MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

For the most part, museums and historical organizations have avoided the challenge of teaching history to the VERY young. History can be fraught with unfamiliar people, objects and customs. For a child who measures “the past” in terms of hours or even minutes, the very concept of centuries upon centuries of history is difficult to grasp. Please Touch Museum (in Philadelphia, PA) has been investigating how to interpret history for this virtually untapped audience. How? By creating experiences that simultaneously appeal to adults and stimulates playful interaction with children. The PTM “Play with History” project works at engaging parents and caregivers more actively in the learning process using the museum’s mission of learning through play to engage children in making relevant and creative connections between the past, present and future with a goal that visitors learn that history is not isolated—it relates to literature, art, architecture, science, music and more.

Much of the history interpretation that takes place in historic venues today involves facts and figures; typically, a very young audience does not fully engage with plainly presented facts since most are pre-literate. While there is a place for this type of learning, PTM has been exploring new, interactive, and experiential—ways to connect audiences of all ages with historic content, often through historic and contemporary objects. For the core audience (ages seven and under), this includes utilizing the PTM principles of child-directed, open-ended and process-driven play.

Through the use of historic and contemporary objects, kids are introduced to history and humanities topics. Hands-on activities will incorporate the history of the View-Master and Butter Sculpting in a new way!