Children's Museums: Invaluable Resources
Janet Rice Elman, Executive Director, Association of Youth Museums, Washington, DC

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There are over 350 children's museums in the United States. The mission of these museums is to stimulate curiosity and motivate learning in children. This, in turn, enriches the lives and education of the children by complementing and supporting the teaching efforts in homes, schools,child care centers, and communities.

Children's museums provide informal learning opportunities to children through regular visits and programming. They often complement the learning units of Head Start centers and home-based program activities with exhibits designed around concepts such as earth, sky, and water which are presented through water tables and outdoor exhibit areas, recycling explained through viewing hands-on sorting centers; and nutrition concepts presented in child-sized grocery stores. While these are some examples, each children's museum is different. Some are more science-based. But all have a common mission which center on valuing the child and gearing exhibits for all learning styles.

Parents are the primary teachers of their children, and just as Head Start emphasizes parent involvement in the classroom and home-based setting, children's museums encourage and support parents in being active in the growth and education of their children, and to value self-directed learning.

The Association of Youth Museums and the Head Start Bureau are developing a partnership to link museums and Head Start grantees and delegate agencies in rural, suburban, and urban locations across the country. In the meantime, you may want to contact your local children's museum by looking in the Yellow Pages under "museums."

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