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 exhibit design and development

Researching the Value of Educator Actions for Learning (REVEAL)

Researching the Value of Educator Actions for Learning (REVEAL)

“Researching the Value of Educator Actions for Learning (REVEAL) was a three-year, National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research study carried out by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) between 2013 and 2017. In collaboration with TERC and Oregon State University, the team explored the role of museum educators in deepening and extending family engagement and […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: exhibit design and development, exhibits, facilitation, interactives, science museums, staff training and professional development

Bring the Family: Children’s Museum Wisdom for the Rest of the Museum Community

Bring the Family: Children’s Museum Wisdom for the Rest of the Museum Community

In an interview with exhibit and program designers at the Boston Children’s Museum, Margaret Middleton explores some of the common questions museum professionals might have about creating successful “multigenerational social learning experiences” that engage both children and adults. Middleton, Margaret. “Bring the Family: Children’s Museum Wisdom for the Rest of the Museum Community.” WestMuse Blog. Western Museums […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: children's museums, examples success stories and tips, exhibit design and development, exhibits, family learning, play

Create.Connect at Conner Prairie

Create.Connect at Conner Prairie

Created in partnership with the Science Museum of Minnesota, and funded by the National Science Foundation, Create.Connect is an exhibit and program space at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park that brings together science and history focused on Indiana’s history. The activities promote conversation between family members to elicit relevant connections to visitors’ own lives. Create.Connect Conner […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: conversation, exhibit design and development, hands-on, history museums

Steal This Idea

Here is a collection of simple, cheap, effective, tested techniques that have worked in other exhibitions and may be applicable in your museum – try it out! Making Work Fun Sampling chores from the past encourages visitors to compare/contrast to the present. Try a Board Game Games can highlight the role of chance within history, […]

Filed Under: Design Strategies Tagged With: exhibit design and development, prototyping

Exhibit Prototyping

Test, revise, and test again. That’s prototyping – designing for success through an iterative process. About Exhibit Prototypes Answers the question, “why prototype?” and lists some types of prototypes. Prototyping “The Old Ironsides 1812 Discovery Center” Blog posts detailing the development of this exhibit through prototyping and evaluation. Prototyping “All Hands on Deck” The lessons […]

Filed Under: Evaluation Tagged With: exhibit design and development, prototyping

Design Strategies

Let’s build some exhibits! These articles will help you build your exhibition team, frame your content for a family audience, and utilize the seven characteristics of successful family-friendly exhibitions. Putting Families First Why it’s important to put families at the center of your exhibit design and the practical implications of doing so. PISEC: Exhibits to […]

Filed Under: Exhibits Tagged With: exhibit design and development

Using Questions and Quotes

Exhibits that incorporate compelling historic quotes and historical questions foster personal connections between visitors and stories of the past. Using Questions and Quotes Questions and quotes promote conversations and help visitors make personal connections.   Audience Research Results: Labels with Historical Characters An overview of the prototyping and evaluation process for the use of life-size historical cut-outs in […]

Filed Under: Drafting Text Tagged With: exhibit design and development, labels/text panels, personal connections and relevancy

Why It’s Important

Why It’s Important

Why should I bother with all this, you ask? These articles explain the benefits of engaging families for your institution, visitors/users, community, and society at large. Plus there’s some good advice on convincing others that it is important, too! Why Family Learning is Important Lynn Dierking describes why it is important to embrace family learning […]

Filed Under: Family Learning Tagged With: exhibit design and development

Resources

Resources

Understanding Today’s Families These articles give insight into the makeup and characteristics of family audiences, as well as provide examples and case studies. Understanding Today’s Families The USS Constitution Museum team describes today’s Generation X families and the challenges they present to history museums. 10 Steps to Family Learning  The USS Constitution Museum invites you […]

Filed Under: Family Learning Tagged With: exhibit design and development

What It Is

What It Is

What do we mean by family learning and engagement? What does it look like? How can I tell if I’m doing these things at my site? Experts define and discuss these concepts. Laughing and Learning Together Family learning and how it looks in different families and at different times in the family life cycle. Dierking […]

