ince its earliest days in Jamaica Plain, Boston Children’s Museum has been encouraging kids to be curious. Founded by Boston Public School science teachers, the Museum was originally designed to offer low-income and immigrant children direct contact with natural history specimens. Today, three floors of exhibits, dynamic science programs, and innovative educational resources challenge children to become ever more curious.
Every day kids are curious in Science Playground. In the
exhibit, kids experiment with the laws of motion in Raceways,
explore the natural world in Investigate, and discover
beautiful wonders in Bubbles. Always popular with young
and old, Science Playground helps children develop the skills
important for scientific inquiry – observing, comparing,
measuring, posing questions, reviewing data, and
communicating results.
In FY 2009, visitors had new opportunities to learn as Curious Kids. In January 2009, one of the Museum’s most popular exhibits, access/ABILITY, returned after a threeyear, cross-country tour. access/ABILITY engaged visitors in experiencing how people with disabilities accomplish the tasks of daily life. Visitors tried out pedaling a bicycle by hand, finding their way through a maze wearing a blindfold, and maneuvering a wheelchair over different surfaces. Curious Kids got an inside glimpse into the lives of people living with disabilities and found out that they were in some ways similar and some way different from themselves.
Over the summer of 2009, kids explored the world
beyond Planet Earth in the traveling exhibit Living
in Space. Visitors experienced what it was like to be an astronaut aboard the International
Space Station. Solar System Ambassadors
engaged visitors in exploring space rocks,
piloting a space shuttle, making
comets, and much more.
Monthly science activities engaged the whole family in fun explorations, including the everpopular Critter Days, Pint-Sized Science, Chemistry Week, Engineering Week, Sense of Smell Day, Kitchen Science, and Robotics. Boston Children’s Museum extends learning beyond its walls through the Center for Community Learning (CCL), which brings Museum learning resources and programs to the community and the community to the Museum. A key component of the CCL work is KIDS @fterschool, a free online interdisciplinary curriculum for afterschool programs. Since its launch in the fall of 2008, KIDS @fterschool has been downloaded by over 1,000 afterschool programs in all 50 states and 15 countries. In April this work was nationally recognized when KIDS @fterschool was awarded The 2009 MetLife Foundation and Amssociation of Children’s Museums Promising Practice Award, the most prestigious award granted in the children’s museum field.
All kids need and deserve chances to explore and learn about their world. Boston Children’s Museum inspired a lot of Curious Kids in 2009.
“Nelson has been fascinated about space, planets and constellations since he first learned about them. When we knew about the show and tell opportunity at the Museum, we immediately decided to offer to show Nelson’s last craft, his favorite constellation, Medusa, made out of clay. At the beginning he was somehow shy: it was the fi rst time he had the opportunity to show his beloved possession in front of such a diverse public. But at the end, he came back home with a smile on his face, happy to have shared with other children his knowledge and passion for this constellation and the history behind its name.”
—Isabel Creed (Nelson’s mom)
