The following post appears in the latest issue of Hand to Hand, ACM’s quarterly journal. The article is a case study of The Children’s Museum of the Upstate (TCMU) in Greenville, SC, and its satellite museum, TCMU-Spartanburg. The Q&A was conducted between Mary Maher, editor of Hand to Hand, and David Wood, chief operating officer of TCMU.
TCMU-Spartanburg includes 6,000 square feet of indoor exhibit space with seven exhibits designed specifically for children ages birth to five. The two-story site also includes a large classroom, sales area, small office, restrooms, and an elevator.
The museum is located in downtown Spartanburg and is attached to other historic storefront businesses. The venue is easily accessible with street-level access in the front and a large public parking lot directly across the street.
Why did you open a satellite?
In 2016, The Children’s Museum of the Upstate (TCMU) launched a five-year strategic plan that included the goal of “developing outreach experiences that engage regional communities and invite them to visit TCMU.” Through partnerships and programming for communities within a forty-five-minute drive of our flagship museum in Greenville (TCMU-Greenville), we considered not only outreach activities but possible satellite locations outside of Greenville County.
Where is it? Describe the community in which it is located.
TCMU-Spartanburg is thirty-five miles, or within a forty-five-minute drive, from TCMU-Greenville. The “Upstate” region includes ten counties in the commerce-rich I-85 corridor in the northwest corner of South Carolina, home to the cities of Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson. As of 2016, the area includes a population of 1,347,112 people. Situated between Atlanta and Charlotte, the Upstate is the fastest-growing region of South Carolina. Greenville, the largest city in the region with a population of 67,453 and an urban-area population of 400,492, is the base of most commercial activity. Spartanburg, followed by Anderson, is next in population.
Over the last several years, downtown Spartanburg has been undergoing a major transformation, and the growth is evident. However, nearly 55 percent of Spartanburg children ages three to four are not enrolled in preschool, resulting in an enormous deficit in kindergarten readiness. TCMU-Spartanburg’s goal is to aid local families with school—and particularly kindergarten—readiness, as defined by the Spartanburg Community Indicators Project and the Spartanburg Academic Movement.
When did it open?
A ribbon cutting and VIP event was held on May 15, 2018. We opened to the public the following day.
Who initiated the process?
Museum leaders began conversations about the Spartanburg space in late October 2016. The board approved the proposed plan in March 2017 and a final lease agreement was signed the next month. An exhibit design/build contract was signed in early May with Kraemer Design + Production, Inc. The initial design charrette was held that month to gather input from staff and community stakeholders. Building upfit began in June 2017 and all of the exhibit design and fabrication ran concurrently.
Does the satellite have an ongoing partnership with any local entities?
The museum is working with city and county governments, school administrators in multiple school districts, corporations, businesses with local headquarters, and other nonprofits with similar missions to ensure the museum’s development and programming meets community needs. While no formal partnerships were formed, the museum received some funding from the city and additional support from corporate and individual donors.
Do you rent or own the building? What’s the length of commitment?
The museum has a five-year lease with options to extend. We have a graduating discounted rent rate: in year three, the rent will go up by fifty cents per square foot; in year five, it will go up another fifty cents per square foot. At that point we will be at market rate.
Who is the audience?
Families, caregivers, and educators who have or care for children ages birth to five. The flagship museum targets a similar audience but includes children ages birth to twelve.
Is it a scaled down version of the flagship museum? Or does it have a dedicated focus?
TCMU-Spartanburg is designed to accommodate the physical, cognitive, and social needs of children five and under, both in square footage and exhibit scale and design. (For comparison, TCMU’s flagship museum features 80,000 square feet with twenty exhibit spaces.) The museum enables area families to regularly participate in free-with-admission programs that prepare children for academic success. Spartanburg programming is aligned with what has been most successful at the Greenville flagship, including daily Story Time, music and movement programs, the Off the Wall art program, Sensory Friendly Days, and Random Acts of Science. All programs feature lots of cooperative, physical play.
In fall 2018, TCMU-Spartanburg will host field trips for groups of three-to-five-year-olds that will include free play with an option of adding classroom programs that cater to SC State Standards. Beginning in 2019, the museum will host multiple special events that parallel those happening at TCMU-Greenville.
What is the budget and management structure?
The satellite has two full-time staff, a site director, and a site manager, supported by ten part-time staff. Spartanburg-specific programs and events are managed locally. The flagship runs all other executive, marketing, fundraising, and operations functions. The satellite maintains a site-specific budget that is part of the overall TCMU budget. All revenue is processed through the flagship museum, which also coordinates all fundraising activities. Funds raised on behalf of the Spartanburg location directly support the satellite’s programming and outreach activities.
What about membership/admissions/marketing?
During the first full month of operations, 30 percent of visitors were members. Annual memberships are reciprocal.
TCMU-Greenville admission is $9/child and $10/adult; TCMU-Spartanburg admission is $5 per person (children and adults).
With both museums sharing an overlapping market, a single marketing plan promotes the museum experience and benefits at both locations. We communicate TCMU-Spartanburg-specific programming through a targeted email contact list, developed by leveraging partner relationships, engaging visitors at the door, and through social media and our website. The museum website features a gateway hub page that allows users to select the site they want to visit. Visitors are then routed to site-specific websites that include all of the information relevant to the correct museum location
DO’s:
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To read other articles in the “Satellite Museums” issue of Hand to Hand, subscribe today. ACM members also receive both digital and printed complimentary copies of Hand to Hand. ACM members can access their copies through the Digital Resource Library–-contact Membership@ChildrensMuseums.org to gain access if needed.
David Wood is Chief Operating Officer of The Children’s Museum of the Upstate.
