Photos of "CMR Under Construction" exhibit

Here's a link to a few photos of kids enjoying our "CMR Under Construction" exhibit, which we're setting up around town at community events this summer.

www.childrensmuseumrochester.org/about/Constructionexhibitphotos.html

Association of Children's Museum Preconference Notes

As a member of the Association of Children's Museums, we had the opportunity to attend the ACM's InterActivity preconference in Philadelphia last month. Here are some interesting tidbits:

- At our table, emerging museums from Florida, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Calgary, Alberta were represented.

- Plans for a children's museum in Brookings, SD are moving forward. Another in Mankato, MN is looking for a permanent location much like CMR.

- Feasibility studies are important for the success of the future museum (CMR has completed both a marketing feasibility as well as a fundraising feasibility study).

- The ACM is launching an emerging museum toolkit this summer due to the generosity of an anonymous donor.

- The passion of the volunteers involved in these emerging museums at the conference was clearly evident. These people are driven to improve the educational and family opportunities in their respective communities.

- And finally, a cloud can weigh over 500 tons!! :-)

We look forward to attending next year's conference (rumored to be coming to our backyard in St. Paul!)

Importance of Play Study

The NY Times recently published the findings of a study done by the Alliance for Childhood.

The group advocates more play for children, especially the imaginative "let's pretend" type play that CMR will bring to Rochester, to help develop young minds.

"CMR Under Construction" exhibit is a hit!

We put up our new "CMR Under Construction" exhibit at the Aldrich Memorial Nursery School carnival on May 2 and at Childcare Resource & Referral's Family Fun Night at Graham Arena on May 5. Kids and parents loved the playhouse and accompanying activities! We plan to set up this traveling mini-exhibit around town a lot this summer to raise awareness and enthusiasm for our project. Look for photos on our website and this blog soon :)