Kids love museums but curious hands and irreplaceable art do not always mix well. This summer, take your budding Picassos to the Asian Art Museum’s newest exhibit, teamLab: Continuity, an interactive digital art experience the whole family will love. Immersive art is all the rage these days so read on to find out why and how kids blend in perfectly!
TeamLab: Continuity
Asian Art Museum
Located in San Francisco’s Civic Center, The Asian Art Museum recently reopened after an extensive remodel and COVID-19 hiatus. Continuity is located in the brand new Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Pavilion, which at 8,500 square feet is the city’s largest art exhibition space.
My sidekicks, ages five and seven, were initially wary of the exhibit. Like most kids their age, they like to run around and touch things but know from previous experience this leads to frantic shushing in art galleries. However, the enthusiastic docents pointed out all the exhibit's cool features and encouraged the kids for some hands-on action. Before long, my kids were touching, giggling and dancing from room to room. Images of the natural world are projected onto the floor, ceilings and walls and change constantly as you walk which gives the feeling of being truly immersed in a painting.
TeamLab
Multiple senses are involved in this truly interactive exhibit as a swipe near the wall changes the display of colorful cherry blossoms while a touch of the hand creates a new cloud of butterflies. Music, dancing light and even smell adds to the experience with the scent of rose petals creating a spa-like and relaxing environment. In one particular room, the creators presented an exciting vibe with streams of light zooming around the room that slightly disoriented my sense of balance. The upbeat tempo of the music accompanied by the flashing lights caused my kids to immediately launch into their own private dance party.
Sketch Ocean
Sarah McDonald
Although Continuity is the main draw, don’t miss Sketch Ocean, a smaller exhibit located near the museum’s entrance. This is another interactive art experience from teamLab, where colorful sea creatures created by visitors are projected onto the walls.
Pick a template, color, scan and watch as your drawing bursts into life on the wall and swims away to join other creations. The movement of the artworks are quite life-like and the result mimics a real aquarium. Look out for fish who have swum all the way from Tokyo, where teamLab has a sister exhibit.
Nosh
Creating great art is hungry work, so make a stop at the museum’s cafe, Sunday at the Museum, for a Japanese-inspired sandwich (think Katsu chicken on milk bread with slaw!) or a house-made chocolate chip cookie. The cafe also serves boba tea from the Boba Guys and sparkling fruit drinks.
If you are looking for a fun way to fire up your kids’ imagination and enjoy modern art together minus the stress of keeping them quiet in an adult space, be sure to catch this exhibit while it is in town!
TeamLab: Continuity and Sketch Ocean
July 23 to February 2022 Tickets: $20/adults weekdays, $25 weekends, free for children under 12 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco Online: asianart.org
Instagram continues to be a behemoth in the world of social media, with more than a billion unique visitors on a monthly basis. Teens and pre-teens use the site to share photos and memes, private message and follow brands, but the platform has its share of pitfalls. Today Instagram announced changes to the platform that include defaulting young people into private accounts and making it harder for suspicious accounts to find young people.
“Young people” are defined as 16 and younger in the U.S. In a statement, Instagram said “Wherever we can, we want to stop young people from hearing from adults they don’t know, or that they don’t want to hear from.” The biggest preventative step will be defaulting this audience into a private account as they join the platform, instead of a public account.
That step allows users to control who sees or responds to content. With a private account, people have to follow you to see your content and you approve those followers manually. Even more critically, private account content does not show up in places like Explore or in the hashtag search section. Instagram notes that new users can still choose to have a public account and teens who are already signed up will see a notification explaining the benefits of a private account.
Instagram has also developed new technology to track accounts with “potentially suspicious behavior.” These accounts belong to adults that may have been blocked or reported by a young person. This feature means accounts that exhibit this behavior won’t be able to follow or comment on young people’s accounts. The technology is currently rolling out worldwide and isn’t perfect, but it’s another move by the platform to support online safety.
Finally, Instagram is limiting how advertisers can interact with its younger audience. The upcoming change means advertisers can only target ads to teens based on age, gender and location. Previously, ads could also target teens on interests, or on activity on other apps and websites. This change was based on conversations with youth advocates and will affect Facebook and Messenger, too.
––Sarah Shebek
Featured image courtesy of Gaelle Marcel, Unsplash
Immersive Van Gogh, a unique art exhibit that just opened in San Francisco on March 18, is a fanciful and remarkable escape from our world into a land of sunlit countrysides, endless flowers and star-filled nights. The distinctive, often dreamlike paintings of the famous Dutch painter are turned into huge, moving animations for this exhibition, which combine digital projections and music to create a truly immersive experience. It’s an eye-opening introduction into the growing field of immersive art, and is a fun new way for all ages to appreciate Van Gogh’s paintings. Here’s the scoop on what you’ll see when you check out this exhibit.
Massimiliano Siccardi, the creative director of this exhibit, was inspired by Van Gogh’s quote, “I dream my painting and I paint my dream”, and the approximately 40-minute exhibition feels remarkably like stepping into a dream. In the darkness, images taken from Van Gogh’s paintings appear on the walls and floor of the empty space: pastoral landscapes, sunflowers and irises, streets filled with people, and the famous starry night.
The images continually move and morph, so you can see brushstrokes forming an image, the sun moving across a yellow sky, and flowers blooming. One of the most effective sections of the piece makes viewers feel like they are slowly descending down from the night sky past tall towers, onto a busy street lined with cafes lit by candles. At that moment you feel truly immersed in Van Gogh’s vision. The accompanying original score by Luca Longobardi also creates a contemplative, dreamy mood as the exhibition progresses through Van Gogh’s various pieces, roughly tracing his life.
The exhibition takes place in a single large gallery space at SVN West. Once you step inside, you see ceiling projectors projecting images on all four walls, and hear music filling the space—you’re instantly immersed in sights and sounds. Visitors are spaced out in social distancing circles on the floor, and there is an elevated viewing platform in the center. Definitely move around the entire space to experience the exhibit from all angles. Admissions are limited to comply with city capacity guidelines, and temperature checks are required upon arrival. All guests must wear a face covering at all times during their visit.
Ticket prices start at $39.99 ($24.99 for children 16 or younger), with VIP, timed, and flexible ticket options available. The exhibition runs through Monday, September 6, 2021, and tickets are already selling out for the month of March. For kids, this exhibition can provide a new way to view art and understand the creative process.
Very small children may be overwhelmed by the moments of darkness in the exhibition or the loudness of the music, but you can step outside to the adjoining gallery space for a break if needed. More often, older children seem entranced by the images slowly moving across the walls. Afterwards, when you get home you can look up some of Van Gogh’s paintings that were used for this exhibition. They might inspire your kids to create their own artwork or digital art experience: Immersive Van Gogh showcases some of the marvelous ways art may evolve in the future.
Immersive Van Gogh
SVN West, 10 S. Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA
We don’t know about you, but we’ve been spending a lot more time outside the past couple of years. However, some New York families have been embracing the great outdoors no matter the weather all along. These fans of the Scandinavian “forest school” philosophy — which develops kids’ self-confidence and curiosity through direct exploration of nature—are dedicated to outdoor learning and play in sun, showers and yes, snow. Read on to learn the benefits of forest school, and how and where to have fun in the snow this winter!
photo: Brooklyn Nature Days
Forest School 101 Like so many things in vogue these daysthe Forest School concept is Danish in origin. The natural world is literally the classroom in Forest School, with children learning and playing in a forest or woodland environment. Leaner-led, this outdoor education model is said to develop students’ confidence and self-esteem and strengthen social skills, problem-solving and the ability to work as part of a team. It also, obviously, increases kids connection to, and understanding, of the Earth.
Lots of people think the Danes are onto something: Forest school preschool alternatives have cropped up all over the country, and now, NYC kids can go into the wild too, in a variety of ways.
Why Outside?
Upper Manhattan Forest Kids
As we've written previously, forest schools, or forest kindergarten are increasingly popular in the U.S.. The pandemic, of course, has only intensified an interest in outdoor learning.
