{"id":1577,"date":"2017-03-21T01:28:23","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T01:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saynplaycolumbus.com\/?p=1577"},"modified":"2017-03-21T01:28:23","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T01:28:23","slug":"learning-through-play-at-the-duke-energy-childrens-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestsidedesign.org\/snp\/index.php\/2017\/03\/21\/learning-through-play-at-the-duke-energy-childrens-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning Through Play at the Duke Energy Children’s Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

We recently spent a weekend exploring Cincinnati, Ohio. The first stop on our adventure was the Duke Energy Children’s Museum<\/a> at the Cincinnati Museum Center<\/a>. The museum is an easy one and a half hour drive down I-71 from Columbus and admission is only $5.50-$10.50 (depending on age). The relatively short drive and affordable cost allow it to be a fun day trip from home or must-see stop on a weekend away in the Queen City.<\/p>\n

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The museum provides eight educational and themed play areas, with two specifically designed for preschool-aged and younger. The children’s museum provides more than 1,800 additional hours of programming each year. We picked a weekend when the museum was hosting “Learning Through Play for Families.” Drop-in activities were offered throughout the space “for families to experience the joy and benefit of playing together in Duke Energy Children\u2019s Museum.” It was busy, but we loved all the additional activities offered that day.<\/p>\n

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The museum is divided into sections and even has a large protected area for children ages four years-old and younger (which is wonderful for families like us with a toddler). The museum encourages kids to “climb, crawl, explore and learn about themselves and the world around them.” There is a lot to take in upon arrival and my daughter required a few minutes to warm up to the surroundings before engaging in an activity. Once she was comfortable, she began sprinting to activities that appealed to her. Below are the highlights of her favorite sections, along with ideas on how to encourage language development while exploring the museum.<\/p>\n

Kids’ Town <\/strong>is a kid-sized neighborhood complete with a grocery store, daycare center, auto shop, and more. This area provides miniature versions of shops and toys to promote imaginative play. While playing, vocabulary<\/strong> specific to your child’s activities can be modeled to label objects and talk about what your child is doing, example: “You are driving!”<\/p>\n

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There were so many opportunities for my daughter to learn about the concept of up\/down<\/strong> throughout the museum. She was very interested in the duplo center<\/strong> where she could build towers up<\/em> and then knock them down<\/em>. She was also interested in watching the play crane <\/strong>and dump truck<\/strong>. Children fill a basket with foam rocks, lift the basket up<\/em> into the air and then watch the rocks fall down<\/em> into the truck.<\/p>\n

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Another highlight of the visit was the house building area<\/strong>. My daughter watched mom and dad use the foam board to fill in the sides of the house, but she didn’t have much interest in joining us. She preferred walking in<\/em>, out<\/em>, and through<\/em> the house while carrying her doll. These concepts were used to narrate where she was in relation to the house.<\/p>\n

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The water area<\/strong> is large and provides many opportunities to use the concepts wet\/<\/strong>dry.<\/strong> There are buckets to fill and dump, and opportunities to manipulate water movement. There is plenty of opportunity to get wet <\/em>in the water area and then to dry<\/em> off with the hand dryers when you are done.<\/p>\n

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Little Sprouts Farm <\/strong>is an area designed for children 4 and younger and is a protected space separated from the rest of the museum by an entrance gate. My daughter enjoyed watching balls stop\/go<\/strong> on a ramp, <\/strong>climbing up\/down<\/strong>, and playing in the soft <\/strong>sand. This area provides so many opportunities for movement and for an adult to model vocabulary while your child is playing.  <\/strong><\/p>\n

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The above exhibits were the most age appropriate for my daughter and where we spent the majority of our time. Older children will enjoy spending time exploring the three-story structure in The Woods <\/a><\/em>and being part of a complex machine in the Energy Zone<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Some things to know before you go:<\/p>\n