Photo credit: Mark Susko
Thank you to everyone who joined us for “Prescription for Play: What Science Says About the Importance of Play for Children and Families” on Monday, November 19, 2018. In collaboration with Boston Children’s Museum, this was the Association of Children’s Museums’ first-ever webinar geared toward both children’s museum staff and the parents and caregivers they serve.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released new guidelines to empower pediatricians to write a “prescription for play” to every family they see. During the webinar, Dr. Michael Yogman and Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, two of the lead authors of AAP’s report, The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children, joined ACM Executive Director Laura Huerta Migus to present their findings.
Special thanks to Boston Children’s Museum’s Carole Charnow for introducing the webinar and to our speakers, Drs. Yogman and Hirsh-Pasek, for sharing their expertise on the power of play!
Whether you tuned in live or you’re watching later on, check out these resources on the science of play.
The Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) champions children’s museums worldwide. Follow ACM on Twitter and Facebook.
We have completed the first volume of the ACM Trends Reports! As we reflect back on our inaugural volume, we would like to discuss some key highlights the reports have unveiled that are relevant to both ACM and the field. (For those who have not read the reports, we are hoping this will inspire you to give them a read! Find out more here.)
The ACM Trends Reports are possible through a partnership with New Knowledge Organization, LTD (NKO). Collaborating with NKO allows ACM to produce concise, readable reports about trends identified through analysis of a decade of ACM museum member data. Prior to the Trends Reports, ACM provided reports to members based on data collected from the most recent museum membership survey, conducted every two years. These bi-annual reports serve an important purpose—and are not going away! However, they only focus on membership data from one survey year—and therefore lack the contextual references around museum operations and programming.
Why are the Trends Reports important? First, by looking at more than a decade of ACM membership data, these reports share trends in the operational, financial, and programmatic work of the children’s museum field. They also allow ACM to identify areas of strength in the field, such as where museums effectively provide services or efficiently use funding, as well as areas for improvement. By identifying these trends, ACM can work to provide more effective professional development opportunities for members. These trends, backed by data, also allow ACM to have substantive conversations with policymakers and national partners on the strengths of the field.
How do the Trends Reports benefit my museum? One of the most important results from the first volume of Trends Reports was the creation of the expanded size framework. This framework allows museums to identify as small, medium, or large based on four criteria: Total Operating Expenses, Total Staff, Total Square Footage, and Total Annual Attendance. The first four reports in Volume 1 discusses the creation of the size framework, as well as effective programming and operational approaches from the perspective of each size category. The size framework has been used in ACM’s updated Query Reports Service and the ACM 2016 Membership Survey Report (the most recent bi-annual report, mentioned earlier). The framework also provided the structure for a series of investigation sessions at InterActivity 2018 (Birds of a Feather Small, Medium and Large). In short, the updated size framework provides a more concise tool for museums to use in benchmarking (or planning) and in highlight their ongoing work.
| Size Category | Total Operating Expenses | Building Size |
Annual Attendance |
Staff |
| Small | Less than $487,326 | Less than 12,000 | Less than 50,000 | Less than 14 |
| Medium | $487,326 – $2.3 million | 12,000 – 44,040 | 50,000 – 148,667 | 14 – 41 |
| Large | More than $2.3 million | More than 44,040 | More than 148,667 | More than 41 |
How do the reports provide context for the work of children’s museums? The remaining reports in Volume 1 focused on several trends revealed from the longitudinal data analysis. Some trend topics include museums and nontraditional families, the children’s museum workforce, and operating income and expenses.
These latter reports place children’s museum trends in a larger context by referencing data sources outside the children’s museum field. For instance, ACM Trends Report 1.6: Reaching Nontraditional Families discusses how ACM Museum Membership data showed how children’s museums engage underserved populations, using correlating data from Children’s Bureau and Children’s Defense Fund. ACM Trends Report 1.10: Making a Museum Sing: the Children’s Museum Workforce discusses the different types of labor in children’s museums: full-time, part-time, and volunteer, drawing from data shared in the ACM Member Survey, the 2016 ASTC-ACM Workforce Survey, as well as Bureau of Labor Statistics. These additional data sources place the children’s museum workforce data beyond the children’s museum field and provide contextual data in order to expand the conversation to outside stakeholders. In essence, the ACM Trends Reports have provided members a concise way to discuss data driven trends about children’s museums to a broad audience.
Caveat: the data behind the ACM Trends Reports is US-centered. The ACM Museum Membership Survey data almost entirely focuses on responses from US museums, particularly the workforce and financial data. In addition, most additional data sources are from US government agencies or US nonprofits. This is partly due to data access, ACM is able to access most US museum financial data via 990 Forms or Guidestar, whereas non-US financial data is more difficult to obtain.
How have the reports been used? During the development of the first volume, ACM and NKO created opportunities to receive feedback from member museums via surveys, webinars and a brown bag lunch at InterActivity 2017. As a result, many indicated that the reports would be helpful in describing the work of children’s museum to stakeholders such as board members, families, and community partners. Others also recognized the reports as being useful to funders and for planning purposes. Some also identified the reports as being useful in onboarding new staff, particularly professionals new to the children’s museum field.
What’s next for the ACM Trends Reports? Next week, ACM will release Volume 2 of the ACM Trends Reports, all about the economic impact of children’s museums! Stay tuned for more information.
Jen Rehkamp is Director, Field Services at the Associations of Children’s Museums (ACM). Follow ACM on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Hurricane Florence made landfall on Friday, September 14, near Wilmington, NC. The effects have been devastating for many in the Carolinas and Virginia, and our hearts go out to all those affected.
There are dozens of children’s museums in the states most affected by Hurricane Florence, and many closed in preparation, as well as to deal with the effects of the storm. These museums worked quickly to reopen their doors and continue serving their communities. As of last week, most have reopened:
Last year, the ACM community came together after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and wildfires in Northern California to establish the ACM Disaster Relief Fund. Together we raised more than $14,000, which was directly distributed to staff at five affected museums.
