131. Children’s Museum of Southeastern Connecticut

Getting Into the Guts of Children’s Museums
Niantic
(Google Maps location)
July 25, 2009

131mirroFor the first few years of writing this blog, I did my very best to retain my sort of anonymous integrity. By the summer of 2009, I began receiving more and more invites to events and museums, which I almost always politely declined. I don’t really know why – and I should have expected the inquiries.

Then it hit me: I don’t get paid for this and while my hobby is unbelievably cheap when compared to other things I could be spending my weekends doing… So why not take some of these places up on their generosity?

But this change in strategy came with some caveats. First and foremost, I needed these places to understand that by no means would their open door policy mean puff pieces on CTMQ. Not that I’m here to bash museums, but I do (I really do) want my visits to reflect YOUR visits. Oh sure, I’d love to see the secret backrooms and perhaps get the director’s ear a little bit more than “the next guy,” but I shouldn’t be treated like a King.

131So when Christy Hammond, the Executive Director of the straightforwardly named Children’s Museum of Southeastern Connecticut reached out to me and offered up a free visit to us, it was rather difficult to refuse. I had come to realize that with Damian’s Smith-Magenis Syndrome, sometimes necessitating very abbreviated museum visits, I’d be a fool not to take the opportunities as they present themselves.

Hi Steve,

Great! We are looking forward to your Museum visit and beach trip this Saturday at 10 a.m. Michael will be the person at the front desk and he will be aware of the free admission for the whole family. A sunny Saturday morning can be a quiet time at the Museum. We will also reserve a beach pass for you for that day. McCook’s Beach Park is a great spot with trees, shade, lovely sand and water.

I think it is terrific that you made a quest of visiting each children’s museum in the state and I look forward to speaking with you after your visit. Having your perspective will help us to continue to grow and learn.

Sincerely,

Christy

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I’m pretty sure Christy knew I am actually attempting to visit every museum, not just every children’s museum, but whatever. I can forgive her slip up what with all the exciting an official CTMQ visit can bring.

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And so we went. And it was indeed a sunny Saturday in Niantic too. Michael was at the front desk as promised and upon introducing myself, Hoang, Damian and I were ushered in and given free reign. (Of course, so is every other visitor… After paying their 6 dollars each. Alright! I just saved 18 bucks! How could I dare say anything bad about this place now!

Argh, you see why I shied away from charity?

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But, two important things to mention here: One, we were unable to use the free private beach pass due to – get this – Hoang having a hair appointment back in West Hartford at 2, so I wouldn’t be using ALL their charity. And two, Christy knew the score. After our visit she wrote:

Hello Steve,

Hope you had a good time while you visited the Museum on Saturday. I heard that you were not able to use the beach pass as you originally planned. I would love to have your feedback, negative and positive, so we can learn from your experience.

Many thanks,

Christy

131gThis Christy, she’s good people. She opened the door for potential negative feedback…. Good.

But the thing is, I don’t really have any about the museum proper… I swear.

As promised, I provided Christy a thorough critique. You see, I don’t “take the money and run,” so to speak. Here is what you kindly executive directors will get for hooking me up:

Christy,

Yes – my wife made an appt late in the week for Sat afternoon. I can’t really blame her as keeping up with my schedule of “events” is near impossible. She and Damian are the real beach people anyway. : ) Please don’t feel we “took advantage” of the situation at all; your kindness was certainly appreciated.

We had a great time; nearly 2 hours at the museum. It was perfect for Damian and his skill sets. Most of the children’s museums we’ve visited skew towards slightly older kids and maybe have a single room devoted to younger kids. I felt that yours certainly targets younger kids – a demographic that isn’t really exploited much in our state. I’m not sure you market that aspect of the museum, but it couldn’t hurt.

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I did read a few anonymous reviews on TripAdvisor or Yelp or something wherein parents sort of complained it was “too young.” Well, they have 10 other options around the state!

As you know, Damian is 3 and a half but due to his special needs is more like a non-verbal 2 year old. He still likes colors and flashing lights and spinning things; so those items were particular hits. It sounds simplistic, but that stuff, coupled with the other hands-on displays in the room with the animals were great for him – and surely are for other kids 2-5 years old. Simple, straight-forward items with which kids can “create” – be it sounds (organ), ping-pong ball paths, twinkling lights or a “meal” on a magnetic board are great.

131jAs much as I love my hometown Children’s museum here in West Hartford (one of CTMQ’s 5 visits here), there isn’t enough of that stuff and what there is is coupled with physics concepts far beyond my child.

