Thesis Finished and a Graduation

I've been very busy since the new year in finishing my thesis research and paper.  I've now finished and completed an ALM degree in Museum Studies from Harvard University.  If you're interested in taking a peek at the paper, you are very welcome to go here to see it.

Here There Be Dragons: Mommy and Me Museum Adventure

I have no excuses for being a slacker on this journal.  Just moving and it taking time to get my groove back.

This museum adventure is from more than six months ago.  We're stepping back in time to our days frequenting the Boston MFA.  This is an adventure we'd love to repeat at our new favorite, the British Museum or the V&A sometime soon, though!  Who doesn't love dragons?  My boys are as  enchanted as can be about the mysteries of dragons.  Finding them in the art museum makes for a most excellent treasure hunt.

There's just something about choosing from a stack of free colorful flyers that can bring out the kid in anyone--especially if you are a kid!  Having a special paper to carry around gives a child a sense of responsibility and ownership.  My boys held on to their papers so carefully and wanted to find exactly the objects shown on the map.  There were clear instructions on where to find each of the objects, so it was easy to wander on our own but make sure we found what we were looking for.

The MFA has a whole section for kids' treasure maps, even on the days they don't offer a special program or art cart.  There are a lot of great choices.  Chocolate was high on my list of trails to follow.  Dragons won out, which was also fine by me.  Maybe we'll get back to the chocolate trail another time . . .

Once we had our selection--dragons, of course--we took a quick peek at where we were headed.  And into the Asian art wing we went.  We knew we were ultimately searching for this sleepy-looking dragon.  On the way, though, we spotted plenty more dragons guarding the path.

Many of the dragons were high above our heads and we had to crane our necks to find them.  They came in all sizes and styles, and all moods from fanciful to fierce.

Then we turned a corner and found him!  The dragon we'd been looking specially for.  He was in a huge series of panels that covered an entire wall.  The lighting was dim and mysterious, perfect for our slightly sad dragon.  We told each other stories of why he might be feeling the way he looked.

After we found as many dragons as we could spot in Asia (though I'm sure there were many more we didn't catch), we wandered through the Americas and forward in time many centuries.  There we found ourselves marveling at St Michael slaying the dragon.  (Actually, until I just looked it up in the catalog I thought it was St George and his dragon.  Shows how much I read labels when breezing through with small children!)  This image is from another visit, with a friend.  I included it because we returned to that painting almost every time we visited the museum.  The children want to see at least some of the same things every time, like reading the same familiar story.  Interesting how it is a picture like the shark painting or this dramatic dragon painting that hold such fascination.  Somehow I don't think it is necessarily comforting to see works like this every time, but it must be a learning process in some way.  The work is consistent each visit, but one's ability to understand and to feel may change and improve.

Does your museum provide these types of trail maps for your visit?  Can you create a simple one on your own?  Decide a topic for that day's visit and run with it!  Could you find brides, babies, knights, birds, flowers, trees in different seasons--anything that your child is interested in at the time might work.

Do you find yourself needing to come back to the same one or two works of art repeatedly?  What makes you want to engage with them again?  Does your child feel comforted to know they will see the same thing each time, in addition to discovering new and wonderful works?

Animal Crazy and Other Fun at the Zoo

I was surprised when I learned that zoos are categorized as museums.  The animals are not at all stuffed or stationary.  Children love going and are even welcome to run and use loud voices, for the most part.  Yet zoos (and aquariums and arboretums) are museums.  So luckily for us, we get to count our favorite outings as educational museum visits!

I have to admit, however, that as an adult I have not liked zoos at all.  Although I never had a terrible specific experience, I was always left with a distasteful sort of taste in my mouth about the zoo experience.  I don't even know exactly what it was or how to describe it.  Something about all the walking, the smell, the disappointment of never seeing the animals I was most interested in up close, the crowd of people crushed around a little portion of glass to peer at a poor creature.  I would take the children from time to time when the opportunity arose, but I did not seek out zoo experiences. 

Then I met the London Zoo and I found myself won over in only a few visits.  First, it is a good size but not too big.  We are within walking distance and so can visit when we want, never having to exhaust the whole thing to make a trip "worth it."  We can visit during the least crowded times and often have the zoo to ourselves.  The zoo is tidy and doesn't smell at all.

I know this is a fortuitous circumstance most don't have--and we are likely never to have again.  So we'll enjoy every bit while we can.  And start putting together some good ideas of how to best enjoy a zoo.  Meanwhile, here is some highlights of our adventures so far.

 

The Whipsnade Zoo in Regent's Park in London is where Winnie the bear lived.  He was a favorite of children.  Christopher Robin and his father visited him in the zoo often, lending his name to one of the most famous bears of all time.  This statue of Winnie (and the soldier who acquired him in Canada) gets kisses from my kids every time we pass.

 

Zoos are so difficult to photograph, at least for this amateur.  I do love the moments of peeking and discovery, when I'm able to get them.  Getting to see animals close up is one I don't take for granted.  From my children's reaction, they don't either.  It's thrilling to see live animals at arms length, even though glass may divide.  

I think there is enough conversation about ticket prices to museums and membership options for another article another time.  We feel so fortunate now to live within walking distance of the zoo and a membership was a no-brainer.  The cost of membership is often only the price of three or so visits.  We get to the zoo here (and the art museum in Boston) at least three times a month, often once a week.  A membership is well worth the investment in our case.

