Gallery Programs
Please Touch Museum fosters learning through play in reality, fantasy and literary-based environments. Please Touch Museum at Memorial Hall offers learning opportunities which explore the past while looking towards the future. Please Touch encourages adults and children to interact and play together in meaningful ways using thoughtfully prepared exhibit components, collection items and related programs. This child-directed form of interaction fosters curiosity, stimulates imagination, encourages exploration, and promotes life-long learning.
Daily gallery programs ranging from theater shows and story times to interactive art activities and character appearances stimulate learning through purposeful play. These activities take place throughout the gallery floor as well as in the Elaine Wideman-Vaughn Program Room on the Museum’s first floor.
Art Programs at Please Touch foster unlimited creativity and experimentation that enhance the value of learning through play. By using open-ended art experiences as tools, visitors begin to understand the process of discovery, imagination and self-expression. All programs contribute to the Museum experience by adding to the gallery environment and completing the exhibits. Examples of art activities may include “Self Face Painting” and “3-D Letter Construction,” along with open art time where visitors can use a variety of paints and craft material.
Story Times are held three-times a day at the City Park gazebo inside the Roadside Attractions exhibit, highlighting both new and classic children’s stories. Some visitors’ favorites over the years have included The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems, Bark, George by Jules Feiffer and Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett.
Creative Dramatics programs incorporate theatrical components, imagination, improvisation, movement and dramatic exploration into educational settings to support the child’s natural tendency to learn through play. The programs are open-ended with a variety of activities in order to adapt to the ages and interests of the participants. Most programs include books and props, so that story time and free play can be a part of the program when appropriate. Programs include “Scat Cat Alphabet,” which complements the annual “Junior Jazz Festival,” in which children take part in interactive movement and dance activities or explore letter shapes, sounds, and sound combinations as they are introduced to various jazz instruments.