adults and kids of all ages have been delighted as they “draw” lines and squiggles, form shapes and letters, make patterns and figures – then wipe it clean and start again!

We’re committed to providing a range of activities that promote different types of play and to keeping fresh by frequently changing elements of our exhibits.  This new station enhances the existing Play Power activities with additional opportunities for creativity, artistic expression and tactile exploration.  Visitors can create designs with varying degrees of detail, perfect for engaging older kids and grown-ups.  In the words of a kid tester, it’s “supremely awesome!”

Exhibit intern Cory's chicken creation.

Says Exhibits Director Robin Meisner:

“Visitors sometimes ask where ideas for new exhibits and activities – like this one – come from.  While we develop, design and fabricate our exhibits in-house, we draw on a variety of sources for inspiration, ranging from conversations with visitors and colleagues to our own memories from childhood to other playful environments (including museums).  We first encountered a version of this new activity at Boston’s Museum of Science in an exhibit on making models and loved the way it allows visitors to “draw” and create without consumable materials.

As one of our labels in Water Ways says, “Kids learn from each other.  Other people’s good ideas inspire new ways of thinking.”  We think this applies to people of all ages.”

We’ve certainly witnessed a lot of interesting thinking and designing since the new activity debuted last week…

Museum director Janice O'Donnell created a summer scene...

...alongside artistic grandson Finn.

The table was buzzing with activity, attracting curious onlookers.

Finn's finished masterpiece – his recreation of the well-known painting "American Gothic!"

The Heart Gallery

Every year, hundreds of Rhode Island children are in state care, awaiting permanent families. The children are generally between the ages of 5 and 17 and many have emotional, intellectual and/or physical disabilities. Nearly all have suffered abuse or neglect. Some have been waiting for several years and have had multiple placements, resulting in numerous losses and separations.

Eighteen of these children are featured in the 8th annual Rhode Island Heart Gallery, an exhibit of professional portraits by local photographers on view in the Museum’s atrium walkway throughout July. A project sponsored by Adoption Rhode Island, the Heart Gallery has helped increase awareness of the need for loving adoptive homes for children in foster care since 2005.

The Museum also exhibited Heart Gallery photographs in 2007 and staff felt – then and now – a powerful connection to the striking portraits and accompanying booklet, featuring the heartfelt stories, hopes and dreams of the children pictured.

“Christopher is hoping for a family that would love to read him a bedtime story, tuck him in and help him feel safe and loved.”

It’s particularly compelling to have the display at the Museum because our Families Together program – a collaboration with the Department of Children, Youth & Families – works on behalf of children in foster care every day, providing therapeutic visitation to help court-separated families rebuild relationships.

All children need the love and support of a family, and adoption is only one of the ways that people can help.