Tiger nation in the London Zoo is perfectly magical.  The habitat is extensive, with plenty of space for the tigers (including three tiger cubs!) to roam and hide or to play, if they are in the mood.  The story of one tiger is told in parts as you wind through the enclosure.  My boys were enthralled by the "chapters" and insisted we read each one.  They acted several out as well.  Here my three-year-old is pretending to be the frog that the tiger cub was chasing.  (The frog escaped.)

You may not suspect it, but we actually really enjoy seeing the live animals, too.  It's not all climbing bronze statues of animals. 

The places my boys like best are the worst for getting any photographic evidence.  They head first for the dark and mysterious reptile house (the Harry Potter scene at the zoo was filmed at "our" zoo!), then for the bugs, and then for the large cats which like play hide and seek.

Do your children like to visit the zoo?  Do you?  How do you take pictures of your children interacting with live animals at the zoo or do you quickly give up and take pictures with them climbing on statues instead?  Which animals do your children like best?  Do they go for the "eww" factor or the "aww" factor?

English Heritage Empress Phoebe's Blog (in her own voice)

I've been absent from this space for too long.  I actually have some posts partially drafted but just have not followed through.  But enough excuses!  On to the real reason I'm popping in here past bedtime tonight.

In my research for my family's next museum outing I just stumbled across a most charming account of a young girl here in England who writes in her own voice about her adventures visiting museums across the country.  I can't wait to show my own children her pictures and read her words, hopefully sparking some more interest in the places we get to visit here in this country.  I love that this young girl is excited to share her love of museums with other children (and grown-ups)!

Please follow this link to find her blog on the English Heritage website:  Empress Phoebe's Blog

Extra Tips and Tricks at Playful Learning

I follow an assortment of blogs, though I only take time to read a handful with any real dedication.  One that I love popping in on every now and then for great ideas to learn and play with my own young children recently posted about visiting the museum.  The games for learning and enjoying the museum were some excellent ideas!  I am going to try the post card activity next time we hit up the British Museum.  I'll report back and let you know how it went!

Check out all the tips at Playful Learning here.

Tip and Trick #5: Make a Museum Sketching Bag

 

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, as my five year old would say.

1) Take a bag (bonus if it's Italian leather and hasn't been used since momma's college days) and put paper and colored pencils inside.
2) Carry to museum.
3) Settle in a gallery (on a bench or on the floor, either will do) and sketch away.
4) Look at your clock 45 minutes later and wonder how in the world you just spent that much time quiet and busy in an art museum.

This'll work wonders for the preschool set--and for years after--in all sorts of museums.  Try at any art museum, at the natural history museum, maybe even for a moment of peaceful quiet time at a science or children's museum.

 

The greatest part for me, that I hadn't planned on, was the spontaneous guessing game that started.  The children drew and I had to guess which picture they were drawing or were inspired by.  I especially loved that the conversation got around to what was the difference between copying and being inspired by a masterpiece.  One thing I love most about exploring a museum with my children is that questions are asked and answers are searched for on topics that I would never think to open in every day life.

Please indulge me in a fond mommy moment.  I just like catching the action in moving pictures every now and again.

Even baby sister gets in on the action.

What have you and your littles sketched at the museum recently?  Or brought paper and pen outside and sketched from nature, like many of our best naturalists and artists?  Remember if heading to a museum gallery to leave markers and pens at home.  Pencils, colored pencils, crayons, perhaps charcoal for older kids ought to do the trick and keep the mess and the risk to the objects themselves down.  Check with your local museum for their specific guidelines and policies.  Happy sketching!

Christmas (in July) from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England

Things have been very quiet on this blog space for the past month plus because we just relocated our family abroad to British green pastures (as much as you can get in a busy metropolis).  It's been a whirlwind process.  We're not yet settled completely, but enough so that I'd like to update here with a few museum experiences sooner rather than later.  Some gems are backlogged from our Boston tenure!  But for now, let's start with a truly English museum.

While on a day trip to Oxford and environs, we popped into the Ashmolean Museum because I'd remembered vaguely that that was one I wanted to visit.  Bonus, it's the oldest museum in the UK.

The moment we stepped in the front doors and turned down the first gallery lined with sculptures on either side, I thought that I must have somehow (in another life?!) been there before.  It was so familiar.  It wasn't until we hit the big wall of sculpture busts above a flight of stairs (where we paused to let the baby roam free) that my husband turned to me and said, "Isn't this wall in that Christmas video you showed me last year?"  Ding ding!  We have a winner!

If you haven't seen this yet, enjoy.  If you've seen it before, enjoy again!  My kids and I have watched it multiple times many days in a row.  And our favorite line that comes up at most meals is "Graaapes . . ."  So very educational, I know.

I'd return to the museum in a heartbeat if given the chance.  Such treasures!  I kept turning around and seeing some object or other that I'd written an essay for a test in some class in college, or another object that had been the star of a term paper.  I'd forgotten--or never known--where they resided and so it was like meeting old friends around every corner.  Happy surprise!

The kids, naturally, loved the Egyptian mummies most.  There was a great video that showed the mummification process that my five year old watched at least three times before we pried him away.

For future reference, there is a fabulous family/little children museum explorer cart right behind a little wall by the entrance.  I didn't see it until we were on our way out, though now I know where it is it would be easy enough to spot on the way in.  There were several fliers with different paths or scavenger hunts.  Pencils and clipboards were available.  Blank scratch paper for sketching was abundantly supplied as well.

 

Have you met any "old friends" at a museum recently?  I'd love to go back to some of my old Art History and Classics text books to look more closely at the small print and see which museums hold which treasures.  What do you think about the sense of humor the Ashmolean Museum shows about their art in the video?  Anyone else hoping for another holiday greetings from the museum this year?  ;)