While we are still working with the museums affected by Hurricane Florence to identify their needs, the Disaster Relief Fund remains open in perpetuity. As always, proceeds will be distributed as needed to directly support our colleagues in the children’s museum field. If you are moved to donate, please do so here!
As ACM hears back from those in our community affected by Hurricane Florence, we will continue to share updates.
If we have missed your museum in our roundup in error, please do not hesitate to get in touch!
The Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) champions children’s museums worldwide. Follow ACM on Twitter and Facebook.
The following post appears in the latest issue of Hand to Hand, ACM’s quarterly journal.
By Bezos Family Foundation
In today’s time-strapped world full of countless obligations and distractions, parents have their hands full. On any given day, they have to make breakfast, dress their kids, prepare lunch, get them to school or childcare, pick them up again, shop for groceries, cook dinner, bathe them, prepare for bedtime, clean the dishes, and do the laundry—and that’s often just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to attending to these basic needs, parents are exposed to a steady stream of prescriptive, sometimes scary, sometimes conflicting instructions on how to raise their children. They are bombarded with well-meaning, but often beleaguering, advice like, “You must do this or that or your child won’t do well in school, won’t get a good job, or won’t have the skills needed to succeed.” It’s no wonder that parents feel overwhelmed.
And yet, the science around early childhood development is clear. During your child’s earliest years, their brain makes one million neural connections every single second. These first three to five years especially are an opportunity to develop a child’s neurological framework for lifelong learning. Given their hectic daily schedules, are parents supposed to make extra time for “brain-building”?
Vroom, an early learning and brain development initiative, starts from a very simple principle: Parents already have what it takes to be brain-builders. They don’t need extra time, special toys or books to play a proactive role in their child’s early brain development.
About Vroom
Vroom was developed through years of consulting with early learning and brain development experts, parents, and caregivers. Science tells us that children’s first three to five years are crucial to developing a foundation for future learning. Even when babies cannot speak, they are looking, listening, and forming important neural connections. In fact, when we interact with children in this time period, a million neurons fire at once as they observe and listen to their environment.
Vroom’s early goal was to determine how to best support early learning and development by fostering the types of parent/child interactions that help build brain architecture and help ensure that children will have strong and resilient brains. Vroom applies the science, translating complex early learning and development research findings into free tools, tips, and activities that are simple enough to fit into daily routines and are right at parents’ fingertips.
The simple activity of washing hands in the bathroom is enhanced by a Vroom tip posted on the wall to the right of the sink.
For example, a Vroom tip can turn laundry time into what we term a “brain-building moment” by suggesting that a child help sort clothes by size or color. The scientific background behind this tip is based on research that shows categorizing by letter or number develops a child’s flexible thinking, memory, focus, and self-control—all skills that develop a solid foundation for lifelong learning. So, by connecting a simple task to a fun activity with a child, the child can learn and develop their understanding of the world.
Vroom tips are available to parents and caregivers across many different channels: on the Vroom website, the Vroom app, the Vroom texting program, and in print materials. Vroom creates age-appropriate tips, so a two-year- old and a five-year-old won’t get the same tips. Tips are written in clear, accessible language that celebrates the work parents are already doing to support their children’s growing brains. The tips are also available to parents in both English and Spanish.
Additionally, Vroom’s partnerships with brands such as Baby Box, Goya, Univision, and now the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), reflect the desire to meet parents where they are. Rather than expecting parents and children to make space for something extra in their already busy lives, Vroom identifies ordinary moments like mealtime or bath time, or visits to places like museums or libraries, as opportunities to engage in valuable, shared brain-building activities.
Vroom’s Partnership with the Association of Children’s Museums
Vroom’s mission to highlight the brain-building opportunities in everyday moments inspired a pilot program in 2015 between Vroom and the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus. “The Children’s Museum and Vroom came together in 2015 and brainstormed the best way to translate the hard-hitting science of Vroom into a physical space; and in this case, an institution dedicated to creating platforms for discovery between parents and children,” said Sarah Brenkert, senior director of education and evaluation at the museum. “We wanted to design a concept that would be simple, yet vibrant and coherent, and one that other institutions could mirror.”
Together, Vroom and the Children’s Museum of Denver reimagined the role institutional spaces can play in supporting families and enhancing the moments they spend together. The goal was to transform underutilized amenities and spaces within the museum, places like bathrooms, water fountains, stairs, lockers, cafés, and hallways, into fun opportunities for brain building. This initial pilot program with Vroom and the Children’s Museum of Denver provided many valuable insights. The lessons from the pilot helped refine the strategy as well as the specific Vroom tips so the tips could be seamlessly integrated into diverse yet universal physical spaces and environments.
“Our partnership with Vroom continues to inform many of the communication decisions we make and the events we create,” Brenkert added. “These all carry the message to parents that they already have what it takes to turn every moment—whether in a museum, at the grocery store, or in the car—into an opportunity to nurture young children’s minds.”
The success of the pilot set the stage for a new partnership with Association of Children’s Museums to apply the lessons learned from the pilot into a set of tools that can easily be deployed and integrated by any children’s museum. Vroom worked with ACM to develop a complete set of easily produced, low-cost resources, including decals and professional training materials tailor-made for children’s museums.
“We know that parents and caregivers can greatly benefit from proactive support to help them understand their children’s development,” said Laura Huerta Migus, executive director of ACM. “Vroom’s resources offer accessible, fun ways to support early childhood development, reflecting children’s museums’ innovative approach to learning. We’re so excited to share Vroom’s resources with the millions of children and families that visit children’s museums every year.” ACM’s role as a thought partner and a conduit for this work has been critical in helping bring Vroom’s vision into focus as well as to scale. Acting as an intermediary for Vroom, ACM will help bring these innovative tools to any interested member museum, no matter their location, size, or budget.
