For Immediate Release: October 9, 2008
Contact: Megan Fischer
Marketing and Public Relations Manager
(401) 273-5437 ext. 126
Return to Press Room
Photos available upon request
Play
Power Exhibit Opens at
Providence Children’s Museum
October 28, 2008
Play Power, a major
new exhibit celebrating the power of children's play, opens at
Providence Children’s Museum on Tuesday, October 28. Kids will
experiment, explore, invent, imagine and, of course, play as they
investigate air, light, magnets, motion and sound. The
message? Play is powerful!
One of the Museum’s core convictions is that play is vital for
children's healthy development. Through spontaneous, freely chosen
play, children develop confidence and learn problem solving,
self-regulation, conflict resolution and other significant
skills. But kids today lack time and space to play. With
school standards, busy schedules and parents' safety concerns about
outdoor play, children are spending more time in front of television
and video screens, activities that do not have the benefits of
unstructured, child-directed play. Recently there’s been national
attention to the importance of playtime, most notably in an American
Academy of Pediatrics 2007 clinical report, which states that “…play is
essential to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being
of children and youth."
Active, imaginative play happens throughout the Children’s Museum, but Play Power is about play. This vibrant new learning environment will engage kids and grown-ups in creative activities that vividly illustrate the importance of open-ended play. Visitors will construct contraptions that send balls rolling down ramps, ringing bells and spinning wheels. Sensory experiences abound as kids create original musical compositions at an inventive sound sculpture and transform an intriguing domed play space with interlocking geometric blocks and tubes.
As kids build magnetic mazes, propel objects through air tubes
and explore other playful phenomena, a resource nook will encourage
parents and caregivers to reflect on their own play memories and to
appreciate their child’s play. Play
Power is designed to increase parents’ understanding of the
value of child-directed play, and the message throughout the exhibit is
that if you really watch children play, it’s clear that a lot of
important learning is going on.
Providence Children’s Museum is closed September 2 - October 27 to install Play Power and complete extensive building renovations. The Museum and new exhibit open October 28 at 9 AM. As part of the Play Power opening celebration, visitors join a special series of programs throughout November that promotes the power of hands-on play.
Play Power and extensive renovations to the Museum’s historic building are the first of several important advancements as part of the Play Works Campaign for Kids.