Engage Families

Encouraging family learning in museums and libraries

  • Family Learning
    • What It Is
    • Why It’s Important
    • The Family Audience
    • Resources
  • Exhibits
    • Design Strategies
    • Drafting Text
    • Steal This Idea
    • Resources
  • Programs
    • Setting Goals
      • Actively Engaging All Ages
      • Content and Learning
    • Design Strategies
      • Authenticity
      • Distinctiveness
      • Relevance and Connections
      • Environment and Set Up
      • Setting Expectations
      • Inclusionary Design for Everyone: Flexibility and Access
      • Encouraging Conversation
      • Layering Content
      • Fun & Play
      • Continuing the Experience
    • Facilitation
      • Establishing Engagement
      • Maintaining Engagement
      • Maximizing Engagement
      • Conclusion: Ending on a High Note
      • Hiring and Training Facilitators
    • Steal This Idea
    • Resources
  • Evaluation & Prototyping
    • Evaluation
    • Exhibit Prototyping
    • Program Prototyping
    • Revising Programs
    • Resources
  • About
    • 2013-2016 Engage Families Project
    • 2004-2011 Family Learning Project
    • Contact Us
Home / Archives for children’s learning

Public Libraries: A Vital Space for Family Engagement

Public Libraries: A Vital Space for Family Engagement

This report from the Harvard Family Research Project and the Public Library Association is a call-to-action about the importance of engaging families in libraries. Head to this page to download your free copy of the report: Public Libraries: A Vital Space for Family Engagement Check out more resources here: Public Library Association – Family Engagement M. Elena […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: being a community resource, children's learning, engagement, libraries

Curiosity Creates: Innovative Library Programming for Children

Curiosity Creates: Innovative Library Programming for Children

Featuring examples from the field, this report from the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is a great resource for libraries looking for inspiration for their child and family programs. Holmes, Paula. Curiosity Creates: Innovative Library Programming for Children. Association for Library Service to Children, 2016.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: being a community resource, children's learning, libraries, program design and development, programs

Family Engagement in Anywhere, Anytime Learning

Family Engagement in Anywhere, Anytime Learning

These reports from the Harvard Family Research Project  focus on the importance of out-of-school learning that can take place at libraries and museums. The authors explore how families and community organizations can work together to support children. Read the reports here: Lopez, M. Elena, and Margaret Caspe. Family Engagement in Anywhere, Anytime Learning. Harvard Family Research […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: being a community resource, children's learning, libraries, museums

Reading Groups at the Newton Free Library

Reading Groups at the Newton Free Library

The Newton Free Library in Newton, MA offers several programs for kids and families with a focus on books and literacy. The programs are free but adults do have to register ahead of time. Book Bunch is a book club for 1st and 2nd graders and their adults that takes place for about an hour, […]

Filed Under: Examples from the Field Tagged With: children's learning, examples success stories and tips, libraries, program design and development, prototyping

Science Saturdays at the Attleboro Public Library

Science Saturdays at the Attleboro Public Library

The Attleboro Public Library offers an hour-long science program for kids ages 3 through kindergarten one Saturday morning a month from October to June. The goal of the program is to encourage children and their caregivers to learn and discover together. Younger siblings under 3 are encouraged not to attend so that the adult can […]

Filed Under: Examples from the Field Tagged With: being a community resource, children's learning, examples success stories and tips, libraries, program design and development, science and technology

Building Supportive Communities with Libraries, Museums, and Early Childhood Systems

Building Supportive Communities with Libraries, Museums, and Early Childhood Systems

A project of the BUILD Initiative and IMLS, this toolkit provides museum, library and early childhood specialists with strategies, tools and resources for collaborating to engage children and families. Learn more about the project here. Killins Stewart, Sherri, Deborah Stahl, and Judy Reidt-Parker. BUILDing Supportive Communities with Libraries, Museums, and Early Childhood Systems: A Toolkit for Collaborative […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: being a community resource, children's learning, early childhood, libraries, museums

Pirate PlayLand at the Concord Free Public Library

Pirate PlayLand at the Concord Free Public Library

For the month of January, the Concord Free Public Library in Concord, MA transformed the Children’s Room into a pirate-themed Treasure Island for an extended program for children and their caregivers to take part in activities that engage the imagination and motor skills. Pirate PlayLand was part of a Mind in the Making grant, which […]

Filed Under: Examples from the Field Tagged With: children's learning, examples success stories and tips, hands-on, libraries, play, programs

Elements of Play from The Strong National Museum of Play

Elements of Play from The Strong National Museum of Play

The Strong provides a resource for scholars looking for definitions of play through the Museum’s Elements of Play chart. “Play is difficult to define because it is complex. Many scholars find that describing play is easier than defining it. To help advance discourse around a definition of play, research undertaken at The Strong suggests that six […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: children's learning, conversation, methodology, play

Minnesota Children’s Museum: Play More

Minnesota Children’s Museum: Play More

The Minnesota Children’s Museum’s focus, like many children’s museums, is all about play. However, the Museum provides a unique approach to play in museums through their PlayLENS. This framework guides adults in supporting their child’s play with a clear call to action. The Museum’s Successful People Play movement seeks to show that successful adults know […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: children's learning, children's museums, free-choice learning, play

