Boston Children's Museum
Mission Statement
What is your institution's mission?
Boston Children's Museum exists to help children and families enjoy, understand and become active citizens of the world in which they live. We want children to grow up as successful learners who respect others and the natural world. We encourage imagination, curiosity, investigation, innovation, and play. Central to our philosophy is the belief that meaningful interactions with real objects, direct engagement and enjoyment promote learning.
Collections
What are some of the collections offered and how were they obtained? What are some of the most prized/rare artifacts in the collection? Are there visitor favorites?
Boston Children's Museum has been a collecting institution since its founding in 1913. Today, the Museum's collections number approximately 50,000, including ethnographic artifacts and natural history specimens. The collection can be broken into six main collecting areas: Native American, Japanese, Americana, Global Dolls, General Cultural Collections, and Natural History. Some of the most popular artifacts in the collection are the doll houses, Ms. Kyoto (an Ambassador Friendship doll from Japan), the Japanese House, and Tomah Joseph birch bark.
Programs
What are some the programs created/administered at the museum?
BCM provides Creative, Curious, Green, Global and Healthy programs to offer children and families a variety of learning opportunities in different formats. We have a lively calendar of activities that feature hands-on activities and interaction with specialists.
Exhibitions
Are there any upcoming exhibitions you would like to highlight?
Countdown to Kindergarten Exhibit (opening July 2010)
The Countdown to Kindergarten exhibit at Boston Children's Museum will provide a model classroom environment for young children and parents to explore together, thereby helping them prepare to enter kindergarten. Each area of the exhibit will include specific parent messages to help parents understand the process and stages of skill development and give them concrete ways to support their child's growth in these areas.
Research
What is some current research that the museum is doing in the field?
BCM is currently conducting research to help adults encourage early science learning.
- Children's Hospital Boston's Labs of Cognitive Neuroscience (Division of Developmental Medicine) is at the Museum studying the development of executive function in children 5 years old and up.
- Harvard Lab for Developmental Studies is here two days a week doing two projects. One focuses on collecting data on the language acquisition of 4 year olds, and the other involves collecting data on executive function depletion in 5 year olds.
- MIT PlayLab researchers are here every day conducting studies for young children ages 3 months to 8 years. Their research is focused on answering questions about how children learn and understand cause-and-effect relationships and interpret different types of evidence. The studies are short and fun and may include playing games or watching a short video or display.