"There's a large and growing body of research that shows kids benefit in myriad ways from outdoor play," says, Anna Sharratt, Executive Director of national forest school organization, Free Forest School. Benefits of outdoor learning and play are said to include increased independence, problem-solving skills, cooperation, resilience, leadership, and creativity and imagination, to name just a few. Physically, kids develop fine and gross motor skills and spatial awareness.
"But the studies just confirm what anyone who interacts with young kids—or who can remember being a kid themselves—already knows," says Sharratt. "Experiences in nature with their peers give kids the freedom, stimulation, opportunities to explore, challenges, and real-world experiences that push them to grow, learn and develop. Above all, I believe that unstructured play in nature supports kids growing into independent, compassionate, critical thinkers and problem solvers."
Outdoor play is also a great way for kids to connect with the experience of being in their bodies, and winter, of course, presents its own opportunities for that. "We ask kids, 'What does your body need right now?'," says Vanessa Ramos, Educational Director of Elements, The Nature Preschool, a school for kids ages three months to five years, located on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Solutions may include anything from running and jumping to dancing or letting out a big yell. (The school has an impressive yard of about 3,500 square feet filled with options for activity such as a treehouse, swings and climbing structures.) "Knowing and living in your body develops mental and physical resilience," says Ramos.
Stephan Kammerer and Sarita Covington run Upper Manhattan Forest Kids, leading outdoor classes in the forest school tradition for kids up to six years old. (Kammerer attended forest kindergarten himself in his native country Denmark; there, it's called "Skovbørnehave.") He says that class outings are for the most part child-led, and employ the idea of "wild play" or "risky play."
"We say, 'Anything you can do on your own, you can do.'," says Covington. "So kids get to know their strength and ability. They say, 'At one point I was not able to to climb that, and now I can'."
What to Wear
Elements The Nature Preschool
No one has any fun if they aren't warm. Outings with Upper Manhattan Forest Kids are typically two hours, but Covington and Kammerer recommend starting with less time, and working up to longer excursions.
Ramos cites "wet and cold" and "wet and windy" as conditions to avoid, and recommends checks of cheeks, fingers and toes for warmth every 15 or 20 minutes. But, she adds, "We say there's no bad weather, just bad clothing."
Key strategies for staying warm:
• Wool is the material of choice: wool hats, wool socks, wool scarf
• Wear waterproof and insulated mittens
• Wear many layers. Long underwear, snow pants, snow jackets. "If you feel you're overdressed, you're probably properly dressed," says Covington. "You can always take something off."
Exploring and discovery are a big part of the forest school philosophy. (In fact, having a destination is not a priority and even getting a little lost is encouraged.) Kammerer and Covington recommend finding a spot with some variation in the topography. So, a woodsy space with lots of trees and slopes is ideal. Excellent choices include the north woods in Central Park or Inwood Hill Park.
Beyond hiking, Upper Manhattan Forest Kids provides all kinds of activity to keep kids engaged and moving. Examples include scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, red light/green light, Simon Says, obstacle courses and physical challenges like "How fast can you jump over these logs." (You want to keep the extremities moving.)
Winter is also a fun time to observe animal tracks from rabbits, raccoons, dogs, squirrels and other creatures, or make a bird feeder using basic materials.
Another aspect of forest school is reenforcing the idea that everyone is a steward of the Earth; group leaders ask students to point out any trash they see along the way so that an adult can pick it up. "We want to model taking care of the planet," says Kammerer.
What to Eat
Upper Manhattan Forest Kids
It's key to remain hydrated, so be sure to bring water, and sure, some hot cocoa.
The best snacks are whole foods like nuts, trail mix and high-protein items.
photo: Brooklyn Nature Days
A Little or a Lot of Forest School in Brooklyn Brooklyn Nature Days brings the forest school philosophy to a preschool alternative held Prospect Park in all kinds of weather. Child-led inquiry and the natural surroundings such as the changes of seasons, animals and plant life, inspire each day’s activities.
Founded by Sarah Carlson, a Bank Street Graduate and certified Forest School Kindergarten Teacher, Brooklyn Nature Days also runs school vacation camps, if sampling the forest school way is more your speed.