Filed Under: Family Learning Tagged With: exhibit design and development

Exhibits

Learn to design, write engaging text, prototype, and revise your exhibits for better family learning. We’ve shared our best ideas for you to steal. Design Strategies How can you design exhibits that result in family learning? This sections provides the how-to and some examples to “steal.” Drafting Text Well written text will get visitors talking to each […]

Filed Under: Exhibits Tagged With: exhibit design and development

Peopling History

There’s a reason why reality shows are so popular! People care about other people and their experiences. Focus on the human story and use first-person labels to increase engagement and interest in your exhibit. Telling the Story Through People By personalizing the story and telling it through people, visitors connect on a personal level. Visitors […]

Filed Under: Drafting Text Tagged With: exhibit design and development, labels/text panels, personal connections and relevancy

Family Friendly Content

How can you maximize family engagement in your galleries? Connect exhibits to themes that are universal and relevant to visitors, organize them thematically rather than chronologically and include a delightful surprise or two. Developing Content to Engage Families How you can develop exhibit content that puts families first and draws on their needs to inform […]

Filed Under: Drafting Text Tagged With: exhibit design and development, labels/text panels

Drafting Text

Visitors will read. We promise. What’s more, well written text will get visitors talking to each other. So, keep it short. Try the first person voice. Use quotes. Ask questions. And don’t forget the fun. Family Friendly Content Ways to develop content that families can relate to, understand, and have fun with. Peopling History How focusing […]

Filed Under: Exhibits Tagged With: exhibit design and development, labels/text panels

Family Learning in Interactive Galleries (FLING)

Family Learning in Interactive Galleries (FLING)

From 2007-2011, three major art institutions, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, High Museum of Art, and The Speed, participated in a study examining “families’ value and use of interactive galleries in art museums and their motivations for visiting the spaces.”  The Family Learning in Interactive Galleries website includes multiple resources related to the project, […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: bibliography and literature review, evaluation, examples success stories and tips, exhibit design and development, exhibits, interactives, observation

What We Do and Do Not Know about Family Learning in Art Museum Interactive Spaces: A Literature Review

What We Do and Do Not Know about Family Learning in Art Museum Interactive Spaces: A Literature Review

In preparation for the Family Learning in Interactive Galleries (FLING) project, the principal researchers gathered all available literature on family learning in museums. This comprehensive review, circa 2010, covers the changing definitions of family, facilitation, audience motivations, social interaction, audience goals and values, parent behaviors, as well as describing the life-cycle of a family’s visit […]

Filed Under: What It Is Tagged With: adults, bibliography and literature review, exhibit design and development, exhibits, facilitation, family learning, getting to know your audience, interactives

Scamper: An Idea Generation Process

Scamper: An Idea Generation Process

Michael Michalko, an internationally acclaimed creative thinking expert and author, developed a method called SCAMPER to guide people through the process of generating ideas. Designers and facilitators can try this method as a way to prototype solutions to small problems or as a quick way to try to improve an aspect of an exhibit or […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: exhibit design and development, program design and development, prototyping

The Entry Point Approach from Howard Gardner

The Entry Point Approach from Howard Gardner

Harvard Professor Howard Gardner argues that there are five points from which learners can enter into a topic: The Aesthetic, Narrative, Logical/Quantitative, Foundational, and Experiential. Using this theory can help program and exhibit designers offer visitors a variety of ways to access our content and activities. This concept comes directly from his work on Multiple Intelligences […]

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: accessible, exhibit design and development, program design and development

The Engaging Museum: Developing Museums for Visitor Involvement

The Engaging Museum: Developing Museums for Visitor Involvement

This practical guide outlines various ways professionals can develop their programs, exhibits, and general museum atmosphere to best engage the public. Using examples mostly from the UK and Canada, Graham Black offers a synthesis of best practices and research to date, as well as case studies and infographics to illustrate his points.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: audience development, engagement, engaging senses, exhibit design and development, exhibits, facilitation, free-choice learning, getting to know your audience, informal learning, learning styles, program design and development, programs

Visitor Research from the Victoria & Albert Museum

Visitor Research from the Victoria & Albert Museum

Well-known for their intensive audience research, prototyping, and evaluation processes for both programs and exhibits, this page contains numerous project reports and papers.

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: evaluation, exhibit design and development, program design and development, prototyping

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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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