About the Exhibit and Preschool Program
Alex Goodman, MA candidate in the Public Humanities due to graduate in May 2013, describes the preschool program and exhibit development for Toys: Curated by Small Hands.
The partnership between the Haffenereffer Museum of Anthropology and the Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center began in the Spring of 2012 as part of my internship in the Museum’s education department. During my studies in the MA in the Public Humanities, I have focused on ways to provide learning opportunities for young children in public institutions. I began working with Haffenreffer Museum staff in the fall of 2011 to develop a program for early learners in the Museum. The Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center was identified as a possible partner for this project because of the supportive and innovative teachers and staff who strive to provide enriching opportunities to support a student driven curriculum. The Center encourages learning through play and interaction with peers, teachers, and places outside the classroom.
The Partnership was launched in the spring of 2012 and began with a few museum visits for older classrooms. The program evolved in the fall of 2012 into a year-long series of sessions conducted in the classroom and at the Museum for all four classrooms at the Center. The exhibit featured here is the final project prepared by the four-year old classrooms at the school, the Redwoods and Willows. Emily McCartan, MA candidate in the Public Humanities also assisted with the project. We were advised by Geralyn Ducady, Curator of Education and Programs at the Haffenreffer Museum. During the fall, Emily, Geralyn and I led in-class sessions where students began learning about the Museum, anthropology, and object handling. We brought objects from the education collection at the Museum for the students to handle and explore.
In the Spring of 2013, the students in the Redwood and Willow Classrooms began visiting the museum. Their first visit provided a chance to get familiar with the Museum and interact with some objects from the collection within the museum setting. The children’s’ museum visits always began with the Museum Manners Song which was developed by Emily and me (the tune of “If you're happy you know it”):
If you’re in a museum... look at objects (make eyeglasses with hands)
If you’re in a museum, for many awesome reasons... (make eyeglasses with hands)
If you’re in a museum... use walking feet (quiet walking motion with feet)
If you’re in a museum, for many awesome reasons... use walking feet (quiet walking motion with feet)
If you’re in a museum... use gentle hands (flat hands in front of bodies)
If you’re in a museum, for many awesome reasons... use gentle hands (flat hands in front of bodies)
If you’re in a museum... whisper hooray (hooray!)
If you’re in a museum, for many awesome reasons... whisper hooray (hooray!)
Before the second visit to the Museum, the teachers brainstormed with the students to select a topic for their exhibit. The students decided they were interested in learning about the types of toys children use around the world. Since much of the Museum’s toy collection is located in a remote storage facility, Geralyn and I, with the support of the Museum curators, selected a large number of objects to bring to the Museum specifically to include in this project. Thus, during their second visit, the students were able to select objects from among this group to include in the exhibition. Classes were broken into two or three groups, and children moved around to different stations that had 5-6 objects for them to handle and learn about with an educator from the Museum. Once the children in that group were able to handle all of the objects, they were given a small foam heart and asked to place the heart next to their favorite object. The students then moved to the next station and repeated the process in that location. The objects with the most hearts at the end of the visit were included in the final exhibition.
The final step in the project was to create labels and interpretive materials for the exhibit. The students completed this step in the classroom. The students were given the essential information needed to be included in the label. Since there was a limitation on space, only a few of the labels created by the children could be included in the exhibition. Those selected were generally the most legible. The students also interpreted the objects through drawings, and these were featured as the background of the exhibit. The teachers recorded the students explaining their favorite object and how they thought the object would have been used by the original owners The additional labels, drawings, and children’s responses are featured on an iPad which was included in the exhibit.
To celebrate the children’s work, the Haffenreffer Museum hosted an “Opening” for the exhibit, inviting the children and their families. The “Opening” was a great success and the students appeared to enjoy showing their work to their families and friends. This exhibit is the culmination of a lot of hard work by all those involved, the children, the teachers and staff at the Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center, and the staff at the Haffenreffer Museum. It has been a wonderful partnership and the hope is to produce many exhibits at the Museum in the future.
