A few weeks ago, our new friends and neighbors at the Boston Children’s’ Museum opened their doors to our team for a behind the scenes tour of their facility. Since many of us haven’t been to the museum since we were kids (if at all), it was great to see how their staff works to engage and entertain the tens of thousands of visitors who come through their doors every year. Come along with the STA team on a tour of the museum! All photos taken by me unless noted otherwise.
We start on the exterior of the facility – instantly recognizable by the Hood milk bottle. This bottle dates all the way back to 1933 – 90 years ago! – where it was stationed along Route 44 in Taunton, dishing out ice cream and other assorted snacks to anyone stopping by. After sitting abandoned in the 60s and 70s, an effort was made to restore it and find a new home for the bottle, and it ended up finding its new permanent home at the museum!
I was also quite surprised to find out that the two bays to the left of the entrance are actually very large overhead garage doors!
The lobby is also home to a Luckey Climbers climbing structure – in fact, the final one designed by Tom Luckey himself.
As a roller coaster fan, the Raceways exhibit certainly piqued my interest! This room contained many unique ways to show children the laws of physics in visually appealing ways. Here we have David testing it out with Ana watching.
The PlaySpace was recently renovated, and gives a home for the smallest guests ages 3 and under to explore their creativity in a safe space. We took special interest in this space as we’ve been fortunate enough to design many spaces used by the littlest museum visitors, and came away with some fresh new ideas!
Me, just hanging around in the construction room.
Imran checking out the interactive Airflow Kinetics color changing mat.
The mock kindergarten lets incoming students get a first-hand feel for what the first day of kindergarten will feel like.
Did you know that Fenway Park has a green rooftop garden called Fenway Farms that grows produce and herbs that are used in the ballpark? The Museum has a kid-size replica of that green roof that allows museum-goes to learn about how their food is grown.
Perhaps the most surprising thing to me was to learn that just a few floors below our office, there was a real two-story Japanese house we could tour! The house was a gift from Kyoto, Boston’s sister city, and offers a unique way to experience another country’s culture firsthand.
We are so fortunate to have found our new permanent home within a building with such a storied history, and one that will continue to expand the minds of the generations to come. We’re also really excited to check out one of their semi-annual ‘Adults nights’ where the museum opens their doors to guests of all ages to fully immerse themselves in everything the museum has to offer. As a company who has been fortunate enough to design many childcare and early education projects, we came away with a fresh sense of inspiration on seeing the work of others in this space.
By Bobby Main
