Monday, March 2, 2009

Inner Child

Here I am late again on my blogging. Maybe I should offer up a free pass on one week's worth of blogs to someone who makes note of it. I bet that would up my readership :P

Our trip to the Children's Museum was lots of fun. I hope you all enjoyed exploring the space and the museum as much as I did. Looking towards the space with a more critical eye is an important component of being an educator. Things that are fun can be more than mindless entertainment. They can support critical thinking and creativity, raise awareness of global issues, or elicit questions. Of course they don't always do so.

In my mind, the most successful exhibits at being both enjoyable and educational were the Skyline and My Museum exhibits. Skyline promoted creativity in design, critical thinking in the construction process, and teamwork, as evidenced by the creative collaboration by Katie, Meaghan, and Luthando (where's the link, guys?!). My Museum engaged kids in actually making things and even displayed several projects created by past groups. I also really enjoyed the Art Making studios. Lots of really creative and cool projects going in there.

Most disappointing was the Cyberchase exhibit. Just felt like a corporate sponsored showroom. Too many pieces that were not particularly engaging or directed. And you could tell that there was a drop-off in the number of visitors in that room versus some of the other spaces. What did you all think? Curious to hear.

Well, I'm looking forward to your typographical portraits tomorrow! These are always really creative and fun. Can't wait to check them out, as well as experience our first Techno Teach-In!

3 comments:

  1. I hope this works: https://qs1565.pair.com/chchmuse/display.php?scancode=96c8y6&title=1

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  2. Artbot thinks the WaterWays exhibit was the most successful overall. Kids were all over it. They were splashing, creating, laughing, and learning about "an interactive system of pulleys, pumps, wheels and pipes that demonstrate how we manipulate the multi-functional power of water." (Quote form the web site.)
    It was hands on. It was creative. It was educational. It involved wearing rainjackets.
    Artbot says, "Hell yeah!" Human children can even use this knowledge after the apocalypse if the waterbots and publicutilitybots have been destroyed.

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  3. I also posted the link on my blog for all to see. Definitely had fun with the skyscraper building. There were some cool audio and video recording projects tucked away in "My Museum," but with all the chaos and noise, it was hard to fully appreciate them. I'd like to visit again on a quiet day...

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