Special Thanks to:
Chris Amirault, Executive Director Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center
Nathan Ardnat, Assistant Curator at the Haffenreffer Museum
Michelle Colby, Redwood Teacher Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center
Emily Colwell, Willow Teacher Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center
Christy Delair. Interim Curator of Programs and Education at the Haffenreffer Museum
Becky Dirrane, Willow Teacher Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center
Geralyn Ducady, Curator of Programs and Education at the Haffenreffer Museum
Thierry Gentis, Curator/NAGPRA Coordinator at the Haffenreffer Museum
Rip Gerry, Exhibit Designer/Photographic Archivist at the Haffenreffer Museum
Emily McCartan, Education Intern at the Haffenreffer Museum
Nicole Suom, Redwood Teacher Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center
The Partnership was launched in the spring of 2012 and began with a few museum visits for older classrooms. The program evolved in the fall of 2012 into a year-long series of sessions conducted in the classroom and at the Museum for all four classrooms at the Center. The exhibit featured here is the final project prepared by the four-year old classrooms at the school, the Redwoods and Willows. Emily McCartan, MA candidate in the Public Humanities also assisted with the project. We were advised by Geralyn Ducady, Curator of Education and Programs at the Haffenreffer Museum. During the fall, Emily, Geralyn and I led in-class sessions where students began learning about the Museum, anthropology, and object handling. We brought objects from the education collection at the Museum for the students to handle and explore.
In the Spring of 2013, the students in the Redwood and Willow Classrooms began visiting the museum. Their first visit provided a chance to get familiar with the Museum and interact with some objects from the collection within the museum setting. The children’s’ museum visits always began with the Museum Manners Song which was developed by Emily and me (the tune of “If you're happy you know it”):
If you’re in a museum... look at objects (make eyeglasses with hands)
If you’re in a museum, for many awesome reasons... (make eyeglasses with hands)
If you’re in a museum... use walking feet (quiet walking motion with feet)
If you’re in a museum, for many awesome reasons... use walking feet (quiet walking motion with feet)
If you’re in a museum... use gentle hands (flat hands in front of bodies)
If you’re in a museum, for many awesome reasons... use gentle hands (flat hands in front of bodies)
If you’re in a museum... whisper hooray (hooray!)
If you’re in a museum, for many awesome reasons... whisper hooray (hooray!)
Before the second visit to the Museum, the teachers brainstormed with the students to select a topic for their exhibit. The students decided they were interested in learning about the types of toys children use around the world. Since much of the Museum’s toy collection is located in a remote storage facility, Geralyn and I, with the support of the Museum curators, selected a large number of objects to bring to the Museum specifically to include in this project. Thus, during their second visit, the students were able to select objects from among this group to include in the exhibition. Classes were broken into two or three groups, and children moved around to different stations that had 5-6 objects for them to handle and learn about with an educator from the Museum. Once the children in that group were able to handle all of the objects, they were given a small foam heart and asked to place the heart next to their favorite object. The students then moved to the next station and repeated the process in that location. The objects with the most hearts at the end of the visit were included in the final exhibition.
The final step in the project was to create labels and interpretive materials for the exhibit. The students completed this step in the classroom. The students were given the essential information needed to be included in the label. Since there was a limitation on space, only a few of the labels created by the children could be included in the exhibition. Those selected were generally the most legible. The students also interpreted the objects through drawings, and these were featured as the background of the exhibit. The teachers recorded the students explaining their favorite object and how they thought the object would have been used by the original owners The additional labels, drawings, and children’s responses are featured on an iPad which was included in the exhibit.
To celebrate the children’s work, the Haffenreffer Museum hosted an “Opening” for the exhibit, inviting the children and their families. The “Opening” was a great success and the students appeared to enjoy showing their work to their families and friends. This exhibit is the culmination of a lot of hard work by all those involved, the children, the teachers and staff at the Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center, and the staff at the Haffenreffer Museum. It has been a wonderful partnership and the hope is to produce many exhibits at the Museum in the future.
Special Thanks to:
Chris Amirault, Executive Director Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center
Nathan Ardnat, Assistant Curator at the Haffenreffer Museum
Michelle Colby, Redwood Teacher Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center
Emily Colwell, Willow Teacher Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center
Christy Delair. Interim Curator of Programs and Education at the Haffenreffer Museum
Becky Dirrane, Willow Teacher Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center
Geralyn Ducady, Curator of Programs and Education at the Haffenreffer Museum
Thierry Gentis, Curator/NAGPRA Coordinator at the Haffenreffer Museum
Rip Gerry, Exhibit Designer/Photographic Archivist at the Haffenreffer Museum
Emily McCartan, Education Intern at the Haffenreffer Museum
Nicole Suom, Redwood Teacher Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center