Play is a powerful tool for engagement in an exhibition for all ages, not just children. To infuse an exhibit with play, we should strive to include each of the three types of play: Building, Exploration and Role Play.
Building – When I look for examples of building and construction, I often start with the “Construction Site”. This is definitely building, and a relevant part of all of our lives (Many of us are dodging orange cones every day). Construction sites are in many children’s museums.
Construction Site at Discovery Gateway
Even I built one of which I am very proud. But we must think beyond that. Paul Orselli recently wrote about the value of loose parts. [it’s worth a read here ] Utilizing loose parts allows us to put things together in our own way, not necessarily being constrained by the exhibit developers “way”. We can start to represent ideas in three dimensions. Examples of building may include blocks, scrap materials, sand, cardboard, tape, foam and almost anything else. When we are able to construct, we are thinking with our hands, which opens up new ways of thinking.
Exploration – When a baby throws her cup off the tray of her high chair, she is experimenting. Once it falls, she needs to try it again to see if the same thing will happen again. And again, and again, and again. This repetition is just as important as the opportunity to throw the cup. Quantity is important. When developing an exhibit, it is tempting to limit the possible outcomes to just a few, or to limit the pieces we provide our visitors to just a few. How often do we shoo someone along to the next exhibit before the full number of options has been explored? Exploration shows up when visitors are testing results at an electric circuit table or coming up with rhyming words. The point is trying as many different possibilities as possible. Instead of limiting our visitors’ choices (especially the “right” choices), we need to look for ways to provide options and allow for more open-ended exploration.
Role Play – I remember digging through an old suitcase in my grandmother’s basement to pull out shawls and hats and silky tap pants. With this new wardrobe on, I became someone new, not myself.
Play acting at Discovery Gateway
It is not difficult to find costumes in a children’s museum (once the staff has dealt with their fear of head lice transmission), but role play should not be limited to “dramatic play”. Role play is an opportunity to physically or conceptually see and understand a different point of view. This can happen when we try to navigate a course in a wheelchair or when we walk into the re-creation of the turn-of-the-century dining room. This is why dioramas are so fantastic. Even the most fuddy-duddy of us can easily imagine themselves actually on the African Savannah with the lions or interacting with a “caveman”. Once I included a life-size replica of a UN refugee tent. Parents and children alike were able to enter the tent and gain a new understanding of trying to make a life for themselves and their families in such cramped quarters.
How have you used play to improve your exhibits?