The Future of Vroom
Through valuable partnerships, like this one with ACM, Vroom offers unique opportunities to advance early childhood outcomes by delivering actionable, brain-building messages in ways that easily integrate into parents or caregivers’ busy lives. The partnership will serve as an additional step forward in supporting the Association of Children’s Museums’ vision of fostering a world that honors all children and respects the diverse ways in which they learn and develop. Over time, and with the help of partners like ACM and their member museums, Vroom aims to catalyze the adoption of a common language around brain development—across geographic boundaries and socio-economic divides—so that every parent sees themselves as someone who already has what it takes to be a brain-builder.
The Bezos Family Foundation supports rigorous, inspired learning environments for young people, from birth through high school, to put their education into action. Through investments in research, public awareness and programs, the foundation works to elevate the field of education and improve life outcomes for all children.
To read other articles in the “Brain Research and Children’s Museums” issue of Hand to Hand, subscribe today. ACM members also receive both digital and printed complimentary copies of Hand to Hand. ACM members can access their copies through the Digital Resource Library–-contact Membership@ChildrensMuseums.org to gain access if needed.
ACM members interested in participating in Vroom can apply here.
National Summer Learning Day is less than one month away! Led by the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), July 12 is a national advocacy day promoting summer learning—and fighting summer slide. This year marks the first joint celebration of National Summer Learning Day, a partnership between NSLA, ACM, and the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). The celebration will include a National Read-Aloud of the award-winning children’s book, Trombone Shorty.
Last month, NSLA hosted a webinar to share information about the partnership—and how different organizations can get involved. ALSC President Nina Lindsay kicked off the webinar, saying, “This is the perfect opportunity for libraries and museums to share the value we bring in closing the summer learning gap.”
Lindsay then introduced Bryan Collier, this year’s Summer Learning Ambassador and illustrator of Trombone Shorty. Collier shared images from the book, describing the goals of his work. “I wanted the music to swirl out of his horn. As a young reader, I want them to be engaged, what happens next if it starts out like this?” He also shared why National Summer Learning Day is important to him and his family. “The summertime conjures memories of books and reading… My wife and I read books to our kids every night, even throughout the summer, because we know about summer learning loss.”
Next, ACM Executive Director Laura Huerta Migus shared how children’s museums support summer learning. “Museums absolutely see themselves as a critical part of the learning landscape throughout the year, and in particular during the summer months. We think that museums are particularly positioned to be great community spaces for summer learning programs, much like our partners, libraries.”
Children’s museums often have summer programming for ages two to fourteen. These are more than fun entertainment opportunities—they also support the development of core academic skills. In addition to camps, museums offer drop-in class programs. Many children’s museums offer access programs, and many also participate in Museums for All, an initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that offers free or reduced admission to those presenting an EBT card.
Liz McChesney, Director of Children’s Services at the Chicago Public Library System, described how libraries are getting involved in summer learning, “giving kids the confidence to navigate the world, one summer at a time.” There will be seven anchor library systems joining NSLA in this first summer read-aloud, including those in Chicago, King County (WA), Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Nashville, New Orleans, and New York.
McChesney offered ideas for how libraries and museums alike can participate in the Read Aloud, sharing, “There are so many ways to celebrate this wonderful book. Bryan talked about seeing sounds, and how the readers of this wonderful book can see sounds. Draw sounds, make a crown party, or read the book aloud.” She also encouraged participants to invite elected officials and media to their events, saying, “We need more good news out there!”
Brett Nicholas from the Museum of Science and Industry (a museum partner of the Chicago Public Library System) spoke next. Nicholas described how National Summer Learning Day participants can tie STEM learning into Trombone Shorty. He shared that exploring science out of school isn’t about delivering content—it’s about embracing how children are already natural scientists.
Nicholas illustrated this with different STEM activities that related to Trombone Shorty, such as making a “sound sandwich” using Craft sticks, a thick rubber band, two smaller rubber bands, and two one-inch pieces of a plastic drinking straw. Find instructions here!
Laura Johnson concluded the webinar by sharing NSLA’s resources at www.summerlearning.org/SummerLearningDay. She also shared that NSLA is a long-standing partner of I Heart Radio, making participating in Summer Learning Day a great opportunity to partner with your local I Heart Radio station.
You can watch the full webinar here.
Is your museum interested in participating in National Summer Learning Day? Check out NSLA for resources, and register your event here.
Alison Howard is Communications Director at the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM). Follow ACM on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
This post first appeared on Jeanne Vergeront’s Museum Notes blog on May 23, 2018.
By Jeanne Vergeront
During InterActivity 2018 in Raleigh (NC), tables stretched across the convention center lobby. Over the 4 days of the conference, participants, presenters, and vendors moved around the tables loaded with stacks of back issues of Hand To Hand (H2H), the Association of Children’s Museums’ quarterly publication. Boxes and boxes of back issues, as far back as 1986, had been shipped from ACM’s Arlington (VA) office to allow members to browse and collect issues and hopefully reduce storage for back issues in ACM’s new offices.
Some conference goers passed and glanced; others stopped, browsed, and selected issues to take home. Yet with so much happening during the conference–colleagues seen only once a year; multiple sessions and study tours; and a MarketPlace full of vendors–absorbing what these stacks of issues mean for our field–its growth, change, and increased potential–was a challenge.
Thirty-two years is a long time, more than a generation. When thirty-two years of a field is explored in four issues in each (or most) of those years, countless stories and threads emerge making our field’s interests, concerns, and growth visible. And impressively so.
Initially Hand To Hand was a newsletter with a mix of long articles and short bits of information about exhibits, museum openings, people. From 1986 to 1993, Linda Eidecken was publisher/editor; she wrote the newsletter in cooperation with the AAYM (American Association of Youth Museums) board. In 1993, what had evolved into the Association of Youth Museums (AYM) bought Hand To Hand from Eidecken. Mary Maher took over as editor and designer and has continued in that role for twenty-five years. A few other changes came with this transition. The news and information portion became AYMNews and H2H strengthened its focus on substantive articles, case studies, museum initiatives, and reports.
