Using “movement” in a museum setting enhances the experience of young children of mixed socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. Movement as communication probes beyond these boundaries and also allows children who may not be auditory or visual learners to be enfranchised in the learning process. Integrating children from different backgrounds in …
They’re everywhere! Pre-schoolers who can barely write their names bring home worksheets with bears, bunnies, and baseball bats circled to show they know the /b/ sound. A worksheet with blanks to fill in appears in my church bulletin each Sunday to help me stay “on task” during the sermon. Even …
Experiential learning is a natural for science museums, where material can be manipulated to find answers. But what about art museums, where the pieces are often fragile, displayed in glass cases, and surrounded by “Do not touch” signs? Docents at the Asian Art Museum (AAM) of San Francisco, eager to …
We’re An Important Destination According to the Travel Industry Association of America, twenty-seven percent of U.S. adults (53.6 million adults) took at least one trip in the previous year that included a visit to a historic place or museum that was more than 50 miles from their homes. June, July …
Once upon a time, I thought I had this touring business , figured out. After all, I had the material more-or-less mastered. I knew generally how to select objects that would be the most engaging to visitors and how to shift course, most of the time, if I needed to! …
When I was growing up, I was lucky enough to have parents willing to travel all over the United States with four children in a car without air conditioning, exposing us to the wonders of this beautiful country. During those travels, our family visited many National parks and hundreds of …
Imagine walking into a desert garden along a red brick path bordered with natural rock. Among the multi-colored wild flowers and pale colored shrubs, you see the amazing shapes of succulent plants and a wide variety of spiny and hairy looking cactus. Watch a Cactus Wren, who makes an appearance …
One thousand pound sea lions peer across the steps where a small group of grade schoolers sit in fidgety by expectation. Momentarily, a thousand and one questions erupt from Teresa the youngsters as the decent vies for their attention. “Are they real?” is Bullock usually the first and most often …
Our five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch) are the portals through which we gather information and knowledge. Therefore, it stands to reason that the more our senses are engaged, and the more of our senses that are engaged, the greater the opportunity for information retrieval and comprehension. This …