This week was a pretty busy one. Last Friday, I was tasked with fully acquainting myself with both “Museums in a Box” and preparing different activities for their respective groups. While the boxes already included some activities and games, I didn’t want to be repetitive and stick to the same exercises. This was my first experience preparing activities for young children, let alone children K-4 and 4-8. Nonetheless, I scoured the internet for ideas and tried to use the resources all around me. Luckily, I’ve been an older sister for almost 13 years so some of my resources were right beside me! I pulled much of my experiences with my younger siblings and cousins when thinking about the kind of activities younger and pre-teen children may be interested in. Younger kids are more hands-on and love to be included with the rest of the group, while older kids may seek more autonomy but still require some structure.
That being said, I created 2-3 different programs for each box and got to put them into practice with this week’s facilitations. I got the pleasure of meeting the children through programs such as Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services (ETSS) and the YMCA, with some of my visits at the site I was placed with last week. Since I personalized the activities, I was able to easily modify the sessions to have the most amount of fun with the children. And honestly, when they have fun, I have way more fun! This week we spent some time talking about the future and how things change. They also got the chance to draw how they think some toys and gadgets could look in the future. Attached is a picture of some of the kiddos’ drawings :).
All in all, this week helped me tap into some skills that I didn’t realize I possessed. I actively altered much of the “constructive” elements of the activities and ended the week with happy children and teachers. Getting a little better with each facilitation is the goal, and this week definitely made that mark. I can’t wait to see the rest of the kids for my facilitation experiences, but I’m also excited to start doing more work with other programs and departments at the Ohio History Connection