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National Children's Museum

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National Children’s Museum
Map
Established1974 (originally the Capital Children’s Museum, Washington, DC)
LocationNational Harbor, Prince George’s County, Maryland

Opening December 14, 2012 (The Indoor Experience)

Opening Summer 2013 (The Outdoor Experience)
TypeChildren's museum
Websitewww.ncm.museum

The National Children’s Museum (NCM) is an interactive museum for children. In 2003, Congress designated NCM as the only national museum dedicated entirely to children and their families. Upon opening December 14, 2012, the museum’s exhibits and programs will focus on six core content areas: the arts, civic engagement, the environment, global citizenship, health and well being, and play.

NCM will open to visitors in two phases at National Harbor in Prince George's County, Maryland.

The Indoor Experience, located at 151 St. George Boulevard, will open Friday, December 14, 2012 with exhibits and programming designed for children to learn through play.

The Outdoor Experience, located at the corner of St. George and National Harbor Boulevards, will open in summer 2013.

History

Capital Children's Museum

NCM was originally founded as the Capital Children’s Museum (CCM) in 1974. It was located on H Street, NE in Washington, D.C. for thirty years. In 2003, Congress identified a need for a nationally recognized cultural and educational institution specifically for children.[citation needed] The H Street location closed in August 2004.

Museum Without Walls

Since 2004, the National Children’s Museum has been operating as a “Museum Without Walls,” forging partnerships with other organizations and participating in community events, educational outreach programs and traveling exhibits.

Some of these events in which NCM has participated include the White House Easter Egg Roll, the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the Marine Corps Marathon, and the Kids Euro Festival, among others.

Launch Zone

The Launch Zone opened at National Harbor in 2009. The 2,700 square-foot space offered exhibits and programming to young children and their families. There was no charge for admission, and it was open to the public seven days a week.

The Launch Zone closed on September 3, 2012, in preparation for the opening of the Indoor Experience December 14, 2012.

Construction and Design

The Indoor Experience is located at the corner of St. George Boulevard and American Way. Hickok Cole, a Washington, D.C.-based architecture firm, designed the layout of the Indoor Experience’s 18,000 square feet. Washington, D.C.-based firm, rand*, is the general contractor for NCM’s Indoor Experience. Orr Partners of Reston, Virginia serves as the overall project manager.

The Indoor Experience has two major exhibit areas: 3 & Under and Our World. Columbus, Ohio-based Roto Studio designed the 2,700 square foot 3 & Under exhibit space, and Boston-based Amaze Design has been appointed to fabricate the 9,000 square foot Our World exhibit, way-finding signage and a donor wall. Both firms specialize in museum exhibit design.[citation needed]

Indoor Experience Programming and Exhibits

NCM’s Indoor Experience consists of five areas: 3 & Under, Our World, NCM Theatre, program rooms, and a mezzanine.

3 & Under

The age-specific gallery is designed for infants and toddlers to learn through creative play, interaction and programming. Due to NCM’s partnership with Sesame Workshop, Sesame Street characters and themes will have a presence in this area. The diverse activities in 3 & Under are centered on “play,” “movement,” “art” and "discovery through the senses,” and facilitate interactive play among children and adults.

  • “Pretend play” activities—driving, cooking and serving food from a lunch truck, performing household chores and caring for dolls and toys—will enable children to experience various aspects of the world.
  • A climbing area will expose children to different structures and situations that require navigating and balancing skills.
  • Other activities, such as drawing and painting, will employ different materials that stimulate the senses of sight and touch.
  • The gallery’s miniature play area serves to help children develop fine motor and problem-solving skills, through the building, arranging and exploring of objects and shapes.
  • The Infant and Crawler Zone, an enclosed space with a sensory water bed, tunnel, fish tank, mirrors, and other stimulating sights, colors and textures, is specifically for babies ages one year and younger.
  • Programming led by NCM staff will include storytelling, art-making, singing and dancing.

Our World

This section, for children over the age of 3, aims to encourage a curiosity about cultures and the world. It will introduce visitors to the responsibilities and rewards of global and community citizenship. It will have three main elements: Map Zone, My Town, and World Cultures, which are intended to teach children the differences and similarities among our global societies, as well as to explore the roles they might play in their communities, such as family member, friend, student, neighbor, team member and citizen.

