Tuesdays are for Toddlers: Gone Modern!

Today’s post is going where most parents dread to go: Modern Art museums.

This isn’t your normal art. Sometimes it’s hard to understand, and sometimes you won’t really see it as art. In an article titled “Three questions not to ask about art – and four to ask instead“, Messham-Muir covers the in-depth part of this blog post for adults. But as toddlers are different creatures all together, it seems only fair to make a Modern Art based piece for the littler hands out in the world.

Modern Art is just a different way of looking at or expressing the world, emotions, and theories around the artist. It can follow any number of artistic styles or movements, and usually requires some form of understanding of time period or background of the artist. Because of this, it isn’t always easy to interpret or understand at first glance. But, toddlers have a way of either hitting the nail on the head or, in some instances, coming up with absolutely priceless answers. Asking your little one what they see or what they think it means in a Modern Art museum can be the most fun you’ll have all day, even if they don’t understand why you’re refraining from giggling. And while you may look at some pieces and think to yourself “my kid could paint something better than that”, remember that there’s more going on in the piece than is immediately apparent.

Abstract art is probably my favorite type because I can’t realistically draw what I see in front of me (my husband is an artist. It gets frustrating when he says I could draw if I tried hard enough), but I can put it into my own shapes and colors. If you happen to live near a large Modern Art museum (Museum of Modern Art in New York, for example, or the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; some museums use the word Contemporary such as the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, though Contemporary Art and Modern Art are not the same thing entirely), check out what they have to offer in terms of exhibits or themes for the season. Some art museums mix styles based on region if they have a long spanning history of resident artists. The Andy Warhol Museum http://www.warhol.org/ is a Modern Art museum dedicated to the work of one artist and those that followed in his style.

Ness’ son created this raised salt art project. What do you think? Try creating raised salt paintings of your own!

If you don’t live near a large city with a Modern Art museum, have no fear! Several larger Modern Art museums have digital tours available online or offer some means for visitors from out of town to access their collection in some means! And of course, you can always create your own Modern Art museum in your house with creations from your little one. One fun project (that actually combines science, because I’m a sucker for science that’s also art) is raised salt painting. Over at OnePerfectDay Blog, Ness has tips and instructions for creating your very own raised salt painting to hang throughout your house.

Finding the Subject in the Material

Every day there’s an opportunity to see the subject in the material. This picture is the perfect example: we weren’t looking for an art shot on our historic meander, but we found one.

Museums and schools have had a long symbiotic relationship that has recently been put on the rocks.  Schools these days are severely underfunded when it comes to field trips, making teachers focus on getting the most out of every trip taken in a year. Museums, in turn, have had to move towards a more formal look at their classes and offerings for schools in order to satisfy local and state curriculum and education standards. Thus, we have the subject of today’s post: finding the subject in the material.

What does that even mean? Don’t you usually write the material for the subject? Yes and no. If you go into a museum with the subject in mind, you may not get as full of a field trip or visit as you’d like. But if you go into a museum with the material in mind, the subjects are endless.

Take, for example, a natural history museum. Rocks, minerals, animals, maybe even dinosaurs (anyone that says they don’t like dinosaurs is probably lying, FYI). If you look at it as just a chance to study fossils or the natural environment, you may miss out on the opportunity to discuss texture, history, human impact, or mathematics (think word problems). If you go into an art museum expecting to only discuss art, you’re missing out on mathematics, politics, world cultures, literature, mythology, world religions, history, and science, as well as psychology and personal development (to name a few).

All museums offer something beyond what’s described or pictured on the surface.  And visitors from different backgrounds will take away different meanings and relationships from the same objects. Teachers have a hard enough time teaching in a classroom; museums give them a chance to teach a bunch of subjects to a bunch of individuals who may not always feel a personal connection to a subject in school. Suddenly that student may have the chance to create a potentially lasting relationship with a subject because they now see it in a different light. You never know what will be the initial spark to someone’s fire.

In grad school, we were required to write lesson plans for potential activities that fit state educational and learning objectives. Our professor told us to write the activities and lesson plans and then find the objectives that met them, rather than read the objectives and write plans that fit them. So now I offer that challenge to you, readers.

This post isn’t just for teachers or parents. This is your personal challenge this weekend to visit a museum you’ve never been to before with no pre-conceived subject in mind, and see what the material presents to you. Find the subject in the material.

Tuesdays are for Toddlers: Blinded with Science!

Welcome back for another edition of Tuesdays are for Toddlers! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and took time to appreciate the last official weekend of Summer. Now, we’re on to the Fall, and Seasons may just be covered by our venue of choice: Science Museums!

Science museums across the country are fantastic sources of learning and knowledge for toddlers and young children for one big reason: tactile experience. Science museums focus on the hands-on portion of learning. Many include interactive displays that go beyond bright lights and button pushing and actually demonstrate complex principles of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geology in ways that kids can relate to. Movement and tactile experiences are phenomenal learning tools for toddlers, and helps them develop fine and gross motor skills at the same time. Even better? It may mean some quiet time later when they wear themselves out doing all the activities a science museum has to offer.

Personally, some of my favorite memories from childhood were spent in the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington. They had everything from moving dinosaur displays to kinesiology experiments, weather and tides to how the body works. They also offer educational and entertaining IMAX movie experiences, and laser shows for adults later in the evening. The Perot Museum of Nature and Science (formerly the Museum of Nature and Science at Fair Park) in Dallas, Texas is another such place, and every time I would go to visit family, it was one of my favorite destinations.

