At a time when societal fears and anxieties are high, kindness can provide the basis for more engaged and empathetic interactions with our families, friends, and neighbors.
Over the past 35 years, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh (CMP) has made a name for itself as a provider of exceptional hands-on exhibits and a leading research hub for the best practices in education. With support from the Benter Foundation, the CMP is leveraging these strengths to find effective ways to teach kindness to kids through the creation of an exhibit and program.
In the past decade, CMP has used an iterative research and prototyping process to define what practices in Making, and in Studio Arts, create meaningful experiences and exhibits for families. As the need for more focused and intentional social emotional learning design has become apparent in our global community, the Museum has set out to define the Learning Practices of Kindness as well. Our partners include the Fred Rogers’ Center who are bringing Mister Rogers’ messages of love and kindness to the project.
CMP is spending 2019 and early 2020 defining the Learning Practices of Kindness, designing and prototyping components and installing the exhibit. The Kindness exhibit will premiere at the CMP in 2020.
CMP is very excited by the unique opportunity to develop a new, interactive exhibition designed to facilitate tangible learning experiences rooted in Kindness for children and families.
Jane Werner
Executive Director, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh