Jef Nickerson
Check this out. I was reading the city’s Art, Culture, + Tourism Newsletter and saw this little image of the Children’s Museum (sorry it is so small). They’ve got a big model of the Iway Bridge in there and they have a workshop for kids (why am I no longer a kid!?) to construct their own Iway. Think if I walk around on my knees I can pretend to be a kid and play too? My sister keeps saying she’s going to bring my nieces up from the Cape to go to the Children’s Museum, I’ll have to steal my nieces so I can go to the museum and play.
Iway
An exhibit about solving problemsCrank the crane and lift I-beams to construct a highway bridge, tackle bridge building challenges, redesign the city and find out about the new I-195 Iway.
Bridges take us over water, over roads, over land. Bridges solve the problem of getting from here to there. Engineers, architects and construction workers solve a lot of problems as they design and build a new bridge. The Museum’s Iway exhibit takes advantage of the I-195 relocation project, one of the biggest highway projects in the state’s history, to engage kids (and grown-ups) in an investigation of roadways and bridges.
Donning hardhats and safety vests, kids operate a crane to lift I-beams, complete finish work atop a kid-sized replica of the Iway bridge, and construct their own arch bridges big enough to crawl through. Kids and grown-ups discover the physics of bridges as they solve challenges with beam, arch and cantilever bridges and redesign the city on the play-on landscape map. Families learn about the history and planned future of the I-195 relocation project occurring within sight of the Museum. A book nook contains carefully chosen books about road and bridge construction.
Iway is recommended for children ages 6 to 10 – and their adult friends – for maximum understanding and interest. Younger and older children also enjoy many of the exhibit’s interactive elements. Play guides are on hand to encourage fun and learning.
More info at the Children’s Museum website.
Photo from the Providence Children’s Museum
Hi Jef – you should come check it out! We have lots of fun bridge-building challenges, too. We’ll have a hard hat ready for you…
My sister joined the Children’s Museum on the Cape, which I guess is part of the same network as the Providence one, so we’re trying to work out a time for her to bring the girls up here so we can all go play.