Watercolor evergreen trees line one corner of the Montshire Museum’s new Wonder Woods exhibit. Beside them, a deep blue starry sky wraps around the inside of a reading nook. Real tree bark covers the entryway wall, and squares of wallpaper here and there depict leafy boughs, as though glimpsed through a window.
Absent are the bright primary colors often associated with childhood. That’s by design.
Two years in the making, Wonder Woods, which opened on Saturday, incorporates some of the latest research on early childhood development — chiefly, that the years between 0 and 5 set the stage for lifelong learning — while also acknowledging the comfort of caregivers accompanying the Montshire’s youngest visitors as they crawl, toddle and run through the new space.
The earthy color scheme, for example, reflects research showing that young children don’t need an exclusive diet of bold colors to stimulate the brain and that they learn best when new experiences relate to things they already know, such as trees, grass, rocks and sky. At the same time, the pleasing hues, along with ample, comfortable seating, storage cubbies and wide spaces for strollers invite caregivers to relax and enjoy their time with their children.
“We want to make you fall in love with your kids again, put them in their best light,” said Sherlock Terry, the director of exhibits at the Norwich museum, which hosts about 175,000 visitors a year. “We know that these are the most fundamental years for children to build their learning habits … and we want these exhibits to support that in every way.”
The 600-square-foot permanent installation features a building and artistic play area furnished with low tables, blocks designed to suggest the colors and shapes of nature and a magnetic board where kids can create shapes with magnets; a large play structure with tunnels, towers and a miniature climbing wall, all of which are easily accessible to caregivers; a ball rollway placed beneath the silhouettes of nearby mountain ranges; a reading nook outfitted with puppets and board books; and an infant crawling space with a balancing barre, mirror and nursing chair.
Designed in consultation with educators, scientists and museum experts, and with input from parents, the installation is meant to facilitate early STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning. The rollway, for example, allows children to experiment with gravity, momentum and other forces students learn about more formally in the classroom. The magnetic board supports exploration of shapes and patterns. And the springy floor, low-to-the-ground exhibits and safety gate allow small children to explore confidently, with their caregivers in sight but not too close.
“The idea is that they’re already exploring, even as infants,” said Katie Kalata Rusch, the museum’s exhibits developer.
Kids naturally explore whether they’re in a fastidiously engineered museum space or on a trip to the grocery store. But Wonder Woods is intended to promote exploration in unique ways.
For one thing, the exhibit gives parents insights into their children’s natural development and how to foster it, Kalata Rusch said. Each location has a placard explaining how the activities support growth in one of five areas: cognition, communication, physical, sensory and social-emotional, she said. Each placard also includes a suggested activity for caregivers to do with their children and one thing to observe.
By incorporating new scientific findings, the exhibit’s designers also were deliberate in creating ways to expose children to the range of experiences they need for physical, mental and social development, Kalata Rusch said. For example, the climbing structure is designed as a circuit, a shape that solidifies learning, and one of the climbing towers is darkened, requiring children to find their way around using senses other than sight.
The emphasis on parent comfort is valuable to child development, too, Terry said. Away from the pull of household chores and ambivalence over activities that disrupt order, caregivers can fully engage with children, he said.
The specialness of a visit to a museum also contributes to learning, said Marcos Stafne, the Montshire’s executive director. Children may spend a relatively small amount of time there, but that time is memorable, he said.
“A museum creates sort of an awe-inducing environment in which wonder can happen,” Stafne said. “And that wonder can open up learning in a different way.”
Once the province of school-age children and adults, museums around the country are enlarging their focus to include the very young, Stafne said.
“We just know so much more about early education in museums than we did 30 years ago,” he said.
Along with Wonder Woods, the museum is introducing a new series of education programs for children 5 and under. These include a weekly science story time, a redesigned “Young Scientist” program and summer camps for 4- and 5-year-olds.
Wonder Woods replaces Andy’s Place, a smaller and less adult-friendly area designed for the smallest Montshire guests. Fans of Andy’s Place, which was opened in 1992 in memory of young guest Andy Mortimer, can visit it for a couple more weeks before it closes on March 15 to make room for other exhibits.
And anyone wondering what will become of the 4-foot-tall stuffed bear that presided over Andy’s Place can rest at ease: The bear will be relocated to one of the towers in Wonder Woods.
For information on exhibits, hours and admission rates, visit montshire.org.
Sarah Earle can be reached at searle@vnews.com or 603-727-3268.