A typical day begins with a hike to a chosen location, is followed by a hello circle and songs, and is followed by unstructured free play, a high protein/complex carbohydrate snack and activities such storytelling, arts and crafts and nature journaling. Children are invited to participate in activities, but also have the right to continue exploring their own interests if they prefer. Small class size and low student-to-teacher ratio help ensure each kid gets the attention they need.
Both preschool alternative and camps are offered as few as one day a week or as many as five. Drop off locations are at park entrance points of Grand Army Plaza, Prospect Park West and 3rd Street, and Prospect Park West and 9th Street.
Looking for indoor fun for kids without spending a dime? Skip the Smithsonian on the National Mall and check out DC’s newest family-friendly museum, Planet Word. This high-tech museum—the brainchild of a former reading teacher—features hands-on, interactive exhibits that will entertain and engage the whole family. Read on for why this museum should be on your must-see list beyond its can’t-beat admission price.
photo: Planet Word
Speak Up
Words are everywhere. We use them to speak, write, sing and communicate. And in the Planet Word museum, you use them to activate different exhibit spaces. In the Where Do Words Come From? exhibit (pictured above), a 20-foot boldly lit wall of words “talks” about etymology while prompting visitors to participate and communicate through microphones. The messages in this room may be lost on younger kids, but the take away—the power of words—comes across in this dazzling light show.
photo: Planet Word
Get Interactive
Many of Planet Word’s exhibits bring the gift of human language to life through interactive exhibits. Enter the museum and you will be greeted by a towering sculpture of a willow tree. Walk past, and the tree whispers poems and sayings in over one hundred different languages. Get hands at the Word Worlds exhibit (pictured above) where even littles will enjoy painting with, you guessed it, words, while they transform the space with color and sound. Don’t forget to check out Unlock the Music, another all-age exhibit where you get to star in your own karaoke-style sing-along while learning about the art of lyrics.
photo: Planet Word
Books Come Alive
In this Harry Potter-like library room (pictured above), words leap off the page—literally. This magical room offers a story time like you and your kids have never experienced before! Crack the spine of a book and words dance on projectors, some even include narration. Look for kid-friendly favorites like Alice in Wonderland and The Lorax. There is even a secret library nook where you can listen to poetry.
photo: Planet Word
Location, Location, Location
Planet Word is located in Franklin School, most notable for being the site of Alexander Graham Bell’s first wireless transmission in 1880. Take the blue silver or orange metro line; the museum is conveniently located near the 14th St. metro exit at McPherson Square. Can’t make it to the museum? Check out upcoming virtual events being hosted by the museum, like the weekly workshop, “We Love Word Games.”
COVID-19 Guidelines: Masks are required inside the museum. Free stylus pens are distributed to visitors. There are also a limited number of disposable headphones. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own headphones. Due to limited capacity during COVID, passes should be reserved online.
Hours: Thurs.-Sat., 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Cost: Free
925 13th St. NW
Franklin Square; Entrance on K Street
202-931-3139
Online: planetwordmuseum.org
Parents across the country are looking for resources to help teach their young children about racism in America. By the age of two and a half children can start developing and observing racial biases and at ages four and five they can begin to exhibit obvious bias. Black children can start to feel discriminated against because of their skin color at this age as well.
This PBS video can help young children learn about the origins and meaning of Juneteenth.
This PBS KIDS for Parents article offers advice to help parents prepare for difficult conversations and start discussions at an early age.
Tips include:
Practice what you want to say before you say it and be aware of your own biases
Use picture books and activities to convey your message
Ask your child how they feel directly
Instill confidence in Black children through storytelling
Help children begin to understand how to be an ally
Even though the Shedd Aquarium temporarily shut its doors, the Magellanic and rockhopper penguins still prepared for breeding season. Animal care experts helped facilitate by shifting the light cycle and scattering nesting materials in the Polar Play Zone exhibit. During quarantine, between building nests and taking field trips around the aquarium, the penguins welcomed four Magellanic chicks.
The first chicks hatched on May 18, and the final chick joined on May 21, with all the new arrivals weighing in around 66-85 grams upon hatch. All of the chicks are being raised by adults who feed and incubate the baby birds. With four new arrivals, this is the most Magellanic penguins born and bred at the aquarium following the annual breeding season.