The “tour of the world” (sorry, I don’t have my notes or pics with me at the moment) area was equally excellent. Every kid there seemed to be having fun; being creative and engaging in imaginary play – something obviously every parent encourages in their kids. It’s a specific area we are working on with Damian. He really took to the Mexican cantina and serving us tacos and ringing us up on the register. It was really cute.

And as he (and other younger kids) begin to learn putting names/words with actual items (lobster, pyramid, wok, brontosaurus, etc), I found the museum a fun and creative place to learn that stuff.

131hAnd the bubble table? forget about it. That was 20 minutes of fun (for him) right there! It didn’t matter a whit to him that it was 90+ degrees outside.

People often complain about museums like yours for being “old school” without too many electronic gadgets or bells and whistles. Ignore them. Kids don’t need that – kids need imaginative play in a variety of settings and they need compartmentalization. It’s funny, with Damian and his global developmental delays, we recognize the need for this stuff more than other parents. He needs the structure and compartmentalization and hands-on imaginative play that your place provides – even more than daycare where he can flit about from one activity to another every 2 minutes.

Little kids don’t need to learn how to use cell phones or computers – they need exactly what you provide.

131lAs far as criticisms, I’m sure people balk at the $6 per head charge. Mind you, they’d not bat an eyelash at renting a movie for 6 bucks to plop their kid in front of a TV for 2 hours. (Full disclosure: We’re not above that.) Throw in the beach pass to what I’m sure is a perfect little beach for families and they are getting a steal.

I don’t know what your limit on beach passes is, but that’s certainly something to play up. And on days when the local history museums are having programs (ie, the Thomas Lee house and the Smith-Harris House – CTMQ Visits here and here), perhaps partner up with them to incentivize parents of older kids to “spend a day” learning in East Lyme. I visited both those places on CT Open House day last year and they were both excellent – period costumes and activities for kids.

Also, maybe even something with the wondrous Book Barn. Maybe 50% children’s books with a Children’s Museum receipt (or vice versa) or something.

131iYou can tell I’m big into the partnership idea. As our smaller museums struggle, it boggles my mind how they don’t partner up with various passport or “go here and save there” coupon ideas.

If you’d like specific answers to any questions, just let me know. If you’d like to chat, I’ll make myself available to do so.

Thank you again for your generosity!

Steve (and Hoang and Damian)

Darn, now I can’t just boilerplate that letter for future free visits. Oh well. Before I go into a little more detail about the museum, it should be noted that Christy replied thusly:

Hi Steve,

Thank you very much for your lovely critique of our Museum. I appreciate the time you took to compose the note. We just finished a strategic plan that focuses on becoming a co-created museum, partnerships as you called it, so we are headed in that direction.

Thanks again and if you ever decide you would like to return, just let us know! The beach is lovely in the fall too, and there is a local spot for apples with freshly made cider donuts!

Hope to see you again,

Christy

131kIsn’t this wonderful? Isn’t this what it’s all about? The great thing about Connecticut is that even if you live in northern Salisbury, this place is only 100 miles away – and trust me, coupled with a stop at the Book Barn and an afternoon at the beach while chowing down on some lobster rolls from Johnny Ad’s down the street (like we did, actually)… it’s worth the effort. So stop saying there’s nothing to do in Connecticut!

Boy, this write-up is writing itself. Heck, I might as well let the museum’s website explain, in their own words, what they are all about:

The Children’s Museum of Southeastern Connecticut is an interactive, hands-on, educational place for children to try on new roles, let their imaginations soar and feel safe while exploring the world around them. 5,000 square feet and all on one floor, the Museum is accessible to everyone. We engage, encourage, and challenge children from 9 months to 9 years in the arts, sciences, health, and world cultures. Visit the Discovery Room featuring Kelsey’s Vision, live animals and science activities. Climb into the kids’ clubhouse. Pilot a fishing boat, then head to the Fish Market. Explore Toddler Land with your infants and toddlers. Don’t miss the Global Village, a celebration of diverse cultural heritage. Would-be builders create wonders in the construction exhibit. Open year ’round for the truly hearty, our 2 outdoor areas delight youngsters with giant chimes, whale drum, dino dig, climbing wall, performing stage, a real 2-person research submarine and more!

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Best looking news anchors, ever!

See our exhibits! Each exhibit is stocked with Imagination Sparkers for adults looking for a bit more and classic children’s books to read to their child. Older children will enjoy the scavenger hunt with all sorts of gizmos added to expand their learning. Come ready to play or ready to relax while your children do all the work!!

