As Robert mentioned Adam, Angelica, Barb, Margaret and I visited the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose after the trip to the fabricator. The imposing purple-painted museum is located in a park on Woz Way in the downtown area. Access to the entrance from the parking lot was not well marked and pretty far away (think over the river and through the woods). It was chilly and grey when we were there and I thought it would not be fun to wrangle a couple kids on a wet day all the way to the entrance.
Once inside we were met by the marketing manager, Autumn Young, and started the tour. Just inside the entrance is a decommissioned fire engine with kid sized hats--certainly a popular way to start off a child's visit. Just behind it is a Wells Fargo stage coach and then a crossroads leading to various parts of the museum. I liked this installation especially when viewed from above but I think others were not so fond and perhaps will share why. One of the first rooms we visited was Bubbalogna, http://www.cdm.org/viewPage.asp?mlid=62 and later Water Ways. My favorite part was the soothing rain room but children explored with balls, water toys and fountains exploring physics while having fun. There was a water wheel which reminded me of the book wheel we had seen that morning on the PAL Island. Other rooms focused on circles, an archaeological dig, art for very young children in a room with a painting wall (that was cool and should have been bigger), a market & pizza "oven", and a face painting room. Here children painted their own faces and we saw many of them throughout the museum. Next month the outdoor garden will reopen.
Between face painting, corn husk doll making and other art opportunities, children leave this museum with souvenirs of their own creation. On subsequent visits some of the art projects will change so they always go home with something new. It's a good sized facility of 28,000 square feet and there is a lot to do here for children up to 9 or 10 years old. The families we saw seemed to be having a really good time together.
I was so excited to be back up north (my home!)! Great to be back in the cold!
ReplyDeleteThis museum was a big two story building set up right next to the freeway (you can see the sign and bright purple driving past) - and it's in the middle of downtown - paid parking, trolley cars.
I've been trying to pay attention to the customer service aspects at museums and trying to compare how they are offering their services to ours.
So far - San Jose included - there have been big "check in / info" desks first thing inside the doors (or ticketing/box office booths).
Then once you’re past those gates the whole world opens up! You would expect to be greeted with noise, but it has been surprisingly more than quiet than I thought it would be. The best thing is seeing all the exhibits and sites waiting for you. I can remember as a kid seeing views like that and thinking - I can't wait to go on this and that!
The number one things I liked - the fact that managed to layer culture into every exhibit. The way they viewed art and managed to make many of their exhibits "Respectful" of art.
They had an exhibit about circles that had a large focus on Vietnamese culture. You could see this is a round (yes round) woven boat, cultural dolls, clothes, pottery. This kind of cultural representation could be seen throughout the museum.
In another area - I believe it was called the wonder cabinet - based on old Victorian curiosity cabinets, filled with interesting objects - they included an assortment of interesting items from many cultures. All of which kids could touch! Spices to smell, shells to feel, dolls to play with. I just get all jazzed thinking about how clever that is and how much more children are learning (including diversity and tolerance!).
The art room was fabulous. It did have a black wall (hehe - inside joke), but the room was actually decorated with children's art and open - as was my understanding - all the time! This visit kids were making mobiles (inspired by space - tying in with a space exhibit below).
Also - incredibly cool factoid - they have a department of folks who build their own exhibits - and they offer a sharing program!
We did get into some nitty gritty museum questions. Staffing - there is one floor person per area and typically for a 30 min. shift. Staff rotates throughout the whole building.
We did ask the dreaded cleaning question. Just like all the other museums - they have multiple sets of items. They are rotated every day. Items are cleaned with a bleach solution found on the clorox webpage geared for parents with home cleaning. They also had a cleaning machine. I suspect it was dishwasher ;). They also rely on staff to help ensure that "mouthed manipulatives" or toys in kid’s mouths go into bins on the floor for cleaning and are removed to prevent patrons from using.
I know - that's not the exciting end of it. But very interesting and necessary to know!
My final comment (to my epic posting) - it is just great to see the smiles on kids and parents’ faces in these museums. After seeing that - you know play is doing something right!