The animal care team conducts quick daily check-ups with the hatchlings to monitor growth and ensure all four chicks continue to hit critical milestones. Since hatching, the birds now weigh between 1200 and 2000 grams showing that they are receiving the proper nutrients to help them grow. The penguins will be at their full size after two to three months. Until then caretakers will monitor the hatchlings for additional milestones, as well as tracking vocalizations, hydration levels, grooming and more.
The chicks have become more mobile. While they are not ready to take field trips around the aquarium, they have been socializing with their caretakers and each other.
In the coming months, the animal care team will determine the sex of the chicks. The hatchlings will get named before making a public debut in the exhibit.
While Shedd Aquarium has been closed to the public since mid-March, their animal care efforts have not slowed down. To mitigate the financial impacts of the closure, the public can support Shedd Aquarium’s mission and dedication to top-quality animal care by symbolically adopting a penguin. All adopters will receive a plush penguin, a photo of the animal and regular updates on the birds. The public can also support the aquarium by donating to its reopening campaign, It’s Time, or by signing up to become a member.
—Jennifer Swartvagher
All photos courtesy of Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez
The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is closed to human visitors, but that doesn’t mean the the exhibit floors are empty. Staff members are allowing the penguins out to wander the around and check out their neighbors. The best part of it all are the videos that are being shared via social media.
On the first day the penguins were let out of their habitat, Shedd Aquarium shared adorable photos on their Instagram page. The post was captioned, “Some of the penguins went on a field trip to meet other animals at Shedd. Wellington seemed most interested in the fishes in Amazon Rising! Other animals like the black-barred silver dollars also seemed interested in their unusual visitors.”
The next day, Edward and Annie, a bonded pair of rockhopper penguins explored the aquarium. The pair are together for nesting season. The aquarium explained, “Every spring is nesting season for the penguins here at Shedd, and this year is no different! Next week, penguins, including Edward and Annie, will begin to build their nests. You’re invited to digitally join us for the nesting coverage!”
As concerned parents, at Red Tricycle we are making every effort to provide you with the most accurate information. However, at this time wide-spread closures are occurring at the last minute due to the spread (or prevention of the spread) of Covid-19. For more on what parents need to know about the Coronavirus outbreak, click here. For current info about the Museum of Illusions check their Facebook page or call ahead before heading to the museum.
Spring Break is fast approaching but you don’t need to leave town to experience something the kids will never forget. The Museum of Illusions and the Upside Down House will make memories and epic photo ops worthy of any vacation. Located right in the heart of LA on Hollywood Boulevard, read on to find out why this incredible museum is worth a visit (and get a sweet offer code to save on tickets).
Special discount for Red Tricycle readers: Buy your tickets now to use later! Now through March 20th, 2020, save 40% on tickets!
This Is Not Like Any Museum You've Been to Before
Full disclosure: the Museum of Illusions and the Upside Down House are not like any other museum in town. You can throw out all of the “don’t touch” and “use your inside voice” cautions on this museum visit!
New 3D Illusions & New Artwork Throughout
Even if you've visited the Museum of Illusions in the past, it's recently undergone a massive upgrade to enrich your experience. All of the existing 3D artworks have been changed, and an entirely new exhibition of 3D Illusions has been unveiled to the public! Think: African Safari, walking on the edge of skyscraper, battling a dragon and more.
A Next-Level Experience
The new Illusions are now providing an even more immersive, sharp and mesmerizing experience, elevating the Museum of Illusions to an extraordinary new level and transporting you out of the ordinary.
The Upside Down House
While the original Museum of Illusions exhibit uses 3D graphics painted on the walls to immerse you into other worlds, you'll also find the Upside Down House featuring seven interactive upside-down rooms: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and more! Kid climbing the walls at home? Now they can do it, in real life!
Kid-Friendly & Interactive
Totally kid-friendly (and basically a parent’s dream), you are encouraged to touch and interact with every part of the exhibits at the Museum of Illusion and the Upside Down House. Enter the kitchen and you can hang from the chairs and float in midair above a platter of food. What would it be like to sip a milkshake on the ceiling? At the Upside Down House you can find out!