Scanning the stacks of issues on the tables, H2H design changes were easy to catch. For years, H2H was a duotone (black plus 1 PMS color), tabloid size (11 x 17), and usually eight pages. Decisions about color and size changed as web and PDF formats gained in use. In 2007, H2H was a 16-page, 8-1/2 x 11 publication. The first full color issue was printed in Spring 2015. The most recent issue, a 32-page double issue, covered the history and culture of children’s museums.
These stacks are more than a “fire sale,” more than a publications list, and more than cardboard boxes in storage. These approximately 120 issues of Hand To Hand tell something about where we started, where we are, where we are going, and how we are getting there.
In scanning issues of H2H, some consistent areas of interest come through, as do the evolving ways in which children’s museums–and increasingly other types of museums–work and engage to address them.
An enduring interest in children and their wellbeing is evident in issues on play (Summer 1998, Fall 1999, and Winter 2008), humor (Fall 2000), health and wellness (Fall 2006), and cognitive development (Fall 1990). Strong roots in early childhood are reflected in a research review on young children in museums (Summer 1996) and a Great Friend to Kids Award to Head Start Founders (Summer 2007). From the beginning Hand To Hand has served as a way to look reflectively and critically at what a children’s museum is (Spring 1987, Fall 1992, Winter 2014/2015) and has given us the opportunity to be a community of learners around topics like these.
The most recent issue of Hand To Hand chronicles the history and culture of children’s museums
Several topics such as planning, exhibits, research, visitor services, and play appear in the very first issues and again over the next decades. This is not simply repeating a topic with new titles and authors. Rather, topics are reframed and reflect greater understanding of a topic and how to address it.
Following one topic, research, across 32 years shows the focus recurring and shifting in how it has been addressed and what it suggests about the field’s maturation. In the Spring 1989 issue that explored research and evaluation in children’s museums, Mary Worthington wrote, “Who Should Do Evaluation?” The Winter 2004 and Spring 2005 issues focused on research, in particular, integrating it into museum practices. When the Fall 2014 issue, Revving up Research, came out, the focus was on composing a research agenda for the field. By Spring 2016, an entire issue was dedicated to the Children’s Museum Research Network that has been active in conducting research across 10 research network member museums.
Early on, themes and articles in H2H focused internally on the museum, an understandable interest of museums that were just opening, growing fast, and figuring out what a children’s museum was. Some articles such as “Running a Non-Profit” (Winter 1991) were nuts-and-bolts. Others looked at setting up a children’s advisory board (Winter 1988 and Winter 1989) and conducting self-studies (Spring 1992). Profiles of exhibits and museums in most issues offered information and examples of exhibit topics and design to staff hungry for ideas.
Over the 32 years, more articles and issues have reflected the complex nature of children’s museums’ interests. Topics that may have initially seemed well defined, like play, programs or audience, have been increasingly understood in greater depth intersecting with other interests, like culture, partnerships, leadership, and sustainability. This awareness comes through in issues on Enhancing the Visitor Experience to Increase Revenue (Summer 1993), Planning for Change (Winter 2002 and Spring 2003), and The Cultural Meaning of Play and Learning (Winter 2008).
Just as a museum makes a journey from self-interest to a common good, so has the children’s museum field. This is apparent in an increasing focus on the larger environment in which museums operate. World events came to the forefront in 9/11 Response (Winter 2001) and After The Disaster following Hurricane Katrina (Winter 2006). With time, the global stage assumes a higher profile in Children’s Museums Around the World (Fall 2008) and Global Issues Impact, Local Impact (Spring 2013).
This journey towards a common good, of being useful in their communities is increasingly noticeable across 32 years of Hand To Hand. The Summer 1990 issue, Museums in Downtown, was the first to place children’s museums on the community landscape. A growing sense of responsibility to be engaged with the community and a deepening understanding of their potential impact are evident in the focus of somewhat more recent issues. Do The Right Thing: Children’s Museums & Social Responsibility (Winter 2000); Shared Values, Many Voices (Summer 2002); a double issue on diversity (Spring and Summer 2007); Declare Your Impact (Summer 2009) and Social Justice (Fall 2016) have probed these topics from more perspectives and emerging contexts.
The first issue of Hand To Hand
featured a profile of Elaine Heumann Gurian
In “Looking Back 23 Years” (Spring 1988), Mike Spock reminded us that our field is for somebody, not about something. His insight has been invaluable in understanding who we are as children’s museums. It is equally helpful in recognizing the source of children’s museums’ strengths to which every single issue of Hand To Hand attests. Our field is defined by people, their collegiality, and generosity. By-lines, photos, and interviews amplify the centrality of people in this enterprise whether it is an interview with Brad Larson (Winter 1997), Elee Wood’s byline (Fall 2016), or Elaine Heumann Gurian’s photo on the first issue of Hand To Hand (Winter 1986-87).
Hand To Hand fully relies on the people who contribute to every issue. In fact, without them, there would be no Hand To Hand. The publication has benefited greatly not only from the contributions of colleagues in our field but also from many outside the field. They have shared personal insights, professional knowledge, organizational lessons, and sometimes, personal loss. They have also generously shared their time and writing talents. While the circle of authors keep widening, there are many who have written several H2H articles.
