Heritage Museums & Gardens Blog Spot

Game On!

Whether you roll the dice, balance a ball or jump through hoops, nothing is better than playing a game with the family.  Summer is a perfect time to take the family fun outdoors to play games, a tradition that has been around for many years.

Some of the earliest evidence of games appears in 3000BC, with the game of senet in Egypt and mancala games in the Sahara.  Tabula, an early form of backgammon, shows up in 400 AD, and chess appears in India in 650 AD.  Many of us remember playing Chutes and Ladders, originally called Snakes and Ladders in England, which was in turn adapted from an earlier game that began around 1200 AD in India.  Even with all of today’s technological advances, games like these continue to entertain in the same way they have for thousands of years. 

So why have games been such a constant in history?  Why do they continue to be a popular way to spend time today?  There are many reasons, but the first must be that games are just plain fun!  Games almost never happen the same way twice, so each time challenges and surprises the players.  Taking part in this pastime also teaches skills, including teamwork, how to be a good winner, how to be a good loser, strategies and planning, and even hand and eye coordination.  Playing a game is a great way to bond with your family and share a laugh or two, making memories that will last for years.

Heritage Museums & Gardens is a big fan of games, especially outdoor games, which are a featured activity in each Summer Family Fun Friday event.  Among the family favorites are the giant 3 foot Jenga game, hoop and stick, the unique catching game ‘Graces,’ a huge parachute, croquet, puppets, over-sized snakes and ladders, and ‘swish’ ball.  Some new games will make an appearance this year at our kickoff event on July 9.  Join us for all six Summer Family Fun Fridays, July 9 – August 13, from 11am – 1:30pm for performances, crafts, face painting, scavenger hunts, temporary tattoos, and of course, loads of family games!

Click here for the entire Summer Family Fun Fridays schedule.

Can’t come for a visit?  Try making your own mancala game with recycled materials! Click here to learn how! 

A Night at the Museum

The museum really does come alive at night!  Some lucky girls, ages 6-16 years old, found out the truth during the recent Girl Scout Overnight at Heritage.  A night of crafts, karaoke, team-building, games, plus a campfire and s’mores was more than just non-stop fun. With luck it also created a "sticky memory" or two.

"Sticky" memories are something that Reach Advisors - a nationally-recognized audience research and strategy firm - have been thinking a lot about lately. After talking with hundreds of folks, they determined that for many people, the vivid memory of a particular museum experience sticks with them from childhood, often from around the age of seven, which seems to be the magic age for memory-making (http://reachadvisors.typepad.com/museum_audience_insight/2009/08/the-magic-of-sevenyearolds.html). 

Museums can be "sticky" in this sense, creating memories that last a lifetime. Museums can be a harbor for the active imaginations of children, while at the same time helping them explore the world around them.  Where else can you gaze up at an enormous dinosaur skeleton and imagine you can hear it roar and feel the earth shake under your feet? Or take a pretend spin in a jaunty Model T? Kids who have memorable experiences like this tend to become museum-goers later in life, passing the love of museums on to their children. When families look for places where they can create lasting memories for not only their children but the entire family, a museum is the place to be.

The shop figures in the Folk Art Gallery and the horses on the carousel may not have really come to life

during the Girl Scout Overnight. And we can’t be sure the girls will remember everything we explored during the event. But one thing we can be certain of: they all realized that museums are places of excitement, discovery, laughter, bonding and contemplation. Maybe a few of them formed these feelings and experiences into a "sticky memory," just like so many of us did as children.   

If you’re interested in what Reach Advisors are learning about museum-goers, check out their blog at: http://reachadvisors.typepad.com.