This recent article in Educational Leadership magazine has the Museum's Learning Experience team excited. The piece takes a look at creativity and critical thinking as being essential 21st century skills.
At the Museum, we so often hear visiting parents say "I'm not creative." This article suggests that we can all learn to be creative, and challenges many misconceptions -- such as the idea that creativity is only found in the arts.
Sir Ken Robinson, who is interviewed in the article, calls for the current education system to focus more on encouraging children to explore, experiment, and to find their own answer -- instead of adults giving the answer to them. These are all things that we encourage here at the Museum, and find to be so important in children's development.
It's an article that makes us cheer. Check it out and let us know what you think.
If you can get past the somewhat crusty tone with which Dr. Jane Brody accuses “mothers and nannies” of being too tuned in to their cell phones instead of their young children, this recent New York Times article explains why talking to children and introducing books from birth is so important. It also offers great practical advice for nurturing young children’s language development.
To be fair, it was kind of Dr. Brody to congratulate the communicative young mother who she refers to at the beginning of the article. Any parent knows a word of encouragement can go a long way!
Tomorrow, the Museum opens a new exhibit called Trash Bash. The exhibit encourages visitors to increase their knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivation and commitment toward sustaining a healthy environment. Children will use recycled and reused materials to create art, music and imaginative play activities.
It makes us wonder here at the Museum -- how much do we know about our trash?
Last month, the New York Times had an article about tracking where trash goes -- literally following paper cups, a can of beans -- to their "final" destinations. The article cites one woman's musings that perhaps the key to sustainable living is emphasizing reducing rather than recycling.
“There are no perfect toys; there is no magic formula. Parents and other caregivers teach young children by paying attention and interacting with them naturally and, most of all, by just allowing them to play.”
That quote comes from a New York Times article by Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at Berkeley and the author of The Philosophical Baby. The article, called “Babies Are Smarter Than You Think,” is a great summary the science behind Minnesota Children’s Museum’s mission: sparking children’s learning through play.
Check it out and pass it on to other parents. There is a lot going on in your children’s brains while they’re playing in the water area of World Works or crawling through the Ant Hill. For children, play = learning.
Here's a great article about expanding your child's vocabulary and creative thinking by using fanciful langauge. Read the article. Thoughts?