Thirty-two years of issues also demonstrate that children’s museums have a wealth of friends who have helped the field and enriched Hand To Hand. Loyal friends like George Hein, Professor Emeritus at Lesley University, have written on many topics for Hand To Hand over the years. The voices of researchers like Karen Knutson and Kevin Crowley, UPCLOSE (Spring 2005); museum professionals from outside the field like Kathryn Hill at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Winter 1993); and museum planners like John Jacobsen (Summer/Fall 2017) and designers like Peter and Sharon Exley (Spring 2008) have extended the range of expertise and perspectives covered. Countless authors including Jim Collins, Richard Florida, Tom Kelley, Richard Louv, and Neil Postman have shared their work with the field through InterActivity presentations highlighted in Hand To Hand.
Hand To Hand would not have grown and evolved, guided and reflected our maturing field were it not for its steady-handed, word-loving editor, Mary Maher. Working closely with ACM staff she frames issues, finds writers, and works with each one. She designs each issue, and transforms an often fuzzy but promising idea into a quarterly publication that goes to museums, members, and authors, across the U.S. and the world.
So, when the next issue of Hand To Hand arrives, spend some quality time with it. In the meantime, pull out some of your favorite H2H back issues or go on-line and have a look. Take time to reflect, enjoy, and appreciate the contributions of so many in our field. And think about contributing yourself.
Jeanne Vergeront is director at Vergeront Museum Planning, based in Minneapolis, MN, and blogs at Museum Notes.
In December, ACM’s executive director Laura Huerta Migus traveled to Poland for “Why Do We Need Children’s Museums?” a two-day conference jumpstarting the conversation around starting a children’s museum in Warsaw. The meeting was organized by the arts organization Artanimacje Association and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
Six ACM member institutions sent staff to give presentations about their museums: Boston Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, London Children’s Museum, MUZEIKO – America for Bulgaria, and Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling.
We asked them about their experiences traveling to Warsaw and sharing expertise with an international audience. Read their responses below!
Leslie Swartz, Senior Vice President for Research and Program Planning, Boston Children’s Museum, presented, “Boston Children’s Museum: It All Started with Collections.”
What most impressed me about the “Why Do We Need Children’s Museums” conference in Warsaw was the sophisticated, independent and progressive thinking among the organizers and participants. I was inspired by their high-level of organization and dedication to achieving the goal of starting children’s museums in Poland, a place where opportunities for creative playful learning are sorely needed. They are a group of smart, well-informed and determined people who want to effect change. They are also realistic about the obstacles they may face, and are gathering significant support to overcome barriers. By tapping into existing expertise in the field, they’re starting out more fully-equipped to reach their goals.
My talk was about collections at Boston Children’s Museum, reaching back to the museum’s founding in 1913 by progressive educators seeking to improve learning among all children and to nurture the development of good citizens. That was revolutionary at the time in the US. (Maybe it still is revolutionary.) The history and evolution of children’s museums in the US seems particularly pertinent to Poland. The prairie fire of children’s museum development around the world is heartening and makes me hopeful.
Erin Hylton, former Education Programs Manager, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, presented, “Programming for Over a Century: Addressing the Needs of Children and their Families since 1899”
The meeting highlight was connecting with colleagues in Warsaw and hearing about the incredible projects they have created for children and young people in Poland. It was inspirational and illuminating to be a part of the beginning stages of the development of a children’s museum in Poland.
It was an incredible opportunity to connect with colleagues from around the world in Poland, as well as hear about the work happening in children’s museums across North America and Europe. The children’s museum field is as diverse as the families and communities we serve through a variety of programs, projects and exhibitions. It was encouraging to hear how we are all working through similar questions and solutions, including teaching empathy to our family and community audiences.
Susan Foutz, Director of Research and Evaluation, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, presented, “Value of Research and Evaluation for Children’s Museums”
I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Warsaw and meeting new colleagues in the children’s museum field. As a tourist, the highlight of any trip is always visiting museums, and I had an incredible visit to POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. This museum tells of the rich, and heartbreakingly tragic, 1000-year history of Jews in Poland. As a children’s museum professional, the highlight of the two-day meeting was the passion of everyone involved—from the presenters to the attendees and most especially the organizers.
I really appreciated the opportunity to hear from those representing museums in Europe and Canada. I am always amazed at the diversity of ways we meet our missions—we might use many different approaches (like art-making, facilitated play, object-based learning), but ultimately all children’s museums are powered by passionate people who are driven to enrich the lives of children. Seeing how this plays out in communities around the world is truly inspiring.
Milena Savova, Learning Team Leader, MUZEIKO – America for Bulgaria Children’s Museum, presented, “Design of Educational Programs for Children’s Museums”
The highlight of the trip for me was the possibility to meet my colleagues from other children’s museums. Since Muzeiko is the only children’s museum in Bulgaria, it is very motivating for us to know that we are not alone in our noble work. Seeing so many professionals dedicated to their work with kids gives us the sensation that we are a part of a big family.
After participating in the meeting, I understood that we can widen our focus of interest and further enrich our programs.
Jennifer Ifil-Ryan, Deputy Director & Director of Creative Engagement, Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, presented, “The Power of Storytelling and the Arts for Young Children”
The highlight of the trip was learning about the genesis and continued work of my colleagues in the field. There are so many approaches to working with children and families, all of them valid and important. Some were focusing on cognition, while others focused on investigation and program assessment. The opportunity to learn from each other was rich and I have taken many valuable lessons home with me.
The size range of children’s museum represented gave me a broader perspective on what our work looks like in different areas across the globe, as well as the consistencies in our values of honoring the spirit and potential of the child. That reinforcement was priceless.
Amanda Conlon, Executive Director, London Children’s Museum, presented, “Family Learning as a Tool in Children’s Museums and the Role Permanent Exhibitions Play in This.”
These presentations generated fruitful discussions that brought together the past, present, and future of the children’s museum field. Each speaker shared their museum’s story in a way that broadened the audience’s understanding of what children’s museums can do. We can’t wait to see how children’s museums continue to develop in Poland and beyond!
Alison Howard is Communications Director at the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM). Follow ACM on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Photo courtesy of Susan Foutz.
