Exhibits and Play

Play is an authentic and critical activity in childhood that engages children’s brains in ways necessary for learning and development. The United Nations has declared play a right that should be accessible and available to all children, yet, starting from kindergarten children in the United States have increasingly less time to engage in child-driven play.

Our most recent presentation was at the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) conference in Philadelphia in October 2024, where Kristin and Rebecca explored how to integrate play with difficult subject matter. Earlier in 2024, at the New York City Museum Educators Roundtable (NYCMER) annual conference, we explored definitions of play and how it can be expressed and leveraged to create authentic learning experiences for children. Both presentations, and related resources, are shared below.

Who We Are

This project is a collaboration between three consultants:

**Rebecca Shulman** believes in the power of good questions to provoke thought, generate new ideas, strong communication, and community building. She served as Director of the Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum from 2015-2022, and before that worked as a museum educator in art museums.

**Kristin Scarola** is committed to nurturing creativity, introspection, personal growth, and striving towards a more equitable and just world through museum and art education. Young children are the heart of her work, and this means she gets to play, converse, and create with some of the most inspiring people in the world.

**Sarah Jencks** works with museums and museum educators to help them find their authentic civic missions and see the possibilities for envisioning and manifesting the collective impact of museum education in schools and in our democratic society. She believes that every museum can and should be a civic museum, and playful learning is crucial to that mission.

Rebecca, Kristin, and Sarah are consultants, and are available individually for work in and beyond the museum setting. Please contact any of us for more information.

2024 MAAM presentation

2024 NYCMER presentation

We invite you to view our presentation, download our “Conditions Shaping High-Quality Playful Learning” checklist, and/or share your feedback on the checklist.