Gen Next

We know that the experiences a young child has before they ever get to a classroom are foundational to academic performance. From the earliest days of life, infants and toddlers “build” their brains as they learn by interacting with the world. Critically important is the role of parents and families at this time in a child’s life. By encouraging play and discovery, parents play the vital role preparing their children for learning and school achievement.

Boston Children’s Museum is an informal learning environment that connects children and families on this journey of growth. Unlike formal learning environments, at the Museum parents are present in the process. At a time when we see profound gaps in achievement, the Museum is a model for the power of early learning and development propelled by play—providing opportunities for multisensory, object-based exploration.

Early learning experiences have the potential to “level the sandbox.” With more than 40% of Boston’s children entering kindergarten without the experiences and skills they need to succeed. The importance of focusing on early development and supporting parents and care providers has never been more apparent. Ages 0-3 represent a critical developmental period, as it is much easier to build a strong foundation early in life than attempt to develop these key skills later. Because of these concerning disparities, the Museum plans to deepen its work in this age group.

PlaySpace — More than an Exhibit

In 1978, Boston Children’s Museum opened its original PlaySpace, an experimental exhibit designed exclusively for very young children and their parents or caregivers. The first of its kind, the exhibit provided a nurturing, developmentally appropriate environment for children ages three and under. The exhibit became a national and international model for spaces for young children in museums. In 2020, informed by 40 years of experience in child development and early learning, the Museum opened its reimagined and redesigned PlaySpace.

Building on this resource, the Museum intends to further activate it as a center for experimentation and innovation. Key actions include:

• Develop new programs targeted at specific developmental periods (infants, crawlers, and toddlers) and their caregivers to support each group with their unique needs, creating a continuum of developmental experiences.
• Create resources for caregivers to learn about the importance of early experiences and child development broadly, and how best to support their children through play and exploration.
• Grow an existing research partnership to bring developmental scientists out of the lab and into PlaySpace to study how very young children learn through play in the exhibit, and how we can best make that learning visible to caregivers.
• Pilot a PlaySpace Fellows program through which graduate students (or recent graduate students) would work with staff for 18-month periods to develop programs, resources, and trainings related to their specific areas of expertise within infant/toddler development, parent engagement, and/or cultural understandings of play and learning.
• Hire a Sr. Manager of Early Learning who will be responsible for defining and shaping the Museum’s work with children ages birth to five and their caregivers, creating a unified vision of early childhood development.

For opportunities to invest in Transforming Early Learning please contact:

Mike Travis
(617) 542-6516
Travis@BostonChildrensMuseum.org