[Post updated September 19]
Our hearts go out to all those affected by Hurricane Irma, as well as those still recovering from Hurricane Harvey. We’re happy to report that several ACM members affected by the storm will reopen their doors on Wednesday, September 13. Some museums are already open, while others continue to assess the damage.
This list will be updated as we hear more information.
Museo del Nino de Carolina, Puerto Rico, plans to open:
Translation to English: “Thanks to this wonderful team, the Children’s Museum will open its doors next Wednesday. A group of workers committed to children, working tirelessly to restore facilities.”
Miami Children’s Museum, opens at noon:
The Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast (Jensen Beach, FL) also plans to open:
Glazer Children’s Museum (Tampa, FL) opens with $7 admission through September:
Great Explorations Children’s Museum (St. Petersburg, FL) will reopen with half-off admission until further notice:
Explorations V is also reopening.
Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center in Boynton Beach is open with limited programming:
Pensacola Children’s Museum has reopened with normal hours.
Tag! Children’s Museum of St. Augustine, an emerging museum, is resuming planning and design of its new building.
The Virgin Islands Children’s Museum is still assessing the damage to their structure:
[September 15 update]: The museum sustained damage and is beginning the cleanup process.
The Boca Raton Children’s Museum, Young at Art Museum in Davie, FL, and Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples all plan to open as soon as possible:
[September 15 update]: Boca Raton Children’s Museum is open!
[September 18 update]: Young At Art Museum is open!
[September 15 update] Children’s Museum of Naples remains closed as it continues to assess the damage.
We’re inspired by our museums’ resilience and commitment to providing safe and fun places for families to play.
The Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) champions children’s museums worldwide. Follow ACM on Twitter and Facebook.
In response to the ongoing damage caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas, ACM is establishing the ACM Harvey Response Fund to assist the staff and families of our members affected by the storm.
ACM will match the first $5,000 donated. The Fund will remain open for donations through September 30, 2017.
See NPR for more information about organizations on the ground
In June 2017, ACM partnered with New Knowledge Organization to release the first six ACM Trends Reports. This first volume, which will consist of 12 reports total, draws from a decade of ACM member data, including survey responses from 2004-2012. This is the first time ACM has been able to look at a decade’s worth of membership data in order to identify trends to better understand our field, and we are very excited to share the results with you.
On July 25, I joined New Knowledge’s John Fraser, PhD, AIA and Nicole LaMarca in hosting a webinar to introduce the reports and answer questions. (Download the recording here.) This provided us an opportunity to ask attendees about the issues they’d like to see explored in future ACM Trends Reports. The webinar followed up on a Brown Bag discussion about the reports held at ACM’s annual conference, InterActivity 2017.
More than 60 people joined the webinar to learn more and share their thoughts. Here are some of the top subjects that came up:
Q) How can I use the reports?
A) These reports are designed to be shared. With most reports just four pages long, they can be read as independent standalone pieces or as a complete series.
Reports can be shared with key stakeholders, such as funders, board members, new staff, families, and community partners. The series can also be used for planning. For instance, they can be used to identify key metrics, refine business models, conduct evaluation, and supplement professional development.
At the InterActivity 2017 Brown Bag, attendees were most excited about sharing the reports with funders, while the webinar attendees preferred planning.
Q) What are some future topics for ACM Trends Reports?
A) Based on our discussion during the Brown Bag lunch, some of the top topics are:
Demographics: Who’s coming to the museum? What’s the frequency of member visits and what are the ages of children? What are the ages of visitors broken out by free choice attendance vs. service and school programs?
Staffing: What are the latest trends in hiring, such as how our field is working to increase diversity? What are our dominant staffing business models?
Finances: What are our museums’ economic impact on their communities? How are we dealing with issues of gentrification and community turnaround? What are the pros and cons of different locations? What do we find when we do a budget breakdown by size, and how do budgets change as institutions grow?
Partnerships, collaborations, and expansions: What are the dominant social service organizations that children’s museums work with in every community? How costly is it to renovate or fund an emerging space? How do libraries create museums or learning spaces? How many children’s museums have preschools, head start programs, or charter schools?
From responses to the webinar, we gained several new leads on other topics to cover. Here’s a word cloud of the topics that came up the most in the chat box that attendees participated in:
Q) How do you plan to incorporate data from the 2016 ACM Membership Survey?
A) Data from ACM’s 2016 Membership Survey will be made available this fall. Incorporating the 2016 data will allow for updates to the museum size categories in forthcoming ACM Trends Reports. The size categories are currently drawing from ACM’s 2010 membership data, because this is the richest sample out of the membership survey responses between 2004-2012. For instance, Total Operating Expenses is one criterion that defines museum sizes in the reports, and we will use the 2016 data to update the expense figures in this criterion.
We will also be incorporating the 2016 data in our future trends analysis, to determine what’s happening in museums by size; for instance, how different sizes influence staffing distribution or budget.
Q) How will data be analyzed in future reports?
A) There are many methods we can use to talk about trends. We want to use the method that makes the most sense to answer the questions you feel are important.
Exploring complex questions, such as staffing and retention, may require qualitative case studies or facilitated discussions. ACM and New Knowledge aren’t tied to quantitative analysis of numbers for every report. For example, we’re open to facilitating conversations that can turn into a case-study style Trends Report.
We want to hear from you! Are there any topics that you care about that you think should be covered in future ACM Trends Reports?
Jen Rehkamp is Director, Field Services at the Associations of Children’s Museums (ACM). Follow ACM on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Does digital technology belong in children’s museum exhibits? This question draws enthusiastic responses…and more lukewarm ones. In “From Cautious to Pragmatic: Wrestling with the Issues,” a recent article in Hand to Hand, museum director and blog author Rebecca Shulman Herz and IT manager and operations director Ari Morris discuss their sometimes aligned, sometimes opposed approaches to using digital technologies with family audiences.