You Will Feel Like a Kid Again (& Your Kids Will Love It)
Best enjoyed in groups (think: birthday party!), bring your whole crew and let the kids and their grown-ups loose to see where their imagination takes them. You can even get in on the action yourself and opt for the VIP treatment where you turn over picture-taking duties to a pro photographer who will follow you through the exhibit and send you Insta-worthy photos at the end.
Kids 5 and Under Are Free
Ready to plan your visit? We've got options for you! Snag an all-access pass if you want to check out both the Museum of Illusions' original 3D exhibit along with the Upside Down House. You can also opt to visit just one and save the other for another day. Whatever you decide, use code REDTRI at checkout and you'll save 15% on admission to Upside Down House or Museum of Illusions. Kids 5 and under are freee.
Museum of Illusions
6751 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
747-274-9374
Online: laillusions.com
I got my first smartphone when my oldest was a newborn (summer 2009). I had told my husband for months that I didn’t need one (he already had one) but my handy little flip phone died and I didn’t have much choice.
Game changer
Honestly, I don’t know how I would have survived those newborn days without that little hand-held link to the outside world. He was a very fussy baby who hated the car seat so we spent many hours at home…usually with him strapped to my chest and me bouncing on an exercise ball (the only thing that calmed him).
My phone was my lifeline during those months. I called my mom to cry about why he wouldn’t sleep, I posted cute pictures of him on Facebook and I could Google every question I had about newborn habits.
Now fast forward a few years and we are all on our phones a lot. Being a stay-at-home, work-at-home mom, the smartphone has become an irreplaceable tool for me. They are so powerful now that I can craft a graphic for my blog on my phone while my kids play on the playground.
But what about the negative underbelly of all this phone time? I have found myself saying, “wait a minute I just need to do this one thing,” to my kids a lot more now that they are older and their demands can usually wait longer.
But how does this make them feel? How do you feel when your spouse says, “wait a minute” while typing away on his/her phone when you are trying to talk?
Luckily, the innovative researchers at Illinois State University are beginning to help answer these questions with hard data. Their most recent study considered how the parent-child relationship is affected by parents who are distracted by their phones. Now that’s a good research question!
The Study
With a sample of 170 couples with young children, Parents were asked about their problematic mobile device usage (e.g., not being able to resist checking messages, thinking about messages a lot). Parents were asked about “technoference” in their relationship with their child (e.g., how often devices interrupt conversations). Parents were asked about their children’s behavior (e.g., internalizing behavior like whining or sulking and externalizing behavior like hyperactivity or hot temper).
The Findings
Parents who reported more problems managing their device usage were more likely to experience technoference in their relationship with their child. In other words, parents who were “hooked” on their phones were more likely to allow this to interfere with their relationship with their child.
Also, kids whose parents showed signs of technoference were more likely to exhibit behavioral issues. In other words, in situations where parent-child relationships were disrupted by technology, kids were more likely to exhibit negative behavior (both internalizing and externalizing).
Okay, the usual caveats with social science research apply here. Although this is a well-conducted study, we cannot from one study prove causation. We do not know if the technoference experienced in these parent-child relationships is causing the children’s negative behavior OR if the parents of kids who exhibit behavioral problems are more likely to be “hooked” on their phones (perhaps as a distraction from misbehaving kids).
However, what we can tell from this study is important, even groundbreaking–the interaction we have with our phones has the potential to impact our relationship with our kids (either through technoference or through escapism).
When you think about it, this is a daunting reality. A device that started out as a tool now has the power to influence our parenting. These devices are not going away; we all know that. So how do we manage our phone time and our relationships with our kids?
I struggle with this as much as anyone but the one idea I keep coming back to is VALUE. I never want my kids to feel like I value technology over them. I don’t want anyone important in my life to feel that way. I never want to value online relationships more than real-life ones. The same goes for my kids–I never want them to value technology more than in-person relationships.
Amy is a scholar turned stay-at-home mom of two young boys. When she's not stepping on Legos, she writes at The Thoughtful Parent. With this blog she brings child development research into the lives of parents in the trenches of child-rearing.