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Except I wouldn’t have mentioned “Kelsey’s Vision,” because I have no idea what that is – and some of the outdoor stuff is brand new too, so yeah, maybe we WILL have to revisit this summer and actually hit up the beach next time.

Just to touch on a few specific exhibits, if I may. The first room Damian enjoyed was filled with those “bells and whistles” I mentioned above. And wacky mirrors and all sorts of “touch” and “sound” stations. It was really neat to watch him create different things through new and inventive means. This large room is perfect for little kids – and it’s not all fun and games.

Here’s the guy responsible for the title of this post:

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Damian loved feeding him food and diving into his innards. Okay, that last part wasn’t so much “learning” as it was my child being a nut, but it was still fun.

There were also a few choice live reptiles and amphibians in the corner of this room as well, which are always a hit with Damian for 4 minutes or so.

131mBut the biggest hit of all here is outside. Ah yes, the bubble table. Despite the midday July sun beating down on his sweating head, Damian simply did not want to leave the giant bubbles. This gave me some time to check out the Benthic Explorer, a real two-person submarine at least.

Back inside (finally), we were pleased to find this museum’s green screen video technology in working order (a first!) and Hoang and Damian were able to give the news for once.

It’s easy to see in the pictures that Damian really enjoyed his visit. In fact, he enjoyed it a bit too much as that’s the reason we had no time for the beach… Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

131nThe museum offers a few unique touches beyond all I’ve mentioned that really make it special. They have changes of clothes in case your kid makes a wet mess of his! They are sure to offer stickers upon leaving to, “make leaving the Museum a little bit easier.” Awww.

I should mention a few last things… The Museum puts on a variety of different programs throughout the year, which you can check out via the links below. But I must mention what they call, “Creative Nonsense Week.” How awesome is that? My whole life is creative nonsense. Oh to be a kid again…

For now, we’ll just enjoy a few more pictures of my kid at one of the few museums he cried about having to leave!

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“That’ll be 4 bucks, lady.”

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“Here’s your taco, lady.”

…………………………………………………….

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Cost: $6 for everyone over 1. (Save 2 bucks)
Hours: See for yourselves
Food & Drink? Terrible website, Great food
Children? Duh
You’ll like it if: You come with kids
You won’t like it if: You miss the point and want all electronic gadgetry all the time
Freebies: Everything! (Applies to me only)

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For the Curious:

Children’s Museum of SE Connecticut
The guts guy reminded me of good ol’ Slim Goodbody
Autonomous Benthic Explorer
World Famous Horseshoe Curve

3 responses to “131. Children’s Museum of Southeastern Connecticut”

  1. dick hemenway says:

    Steve

    This is, as always, an excellent review and most helpful to parents looking to take their children to a museum for a day of fun and learning. No one does it better than you.

    However, I am sorry to hear that you have decided to accept free vists from museums. That brings your impartiality into question and makes the reviews less valuable – which ones did he accept payment for? You are a journalist after all – like food critics and theater critics – and I believe that you should maintain your independence. The money is so little anyway. Says somewhere that a man cannot serve two masters. Now a sponser to pick up the tabs, that would be ok.

  2. Steve says:

    Dick,

    Fair point. And I know you believe me when I say that I didn’t make this decision lightly. That may sound odd to most readers – after all, CTMQ is a labor of love and I don’t even have Google Ads on here – but I DO care about being what I’ve become: THE resource for “stuff to do” in CT.

    I’ve been to 30+ more museums since this one and have gotten into another one for free – but it was to write an article for Museum Magazine.

    Please be assured that if/when I accept such invites, I will always make note of it. Also be assured that these acceptances will be very few and far between. As you wrote, in comparison to other day trips, museums are almost always the cheapest option anyway.

  3. Kerri says:

    While trying to find out what else is in this part of the state, I wound up reading this. Why? It’s not like I got to children’s museums as a rule. The first comment is sucking me into commenting, giving a two-years late response.

    Journalists are never impartial. That is a myth. We are human beings. We have bias. A slightly rude clerk could taint a review (heh heh, I just wrote “taint”) as much as a free pass could. Additionally, journalists who do not fall into the blogger category (whether we call ourselves that or the professional journalists decide to call us that because their territory feels infringed upon) receive free passes ALL THE TIME. If they do not receive free passes outright, they are able to expense these things, meaning that they didn’t have to really pay anyway. What is the difference between newspaper journalists (the three left) who get free admission to a rock show that they will later write about and Steve? Well, for one, Steve is already more honest and can write worth a damn.

    Honestly, I don’t think you need to disclose anything. I trust that if something sucks, you’ll tell us, regardless of any freebies.

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