Today, we catch up with Elisabeth Padilla, Education and Public Programs Outreach Specialist and School Tours Coordinator as she prepares the museum’s Creativity Lab for the latest Friday morning installment of the Early Explorers program.
The More You Look is a production of the UA Museum of the North, on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the ancestral lands of the Dena people of the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.
Today, we catch up with Elisabeth Padilla, Education and Public Programs Outreach Specialist and School Tours Coordinator as she prepares the museum’s Creativity Lab for the latest Friday morning installment of the Early Explorers program.
The More You Look is a production of the UA Museum of the North, on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the ancestral lands of the Dena people of the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.
Elisabeth Padilla:
Today we're doing early explorers, which is a program for kids ages five and under. And they come with their families, with their parents, grandparents, whoever brings them.
Roger Topp:
Hello, and welcome to The More You Look: Up Close, a short, unscheduled stop on your behind the scenes journey into museum collections, research, exhibits, and public programming. I'm Roger Topp, Director of Exhibits, Design, and Digital Media at the UA Museum of the North, and today's host. Today we catch up with Elisabeth Padilla, Education and Public Programs Outreach Specialist and School Tours Coordinator as she prepares the museum's Creativity Lab for the latest Friday morning installment of the Early Explorers program. Looking at this animal in the bag, and that looks really, really cute.
Elisabeth Padilla:
Yeah, so, this is a pop up Marmot. So, I was trying to get the idea across about where marmots live, you know, to little kids, the idea that they live in burrows underground. So, there's this little brown bag that's folded up and then the kids get to crunch it up into, you know, it's shape, and then fabricate this little felt marmot on the popsicle stick, and they can play peekaboo with it. It's above it on the sixth grade that goes underground. It lets kids be a little bit creative with it and not just make something that, you know, is all the same. It gets to be their own. Little bit over here. And so over here is the area that I'm, kind of, currently setting up. It's a floor play area. And since the kids coming to this program are very young, sometimes you know, little babies learning to crawl, this is a really important spot. They spend a lot of time on the ground with their parents: playing exploring puppets, books, puzzles, that kind of thing.
Roger Topp:
Excellent. I love seeing we have the bear hibernation den, which I think we had in the Hibernation and Science of Cold exhibit.
Elisabeth Padilla:
Yes.
Roger Topp:
Can't remember what year that was. And then the Otto[brown bear] pop-up which was probably the same exhibit. Then the woodstove that we fabricated--I think that was for the was for the Denali--100 years on Denali.
Elisabeth Padilla:
Exactly. So a lot of these props are recycled from past exhibits that have now gone away, but the kids really enjoy them. And so that's a highlight for many kids coming in.
Roger Topp:
How many kids come in for these programs?
Elisabeth Padilla:
So, we get anywhere from--so we do totals, the whole family, anywhere from about 20 to 60. Last semester, so about,you know, 12 to 30 kids, depending on the day.
Roger Topp:
Not all the same time, because they can come in between--
Elisabeth Padilla:
Yeah, they have a two hour window. So between 10 and noon, and generally. They stay quite a while. Yeah, so some families come and really do every activity. We generally have three to four craft sort of activities, sensory things. And so, some families come in and they want to do every craft, and others come in and just see what their kid is interested in. And little kids one year old may just you know, play with other kids on the floor and be surrounded by--
Roger Topp:
Right across from the gallery. So it's easy to head out into the gallery and--
Elisabeth Padilla:
and some you know, little kids learning to walk, they're like, 'Alright, I've explored this space. Now I'm ready to go in the gallery.' And it's just really fun to see that age. I enjoy it. Yeah, so they have a scavenger hunt, usually, too, that they take out into the gallery, because the point of the program is also for them to come to the museum. So we want them to connect with the gallery. And we design an activity for them to look at objects with sort of a theme in mind. So this month, it's about rodents, which we have quite a few in the last--yeah, they're all over the exhibits.
Roger Topp:
Getting into our houses too.
Elisabeth Padilla:
And they can also be used as cultural. They're culturally useful. So for example, beavers are used for furs, for all kinds of mittens, boots, garments, so we want to highlight cultural aspects too--and that's another thing about these programs. They're usually across disciplines of the museum. So we want to highlight some natural history, culture history where it's applicable and kind of weave them all together. And at this stage of programs for five and under, it's really basic. So they learn very basic animal characteristics. And over here we have little ABC book. So they make a little book about rodents that they can use at home to practice their ABCs. The cultural piece this month is about, you know, the use in, in first sewing and such. They're definitely used as food, some rodents, and then also looking at mouse stories, mice, such a hero in many stories for kids. And so, to get kids to relate to that aspect a little bit.,
Roger Topp:
Early explorers occurs every month?
Elisabeth Padilla:
It occurs every month. So, during the school year. We take a little break during the summer because kids are busy, mostly exploring outdoors. And so we are here from September through May, every year, once a month. And there are other programs too that occur. So Junior Curators is for ages six to twelve And then we have Teen Studios, which is a couple of times a semester, which are for teenagers. We have adult programs too. And then, of course we have Family Days, which are once a month and for the whole family. The broader public is invited.
Roger Topp:
Excellent. So many things to do. Well, thank you, Elisabeth.
Elisabeth Padilla:
You're welcome.
Roger Topp:
Good luck. The program starts--this one starts in about an hour and a half.
Elisabeth Padilla:
Yes. A little bit of work to do, finish setting up. I'm looking forward to seeing--.
Roger Topp:
Thank you.
Elisabeth Padilla:
Thanks Roger.
Roger Topp:
The More You Look is a production of the UA Museum of the North on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the ancestral lands of the Dene people of the lower Tanana River UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples. Thank you for listening. Please subscribe and share and rate the program. This helps other listeners discover more about not only the work of this museum, but quite possibly other museums in their neighborhoods. The more you look, the more you find.