  • Map Zone: An area of interactive maps intended to give children a global perspective, as well as an appreciation for the world’s physical structure and organization, and an understanding of the contributing factors to cultural diversity, such as distance, climate and natural resources, among others. Children may also pinpoint locations, anticipate climate effects, and learn about the increasing vulnerabilities of the natural environment.
  • My Town: The goal of My Town is to demonstrate how people are connected to and within the towns in which they live. Various communities that are depicted—home and family, friends and neighborhood, and town and country—will allow children to practice being actively engaged community members. In the home portion, pictures and mementos serve as reminders of the diverse communities to which different people belong; in the town’s pizza parlor, children may engage in civic debates and discussions; in the campaign center, children may run for political offices and volunteer on a campaign; in the fire truck, children may learn problem-solving techniques.
  • World Cultures: This area aims to celebrate cross-cultural awareness and interaction, and encourages the exploration and discovery of the pieces that compose our “cultural mosaic” and the role of geographic factors in shaping differences between individuals. A simulated marketplace will aid in representing diverse cultures, as it will change periodically, beginning with Tanzania. The exhibit will feature sample homes and shelters from regions; a kitchen area highlighting foods and preparation methods; an interactive clothing store with traditional garments from different cultures; arts and crafts activities; transportation, including a tuk-tuk that “transports” visitors to different locales; and a language area that showcases different types of writing and listening.

NCM Theatre, Program Rooms & Mezzanine

The NCM Theatre, which holds approximately 130 people, will engage visitors in participatory productions that are intended to impart life-lessons. The theatre will also serve as a resource for community programming and presentations.

Program rooms will be utilized by visiting school groups, as well as for birthday parties and other events.

The Museum’s mezzanine will be a non-public area for the museum’s administrative staff.


Future Plans

The Outdoor Experience, a year-round museum without a roof, is expected to open in summer 2013.

There will be pinwheel generators at the entrance, and solar panel canopy breezeways that will create energy for fans, teaching lessons about sustainable living.[citation needed]

Gardens will highlight the sights and smells of the plant world, and provide examples of the relationship between the plant and animal kingdoms. A vegetable garden will allow families to partake in maintaining a working garden. These components are meant to educate visitors about the origins of food and healthy eating habits.

There will also be supervised play areas, including spaces for children to design and construct forts, engage in imaginative fantasy play, and learn about aquatic environments and water-powered energy sources.

A large, open amphitheater will offer a place for children to create and watch theatrical productions and special performances.

Sesame Street Partnership

NCM has a partnership with Sesame Workshop , the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street. As part of the partnership, Sesame Street and its characters, through interactive exhibits, educational video segments and books, will be most integrated into elements of the museum’s 3 & Under gallery and incorporated in select events and programming. Additionally, Sesame Workshop will collaborate with the museum on content development and program creation for both the Indoor and Outdoor Experiences.


Visiting Hours and Operations

NCM will be open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Labor Day and Memorial Day, and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the summer months. Standard admission is $10 per child or adult, and there is no cost of admission for infants age 1 or younger. There are also group rates available, and NCM will begin offering school field trips and birthday party packages in mid-winter 2013.

Museum memberships will go on sale Saturday, Oct. 6 from noon to 4 p.m. at JumpOFF!, NCM's fifth annual free outdoor jump-roping festival, that will take place outside the Indoor Experience space.

The Museum will be launching a new website in fall 2012.

References

Sutton, Benjamin, "National Children’s Museum Eyes November Opening, Will Boast on Big Wheel Racetrack", ArtInfo, June 6, 2012

Parker, Lonnae O'Neal, "National Children’s Museum (finally!) reopening at Natinoal Harbor", The Washington Post, June 12, 2012

Hager, Nathan, "National Children’s Museum one step closer to opening in Pr. George’s County", WTOP.com, June 12, 2012

Eatough, Allison, "Eight Great Museum Exhibits That Engage Children of All Ages", Maryland Family Magazine, July 22, 2012

Cooper, Rachel, "National Children’s Museum Fall Programming", About.com, Aug. 29, 2012

Sowah, Jillian S. "Prince George’s County community calendar, Aug. 16-23, 2012", The Washington Post, Aug. 17, 2012

Cooper, Rachel, "Washington DC Events – Top Things to Do this Weekend", About.com, Aug. 3, 2012

"Editor’s Pick: Go for the Gold", In the Loop: Washington Parent E-News, Aug. 2, 2012

"Meet a former Olympian at National Children’s Museum", Chesapeake Family Magazine, July 30, 2012

"Editor’s Pick: Go for the Gold", In the Loop: Washington Parent E-News, July 25, 2012

Sowah, Jillian S. "Things to do July 19-Aug. 2: Nicki Minaj, 2 Chainz, Ledisi and Eric Benet perform at DAR", The Washington Post, July 20, 2012

Sowah, Jillian S. "Prince George’s County wellness calendar, July 12-19", The Washington Post, July 12, 2012

"Editor’s Pick: SunWise", In the Loop: Washington Parent E-News, July 11, 2012

"National Children’s Museum to Open This Year at National Harbor", FestivalDC.com, June 14, 2012

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