Welcome to CMOM’s New Blog Page
Yesterday, I watched a little girl (about two years of age) at CMOM gazing at her older brother (seven years old) playing with the vegetable conveyor belt in our new EatSleepPlay™ exhibition. The older child was working away, loading the veggies onto the conveyor belt, telling his Mom the name of each vegetable. The little girl (who was virtually invisible to her brother) was mesmerized by his actions. Finally, she picked up a vegetable and handed it to him to put on the conveyor.
What’s behind such transactions and what they mean is why CMOM has decided to begin a blog. So much happens to a child in each experience that we want to unpack their play and learn to create a community of CMOM learners, to develop better exhibits, and activities and programs to help build learning and social interaction among children and between adults and children.
While children’s museums have been around for quite some time, the science and art of building exhibitions and programs is still quite young. We are now armed with research about the neuroscience of the brain, reams of studies of child behavior and studies of the impact of technology, to name a few. Our children are in a world—especially those growing up in NYC—that is more diverse and more wired than we could have imagined even a few years ago. We also have placed our children in a world of high expectations, accelerated learning and exposure to the adult world. How is this effecting how we lead our lives and raise our children?
To understand these dynamics, CMOM is engaged in active research with three universities (you may have seen some of the graduate students in the building); conducts it's own field research throughout New York and in other parts of the country; and constantly tests new ways to engage children.
This blog enables us to communicate to you our observations (so what was that 2 year old learning?), the results of our research, our expertise on early childhood development, and comment on current events and trends that impact children. You will read blogs from our staff, researchers, consultants and advisors. Let us know what you think by emailing us and we will share your thoughts in future blogs.
We look forward to the dialogue and to collectively exploring the unfolding drama that we call childhood and parenthood.
Best,
Andy
Executive Director, Children's Museum of Manhattan
P.S.: Visit www.cmom.org to find the answer to what that 2 year old was learning!
