Letter from the CMSJ President
FAQs
Upcoming Events
News
& Notes
Meet the
Team
Accomplishments
to Date
Press Room
For anyone who may not have had
an opportunity to visit one yet, let’s start with a brief explanation of
exactly what a children’s museum is. Unlike traditional
museums, which emphasize collections of art or artifacts,
children’s museums are about the visitors—children—and
their developmental needs. In these “client-centered” institutions,
the needs and interests of children and their motivation
to learn are as or more important than the actual content
of the museum. So, children’s museums have four
essential characteristics:
- Learning
occurs through interaction with the environment. Basically,
children learn by doing. There are no signs in
a children’s
museum that say “Please
Do Not Touch!”
- An informal educational setting
allows visitors to follow their interests without
time constraints. Unlike traditional academic settings,
which have set schedules for learning, children’s
museums allow visitors to develop their concentration
and skills in the areas in which they are most interested.
- Visitors engage in
real experiences within exhibits built to a child’s
scale. For example, children might pull animal skins
around themselves as they pretend to go to sleep in
an Indian teepee, or might shop for food and other
products in a multi-cultural marketplace, weighing
out produce and spices themselves.
- Visitors associate
memories and feelings and use their imagination to
make their museum experience relevant to their everyday
experiences.
|
|
A top-quality
children’s museum in St. Johns
County would be a gift to the community and would:
- Create
a place that encourages learning and enriches the
lives of all children in our community.
- Inspire a love of
learning to help enable children to become creative
thinkers and to realize their highest potential.
- Provide
an interactive, multidisciplinary educational experience
with focus on art, local history, science, music,
storytelling, and humanities.
- Offer regular programs, classes, and
summer camps to keep children engaged and stimulated
year-round.
- Provide an excellent resource for educators
in the area to bring school children for field trips.
- Provide
a fun place where visitors of all ages are encouraged
to play, learn, imagine, create, and interact in
a positive way.
- Encourage interest and knowledge
of our community’s
rich history and heritage.
|
|
Above all else,
children’s museums serve children
and their early developmental needs—that will
always be the guiding mission of CMSJ. But by creating
an organization in the community that serves children,
we will also serve those who take care of children—parents,
grandparents, caretakers, guardians, and educators.
These people fall into three key categories:
Residents
The explosive growth within St. Johns County is undeniable
and many of these new households have children.
A top caliber children’s museum would provide
a safe, fun meeting place for children and their
parents and caretakers to go on a regular basis
to interact, play, and learn.
Visitors
St. Johns County and St. Augustine have long been successfully
marketed as a family destination. The children’s
museum would become a must-do for visiting families
with children.
Educators
With a focus on local and Florida history, CMSJ would
strive to become a field trip destination for the
40 to 50,000 fourth-grade students from the Northeast
Florida region, who come to St. Augustine as part
of the Florida history course curriculum. In addition,
we will target other school-age children from surrounding
counties within easy driving distance. |
NEXT > FAQs |
|
|