It isn’t hard to engage a toddler’s mind in a science museum. Explain what they’re seeing and doing and get involved in the experiment with them. Seeing that you are also engaged, even if you already know how to do it and what it means, will increase their interest in it and make the lesson stick. If the science museum you’re visiting has dinosaurs, talk about their size and what they ate and how they would have lived. Get messy; if there’s sand or water or paint, join in and answer questions. Play with the displays and if they’re really enjoying one particular type of display or one subject area, stop by the library on the way home and check out some books to read together later.

Photo by Liesl Den: Earth Science: Plate Movements & Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Mountain-Making (while it says for 2nd Grade, it can definitely be adapted for Toddlers and Pre-K).

For a fun food related activity that can help reinforce what they learn at the science center, head over to the Homeschool Den by Liesl Den (now located at Parents.com) and see what she has to offer for fun ideas and ways to bring science experiments and other subjects into the home!

For another educational source for science experiments at home, visit Science-Sparks, where they have experiments from loads of subjects for all age groups, including Preschool!

To Innovate or Get Back to the Basics, or Maybe Both?

Museums ‘should provide more hands-on experiences for children’; Museums should focus on providing real experiences like handling objects and dressing up as historical characters Photo: GETTY

Recently a group I follow on Facebook shared an article that really struck a note with me personally and professionally, as this blog is sort of a statement to the influences of technology. A group in the UK, Kids in Museums, has published a “manifesto” that gets down to one point: kids aren’t impressed by the flashing lights and technological interactive displays that museums have to offer, and museums should be focusing on a more hands-on approach to learning. You can read the full article here, but in the meantime, let’s discuss the brass tacks of this discussion, as it’s been one battle fought in the background in museums across the country for the last 20 years.

Technology has its place in museums, and I hope that my readers don’t feel like I’m attacking the use of it in museums. But most educational toys nowadays have more flashing lights and impressive sounds than a person can shake a stick at (that’s actually a lot of fun, by the way, shaking a stick); the interactive displays and technicolor lighting in some exhibits just doesn’t begin to entrance and enlighten children as much as it used to. Here’s the thing: kids still love dress up, they still love interacting with their surroundings and creating personal experiences and memories and learning in their own unique ways.

Living history museums like the Colonial Williamsburg Museum in Virginia focus on allowing children to interact with period actors and learn about the past through hands-on activities and personal discovery. Living history museums focus on a personal experience with historical materials to bring home the lessons of the past to help the future. Again, technology has its place in museums, but the true value of hands-on learning can’t be underestimated.

What do you think? Should museums focus on a more hands-on approach to their collections and displays, or should they keep the “please don’t touch” signs in place? What suggestions do you have for your local museums and historical societies to increase audience learning and visitor educational opportunities?

If you’re interested in more hands-on history opportunities, please feel free to check out a list of open air and living history museums on wikipedia. While not a complete list by any means, it is constantly being updated and can provide your next educational opportunity in the world of museums!

“Staycations” for Twenty-Somethings

With a weekend coming up, it’s time to address a subject that happens to be pretty fun to talk about: staycations!

a staycation is a type of vacation where one stays in the area you’re currently living, or according to Urban Dictionary “a vacation that is spent at one’s home enjoying all that home and one’s home environs have to offer.” With gas prices as high as they are and flying involving so many restrictions and fees, vacations that require traveling long distances aren’t always in the equation when your vacation time rolls around (if you get any). For twenty-somethings, budgets can be pretty tight, and staycations are a great way to enjoy your surroundings with a long weekend or a good couple days of vacation.

Now, this isn’t going to be a town-by-town breakdown. And, because this blog focuses on having fun with museums, we’re going to bring in the fun and budget friendly ideas that museums have to offer your staycation opportunities. First, let’s start with some basic tips and tricks to enjoy your home and surrounding areas.

Staycations require a lot of research and planning much like a destination vacation. If you have time to look for fancy hotels or cheap flight deals for a dream vacation in your spare time, you have time to plan the perfect staycation. Ask locals you work with or that you run into at the grocery store or gas station about their favorite local sights. Off the Beaten Path series offers not-so-widely known attractions to out-of-towners that can be pretty handy if you’re just learning the area or if you aren’t familiar with local famous landmarks. They also list local museums with interesting collections that can be really entertaining.

To that effect, when looking for local attractions, don’t count museums out. Small towns and counties have rich histories of their own, and even in the small town that I live in (current population at 24,499 as of 2012) we have two art museums, an historical society with its own mansion, and a small art gallery, not to mention dozens of local music venues and recreational activities. Check out what your local museum has to offer on their exhibits schedule (most are available online), or if they have a planetarium see what the show schedule and calendar look like. In Walla Walla, WA (fun town, so nice they named it twice!), there’s a Museum of Un-Natural History that features Dadaist art from a local artist; places like this won’t always show up in fancy travel magazines or always be the first thing that comes to mind for travel destinations, but I can guarantee that locals will be able to give you the best advice for things to do on a staycation.

So, when planning your next vacation, consider the cost and see what your current location has to offer. Small towns may not have much, but hey, if it’s a quick drive (say 2 hours), and you get to sleep in your own bed that night, what’s the harm in taking a bit of a drive to another small town and spending a day enjoying another town’s sights? Big cities have a lot to offer that often goes overlooked by people working there, and staycations are a good chance to get to explore even some of the major landmarks that may get set aside for when company comes (which, may or may not be in the near future).

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and if you’re considering a staycation, have taken one, or want to know more about this fun phenomena, let me know in the comments section