At the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn, our mission is to positively impact a child's potential in life through play-based education. Every now and then, something peripherally comes along that impacts children and families and we have to ask, "Is this mission related?"

With all of the political noise in the media this week, I learned that Utah passed a law that is being called the "Free Range Parenting" law and it is the first legislation of its kind in the United States.

At its heart, the law specifies that "it is not a crime for parents to allow kids who display maturity and good judgement to do things like walk to school alone or play outside without supervision."  Maturity would be worked out on a case-by-case basis by police and prosecutors, assuming an issue arose with the child.

The law basically protects the parents if they allow their children more freedom.  An article about the new law cited the following as reasons why it was necessary:

• A Maryland couple made headlines in 2015 after they were accused of neglect for letting their two children, ages 10 and 6, walk home without adult supervision.
• In 2014, a Florida mom was arrested on a felony charge for allowing her 7-year-old son to walk to a nearby park alone. (That charge was eventually dismissed.) 

Sen. Lincoln Filmore (R), the Utah bill’s chief sponsor, said “I feel strongly about the issue because we have become so over-the-top when ‘protecting’ children that we are refusing to let them learn the lessons of self-reliance and problem-solving that they will need to be successful as adults,” Filmore told Yahoo Lifestyle last week.

Another state, Arkansas, tried to pass a similar law but the bill failed.

Certainly, every child is different, every neighborhood is different and every parenting style is different. Do you think we, as Illinoisans, are too hard on parents who don't closely supervise their children? Do you think a law like this makes sense in Illinois? Is it necessary?  I'd love to know what you think. Comment below or send me an email (director@cmoaklawn.org). 

Co-founders of EarlyVention, Melissa and Elizabeth Ames, are teaming up with the Executive director of the Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn, Adam Woodworth, to provide sensory support bags for our visitors with sensory processing disorder (SPD). Melissa and Elizabeth have extensive background experience involving special needs children and adults. They started EarlyVention to help make life easier for those who struggle with disabilities by creating products for enjoyment and stimulation.

Each bag includes a book to prepare the child for his/her visit to the museum, along with lots of visual support to help children better communicate their needs and wants while enjoying the exhibits. Other tools, like noise-canceling headphones and fun fidget toys are also included to help children adjust to their surroundings and calm the senses. Melissa cites that and more businesses are recognizing the need to accommodate those with autism, and we're thrilled to help the museum, a non-profit organization, join this movement. It is so needed!

Besides the sensory items, the bag also includes different guides to help make your museum experience even more joyful. These guides consist of an informational booklet, the sensory bag contents, the “My Guide” and the picture support cards which are attached to the side of the bag. You can read the “My Guide” social story before or while you enjoy the exhibits to prepare your child for the museum’s different sensory experiences.

​At the Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn, we are continuously putting forth the effort to make everyone’s experience at our museum enjoyable.

"As a parent of a child with a disability, I know how stressful outings can be," says Adam Woodworth, the Museum's Executive Director. "This partnership with Earlyvention will hopefully take some of that stress out of your visit, utilizing the various items in the Sensory Bags.  And, as you use the bag, if you have ideas for other items we might want to include, let us know. We'd love the input."

​CEO of Earlyvention Elizabeth Ames stated, "Last year, the museum posthumously recognized our mom, Jennifer Ames, for her volunteer work to help adapt exhibits for young children with special needs. We are honored to continue her legacy and help the museum become an even more inclusive environment. After months of designing the Sensory Support Bags, we are ecstatic to see them put to good use by children sensitive to environmental stimuli, especially those with autism and sensory processing disorder."

The Museum has a few sensory bags at the front desk that you can check out. There is no charge to check out the bag. Simply give your photo ID to the front desk to check one out during your visit.

Each year, we close the children's museum to the public for one week. This year we will be closed on September 11-18. However, our administrative offices and phone lines are still open for questions, bookings, and memberships. Here's a brief description explaining why we do this.
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The annual maintenance week starts with a thorough and deep cleaning of everything, exhibit-by-exhibit. This is followed up by touch-up painting and more extensive painting that might need done. Then there is exhibit maintenance, things like greasing motors, checking moving components and replacing worn parts are always on the list. This is the time where we can refinish the floors by the water and sand table, the stairs and the art room. The carpets get deep cleaned throughout the year and this is one of those times (usually within the last day or two of the annual maintenance week).

On that one day a week we are normally closed (Monday), we’ll do touch-up painting, cleaning, and exhibit repair work then, too. Being closed for just over a full week annually allows us to tackle some of those multi-day projects (like refinishing the floors and disassembling exhibits) that we can’t do during the year.

We do all this, so the children's museum is ready for you to enjoy. We hope you'll come visit soon, and let us know throughout the year when exhibits need our special attention.

​Thank you, from all of us at the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn!

The Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn is partnering with Global Cultural Adventurers, Inc. to provide Chinese college students with a variety of opportunities at the Museum.
Global Cultural Adventurers, Inc.’s mission is to help Chinese college students step outside China to see the world, experience a different culture, grow independence, and learn to contribute to the community.
“Through GCA’s abroad volunteering program, all of our Chinese college students will gain hands-on experiences while volunteering at different non-profit organizations; explore a different culture by living with a US homestay family,” said Nichole Huo, “This program provides the students with real-life experience through living, studying and volunteering in the United States.”
One of the participants, Carol, talks about her experience. “Through volunteering with the Children’s
Museum in Oak Lawn, I am learning to see things through different perspectives. As the only child
generation from China, it is very interesting to see how parents here educate their children and how
siblings grow up and play together. Additionally, this is the very first time that I realize how much joy it
could bring to me when I am contributing and making an impact in a child's life at the museum.”
“This is a great partnership,” said Adam Woodworth, the Museum’s Executive Director. “Carol was the
first student to come to us through this program and now we have two others, Jamie and Karen. They
do everything from run programs to working at our exhibits. We are happy to have this relationship
with GCA as it not only gives their students experience, but it helps us with our volunteer manpower
needs.”
“We have been running the oversea volunteering program in China for many years and we send Chinese
college students for abroad volunteering all-year- round,” said Nicole Huo. “We are partnering with
fifteen Universities in China and have representative office for each of the Chinese university. In the
meanwhile, we are partnering with over twenty different non-profit organizations in Chicago, Boston,
San Diego, Los Angeles, etc. We constantly look for working with a wide range of non-profit
organizations at US.”
-- -- -- -- --

For further questions or inquiries, please contact Adam Woodworth, the Museum’s Executive
Director, at (708) 423-6709 ext 201 or Cynthia Sun, CEO of GCA, at (651) 271-2365 or at
volunteer@gcaus.org.

About Global Cultural Adventurers, Inc.
GCA is an international volunteering and cultural exchange organization, assisting Chinese college
students to find volunteer opportunities in North America during their winter and summer holidays. Our
volunteers will commit around 20-40 hours per week and they will be able to work from 9am - 5pm,
Monday to Friday, for 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks. Our volunteers; working schedule is very flexible
based on the position's workload and availability. They can work any days during the weekdays and will be able to commit for different time shifts during the day. www.gcaus.org

Every summer at our annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner, we recognize individuals who have made a difference at the Museum. This year is no different, and three Soaring Spirit Awards have been given to those who have made the biggest impact. One of this year’s Soaring Spirits is Jennifer Ames, who was posthumously recognized last Wednesday night.

 Jennifer got her start with the Museum when she was teaching special education in the Oak Lawn area. She wanted to get involved to lend her skills and expertise to the Museum in any way she could. Jennifer was an incredibly talented musician; she played the guitar, flute, piano and sang vocals. She used this gift and would play children’s songs at Museum events, while the children would gather around and sing along with her. With her background in education, Jennifer also worked tirelessly to help properly adapt exhibits for young children, especially those with special needs.

Jennifer went above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of all the children around her. As a teacher, she was granted a three month summer vacation. What did she do with that time? Jennifer would go back to her school to play music and sing with the special education students enrolled in summer programs. One year, after advancing her career to serve as a Director of Special Education, Jennifer went as far as testifying in court when one of her student’s families was fighting its homeowner’s association to have a fence installed for the safety of their child with Down syndrome.

While working full time, raising three children, pursuing her Master’s Degree and playing music on the side, Jennifer always made it a priority to make a positive difference in people’s lives. Not only was the Museum able to reap the benefits, but so many other children, adults and families were touched by Jennifer’s kindness.

“She always saw the best in everybody,” said Melissa Ames, Jennifer’s oldest daughter.

Despite living a healthy and active life, Jennifer was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in early January 2010. The cancer quickly progressed and she died in late March of the same year. After her passing, Jennifer’s two daughters vowed that they would continue to carry on their mother’s legacy.

In fact, while she was still in the hospital, Jennifer said to them, “You girls need to keep going.”

This last bit of advice stuck with the two women, so Elizabeth and Melissa became serious about starting their own business that would benefit children with disabilities and the families who love them. Their father, Jake, and brother, Kris, encouraged them to push forward with the startup.

Elizabeth vividly remembers saying to her sister, “We can do this. We know it’s possible and the timing is right.”

In November 2015, EarlyVention came to life - a company dedicated to providing fun, hands-on activities for children with developmental disabilities. Jennifer’s spirit lives on every day, within the sisters, within the company, within the adults with disabilities that assemble the products, and within the children and families who use these items that were specially designed for their needs.

The Museum is committed to continuing its relationship with the Ames family – the Museum Store now carries EarlyVention products and has them available for all visitors.

“The Museum has truly become family, and for that, we are so grateful,” said Elizabeth, the younger of the two Ames sisters.

We are so grateful for you, Ames family.

When I conduct my morning walkthrough of the Museum, I always like to read some of the children's comments posted at the "We the People" exhibit.  Today I was struck by what Lina, one of our little visitors, wrote:  "I love muzums because thay are fun."
 
This is really at the heart of what we are trying to do at the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn - we want the Museum to be a fun place of learning for children and families.  All too often learning isn't fun for children.  All too often learning is presented as a tedious task that is required by the state to measure what you know, but not necessarily what you learned.
 
