Please Touch {PGNHM}

Often you go to museums with your kids and there are signs everywhere that read: 'Please do NOT touch!' or 'Eyes Only.' It's downright stressful, at times, to keep curious, little hands off of the exhibits. So, imagine my delight when we wandered into a exhibit at the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum that not only allowed touching, but invited it.

These are for touching. I think I visibly sighed with relief. Instead of chiding my boys, I played with them, touching, exploring, and rearranging the artifacts.

We were there for Science Saturday, learning about the endangered California Condors. There are two more this summer: Museum Identification Day on July 27th and Gems and Minerals on August 31st. Put those on your calendar, if you're local! But we ended up spending a lot of time in the room with some interative taxidermy exhibits and curating our own cabinets of curiosity. What fun!

Cabinets of Curiosity, as the signage explained, were a product of the wealthy during Renaissance Europe. The aristocracy and monarchs collected rare objects from expeditions to the edges of the known world. The cabinets held and displayed such treasures. Cabinets were organized in a way that made sense to the collector. This exhibit invited you to organize the items in your own way. Dylan and Riley ordered the spices from least to most aromatic; they grouped echinoderms together. It was actually a fascinating look into how their minds worked.

This was hands-on learning at it's best! Thank you, PGNHM. We'll definitely be back for another visit!

I didn't notice the look on Dylan's face until I downloaded these images. Doesn't it just say, "I am the little brother."

Something New

Riley received his first project assignment for 4th grade for his 6-week unit on "Discovering California": create a brochure or poster advertising a region of California.

He drew me a rough diagram of the state with circles for the regions. We discussed his options - desert, coastal, central, and mountains. I, simply because we've traveled all along the California coast, suggested that he choose the coastal region. I have tons of photos he can use.

One leveled glance and a single sentence made this mommy feel about 1" tall. And I was reminded that getting projects done is not about getting a project done.

"Mom," he said, "if I write about something I am already familiar with I won't learn anything new."

Very true. It's about learning. How could I have forgotten that?

He decided to study the California desert. So we are all going to be learning about the desert in the next couple of weeks.