Engaging Children in Meaningful Conversation

Engaging Children in Meaningful Conversation

The videos and resources on this page of the Brain Building in Progress website discuss how to engage 3 to 5-year-old children in meaningful conversation by building in opportunities to talk, modeling conversation, and using complex language and vocabulary. Includes a Facilitator’s Guide.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: children's learning, conversation, facilitation, modeling, personal connections and relevancy, scaffolding

Brain Building in Progress: Resources for Educators About Early Learning

Brain Building in Progress: Resources for Educators About Early Learning

The Brain Building in Progress website includes numerous resources for educators and parents to help their children, birth to 5 years old, learn and progress. The “site provides exciting, engaging media-rich learning opportunities for educators, parents, and caregivers of children. From detailed lesson plans to simple, everyday activities, you will find everything you need to […]

Filed Under: Understanding Families Tagged With: children's learning, facilitation

The Connections Between Children’s Play and Learning

The Connections Between Children’s Play and Learning

The Children’s Play and Learning Resources page of The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) website includes numerous links (listed below) detailing the latest research on play, play based learning, why play is an important part of children’s learning and development, the role of play in the classroom, and ideas to share […]

Filed Under: Understanding Families Tagged With: child development, children's learning, play

Next Practices in Art Museum Education

Next Practices in Art Museum Education

Members of the Association of Art Museum Directors from across the country, Mexico, and Canada sent in examples of the best educational programs at their museums. This collection of 100 submissions highlights programs designed for a variety of audiences ranging from young children through older adults. Also included are programs for teens, college students, teachers […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: adult learning, art museums, children's learning, examples success stories and tips, family learning, informal learning, programs, special needs and disabilities

The Adult Child Interaction Inventory

The Adult Child Interaction Inventory

The Adult Child Interaction Inventory (ACII) was the product of a three-year NSF-funded research project that aimed to better understand the non-verbal and verbal interactions between adults and preschool children in museums during STEM programs.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: adults, children, children's learning, children's museums, conversation, evaluation, exhibits, facilitation, formal learning, free-choice learning, getting to know your audience, informal learning, interactions, observation, programs, science and technology, staff training and professional development, STEM

Growing Young Minds: How Museums and Libraries Create Lifelong Learners

Growing Young Minds: How Museums and Libraries Create Lifelong Learners

This report by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) issues a call to action for everyone to utilize museums and libraries which provide quality and effective early learning opportunities for children. This publication focuses on the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading which promotes reading proficiency for low-income students. The report provides examples and success […]

Filed Under: Why It's Important Tagged With: children, children's learning, demographics, formal learning, getting to know your audience, informal learning, libraries, literacy

Developing and Supporting Family Learning in Museums and Galleries

Developing and Supporting Family Learning in Museums and Galleries

This UK publication is a resource for museum staff members who seek to develop family programming. Beginning with a definition of family learning, and some of the benefits of family engagement, author Clare Meade goes on to provide tools including graphs and charts for developing programs in museums. Meade gives examples of museums in the […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: adult learning, adults, being a community resource, children, children's learning, co-participation, engagement, environment, examples success stories and tips, getting to know your audience, partnerships, programs

Race to the Top – Boston Children’s Museum

Race to the Top – Boston Children’s Museum

Resources and activities for museum and library professionals to help promote literacy, brain-building, kindergarten readiness, and STEM at their sites.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: adults, children, children's learning, children's museums, examples success stories and tips, formal learning, history museums, informal learning, libraries, literacy, programs, scaffolding, science museums, staff training and professional development, STEM

Teaching Yourself to Teach with Objects

Teaching Yourself to Teach with Objects

This article was written for classroom teachers by museum educator John Hennigar Shuh. He gives several reasons for why teaching from objects is advantageous. Shuh suggests that the best way for teachers to begin to teach with objects in their classrooms is to start by looking at ordinary, everyday objects

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: children, children's learning, critical thinking skills, facilitation, formal learning, history, objects

Engaging Parents as Facilitators of Children’s Learning in Science: Materials for Training and Design of Family Workshops

Engaging Parents as Facilitators of Children’s Learning in Science: Materials for Training and Design of Family Workshops

This article is the product of research done by the FEAST (Facilitating Engagement of Adults in Science and Technology) consortium of European science museums and science centers. The report, designed to assist museum educators in supporting parents and caregivers in educating children in informal science institutions, explains how museums can help caregivers become more involved […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: adults, children's learning, engagement, facilitation, informal learning, parents, program design and development, programs, science and technology, science museums, staff training and professional development

Project Explore: An Evaluation Methodology

Project Explore: An Evaluation Methodology

Project Explore, a collaboration between Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum and Harvard University’s Project Zero, describes their evaluation process and experience in trying to determine if “children [are] really learning in children’s museums or are they simply being entertained? If children are learning, what is it that they are learning? What engages and enhances children in the […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: children's learning, children's museums, evaluation, examples success stories and tips, exhibits, family learning, informal learning, methodology

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Engage Families

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Engage Families is a project of the USS Constitution Museum
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Funding for Engage Families is provided by the Institute of Museum & Library Services
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