Sure, the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn has learning that aligns with what children need to know in school.  Our "Raceways" exhibit on the first floor teach children about momentum as their golf balls travel on ramps on the five exhibits in that area.  Our "Nano: The Science of Small" exhibit helps children conceptualize that not only can things get bigger, but smaller as well.  And the Umigo exhibit gives kids an opportunity to learn, in a hands-on way, some basic math skills.
 
Learning, however, is not just about academics.  Children learn a variety of other things at the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn.  Cooperation and sharing is a big deal in the "Friendly Market" and at the "Train Table" exhibits.  Developing critical thinking skills are prevalent at the Gear Wall, the Velcro Wall, and in the building area.  Caring is part of our vet area as children pretend to take care of animals.  Creativity abounds in the art room where you can paint on the window or create your own kite to soar around the art room on the kite exhibit.  Yes, along with science and math, children are able to explore interpersonal skills, critical thinking skills, caring and creativity, which are just some of the aspects that children are introduced to in our unstructured play environment.
 
As a parent, myself, I know that the demands of life sometimes get overwhelming and we all have different situations.  But, one thing I know is that our time with our children is short.  My children are college and high school age, so trust me on this.  If you can do two things with them while they are younger:
     

1. Take them to explore as many children's museums as you can.  Most Children's Museums, like the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn, are independent non-profit organizations but all have common thread running through them and that thread is "learning through play."  Each children's museum will offer your family a unique experience.
2. Choose one children’s museum as your home museum, become a member, and get involved as a donor or volunteer.  The Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn was founded by a mom, Carol Marsh, who wanted to provide additional learning opportunities for children living in Oak Lawn area.  Because other people saw her vision and got involved, we are now able to serve families throughout the Chicagoland area, as well as Northwest Indiana.

 
If you don’t know if you have a children’s museum near you, visit the Association of Children’s Museum’s website at http://www.childrensmuseums.org/ 
 
When I conduct my morning walkthroughs and I see comments from children, like Lina’s, on our Talk Back Board in the “We the People” exhibit, it puts a smile on my face.  Why?  Because, I know, that the work we do here was important to Lina. 
 
Lina, I agree.  Museums should be fun!

A few weeks ago, we were visited by Mrs. Schroeder’s 5th grade class from Meadow Lane Intermediate School. The incredibly hardworking students were working on their end-of-the-year Genius Project.

The students came into the Museum with their investigator caps on, and worked on determining the “big idea” behind each of our exhibits. They worked backwards, looking at the present state of an exhibit and using that to answer the question, “how might I…?” The students worked collectively in their teams and were able to supplement their work by taking pictures inside the Museum with their tablets.

Each group then came up with ideas to change exhibits. If they had the opportunity, what would they do?

“They were really investigating and it gave the students an opportunity to think about things beyond the play aspect [of the Museum],” Mrs. Schroeder explained. “They came up with great ideas and I countered them.” Her goal was to encourage the students to think outside of the box.

As fun as it was for the students to work on something out of the norm, the project still encompassed multiple learning standards. The Genius Project was cross-curricular, incorporating research, writing, communication, math, science and reading skills.
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“This was the first time we did this project, and as pioneers, it couldn’t have gone better,” Mrs. Schroeder said.
​

If your students are in need of a fun, out-of-the-ordinary project venue, let us know!

Hey, Ya’ll! Clarabelle here. I have some gossip to share with you!

Word here on the Museum floor is that this summer, members will be able to bring two guests to the Museum at half price. They are calling it the Summer of Savings. MOO! It’s a great deal, right?

So what’s the catch? None, I hear! This offer applies to all of the Museum’s membership levels and a member’s guests can come into the Museum for this summer’s exclusive Member Mondays (June 20, July 18, August 15).

Hoorah! I’m at the Museum all the time, so why am I excited about it? This means that me, you and all of your friends can have a blast at the Museum all summer long! During your next visit, snap a picture with me, and share it with the Museum on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

For more information about the Museum’s Summer of Savings, click here.

Facebook: Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn
Twitter: @cmoaklawn
Instagram: @cmoaklawn

OAK LAWN, IL – The Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn has taken the steps to formalize an Educational Advisory Board that will help to guide families through the educational benefits of each Museum exhibit.
 
Every Museum exhibit has been designed with the state’s educational standards at their core. However, this Board will take that educational aspect a step further – the members will inspect each of CMOL’s exhibits, identify which standards are met and create supplementary materials for guests.
 
This new Educational Advisory Board is comprised of 7 volunteers – all educators from Dorn Elementary School in Hickory Hills, Il. Eileen McCaffrey, Dorn Elementary principal, is spearheading this project.
 
“We want to create handouts that list the activities for parents to do with their children to supplement those learning standards,” McCaffrey explains. Educational standards will also be posted at each exhibit.
 
“The volunteer Educational Advisory Board is an essential component of the Museum’s mission to positively impact a child’s potential in life through play-based education,” explains Adam Woodworth, executive director of the Museum. “This team will play an integral role in creating a bridge to learning that actively involves the parents in the play-based learning process.”
 
The Board expects to have this project completed by mid-June.