Their conversation arose out of an ACM survey to our members about digital technology practices. While some respondents were enthusiastic, others expressed concern over 1) the appropriate use of the right technology for the right reasons and 2) the cost and maintenance of hardware and software.
Rebecca begins by admitting her wariness of digital technology. She fears “that we are using this technology to solve the wrong problems, or jumping on a bandwagon without considering the long-term challenges. … Sometimes we end up creating something fun and interactive but fail to address the learning goal.”
Rebecca illustrates her point by recounting her young daughter’s experience at a jewelry and photography exhibit at New York’s Museum of Art and Design. Rebecca’s daughter loved the exhibit’s auto-selfie booth and spent most of her time there – though the booth contributed little to her understanding of the exhibit.
Ari enumerates a few other potential drawbacks. “Digital screens can isolate the visitor, robbing them of the inherently social experience of a children’s museum.” He adds that they can distract visitors from engaging more tangibly with the exhibits, and “encourage passive consumption of information rather than exploration and discovery.” In addition, modern technology can be expensive and quickly dated.
Despite these problems, however, Ari doesn’t believe technology warrants any unusual concern. “Digital technology is one tool among many that can be used to achieve an exhibit’s goals. Like all tools, when it’s used well it can enhance and enrich the visitor experience, but when used poorly it can get in the way.”
In theory, Rebecca agrees, but she remains skeptical that people can hold a neutral relationship with technology. “Digital technology is still new enough to dazzle,” she says. “And screens are compelling, if not addictive, in ways that we do not yet entirely understand.”
Some museums are discovering best practices for integrating digital technology in a constructive way. For example, the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum (where Ari is assistant director of operations) has found that “it [is] much more fruitful to design exhibits about how technology works rather than exhibits about the technology itself.” As a result, the museum has focused on the science behind technology with exhibits on the binary system and electrical switches.
Rebecca suggests another best practice: adding infrastructure (such as staff facilitation) to support new technology. Ari agrees: “without the infrastructure in place to support [digital technology in musems], it’s doomed to fail. But when used well, technology can allow you to do things you wouldn’t be able to otherwise.”
Ultimately, each museum must come to its own conclusions about digital technology in its exhibits. As we do, conversations like this one help us weigh the risks and possibilities and decide how to serve our visitors well.
Where does your museum stand on this issue? How are you choosing to incorporate digital technology – or not? Have you identified your own guidelines or best practices?
To read the full article, and to read other articles in “The Uses of Digital Technology in Children’s Museums” issue of Hand to Hand, subscribe today! If you or your organization are already a member of ACM, you receive both digital and hard complimentary copies of Hand to Hand.
Susannah Brister is Office Manager at the Associations of Children’s Museums (ACM). Follow ACM on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
What stories and trends do a decade of ACM member data reveal?
To find out, ACM has partnered with New Knowledge Organization Ltd. (NKO) to launch a series of 12 trends reports about the children’s museum field.
The ACM Trends Reports series analyzes 10 years of ACM member data to highlight emerging issues and identify opportunities for advancement. These reports are…
All 12 reports will be provided as PDFs. You can order your reports here individually or as a subscription. Six are available now:
| Pricing: ACM Trends Reports Subscription* Members: $100 Summer Discount: $50 Nonmembers: $150 |
ACM Trends Reports Single Report Members: $10 Summer Discount: $5 Nonmembers: $15 |
*The remaining 6 reports will be distributed monthly throughout the rest of the year.
Want to learn more about the ACM Trends Reports? Join ACM for a webinar on Tuesday, July 25th from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. EDT to discuss the development of the reports and learn how the reports apply to your strategic goals.
ACM’s research for 90 Days of Action shows that more than 75 percent of our members are looking for ways to engage immigrant and refugee communities.
If that describes your institution, we recommend checking out “USCIS Tools and Resources” on Thursday, March 23, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. EST. This webinar, held by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), will share how museums and libraries can leverage customer service tools and citizenship education resources.
Representatives from USCIS will give an overview of the tools and resources available online, and show you how to find and use them. There will also be a question and answer session.
Register by signing up on USCIS’s site here (more information here). You’ll receive an email confirmation with more details. Questions? Contact USCIS at public.engagement@uscis.dhs.gov
And thanks to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for sharing this webinar!
On February 7, 2017, ACM launched 90 Days of Action, a campaign celebrating the important role children’s museums play in welcoming immigrant and refugee children and families.
We’re thrilled with the early results of our research into what children’s museums are already doing to serve diverse communities: Most of our members have outreach strategies specifically to reach these populations, and more than 75 percent are looking into new opportunities to do so.
If you haven’t yet done so, feel free to take our survey at any point throughout the campaign, which runs through May 8, 2017. [edit: survey closed]
As we enter the next phase of the campaign, the ACM team has developed materials to help museums get involved in the campaign. Here’s how your museum can get involved:
Museum resource include:
Together, children’s museums are creating a #WorldTheyDeserve. Please direct any questions to Alison Howard at Alison.Howard@ChildrensMuseums.org.
Laura Huerta Migus is Executive Director of the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM). Follow @childmuseums and @huertamigus on Twitter.
“The Run Around” is the official blog by the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), sharing the latest news for and about children’s museums. Its goal is to disseminate key Association updates with our stakeholders, as well as uplift the collective knowledge of our field.
Articles should be submitted to Alison Howard, Communications Manager, at Alison.Howard@ChildrensMuseums.org.
Audience:
The blog will be primarily directed toward ACM members, offering our museum and business members a steady source of news about the latest advancements in our field, in addition to a platform to share their knowledge. In addition to children’s museum staff and board members, the blog’s audience includes professionals in related fields, and invested members of the public.
Submission Guidelines:
Additional Information:
