Children's Museum Initiative
The Center for Creative Play (CFCP) has recently established the Children's Museum Initiative. This program will assess 30 existing children's museums in America over the next two years and will enhance the opportunities for unstructured play that are available and accessible to children and families of all abilities.
"For a children's museum to truly be an asset to the community, it must be designed to support the needs of a wide range of individuals. It is through the incorporation of Universal Design that children's museums will be able to provide accessible play opportunities to every child and to operate a facility where the environmental barriers to inclusion are minimal or even nonexistent."
Play Environment Specialists will conduct in-depth assessments of the children's museums over the course of three days, gathering information and making observations about items such as: entryways, flow of traffic, exhibits, design and colors, programming, marketing pieces, and customer service. This information will be compiled into a comprehensive report and presented to the museums with a wide range of suggestions for immediate implementation and those that can be incorporated into long-term planning.
The resources made available through this initiative will help to create environments where children and families of all abilities can participate side-by-side.
CFCP has currently completed two assessments for the Chicago Children's Museum and the Denver Children's Museum and has assessments scheduled for museums in Buffalo, NY, Cleveland, OH, and Atlanta, GA. Proposals have been received from an additional 22 museums in communities from Hawaii to New York.
National Children's Museum
In addition, the Center for Creative Play has recently signed a contract with the National Children's Museum in Washington, expected to open in 2009. CFCP will provide suggestions that will create accessible, inclusive and welcoming experiences for all visitors to their new museum.
KaBOOM!
CFCP's vision is for every child and their family to have access to all-inclusive play environments. The organisation has expanded its knowledge to include planning for fully accessible outdoor playgrounds and playspaces and has signed on as the editors for accessibility on the KaBOOM website. They will be publishing regular articles on planning a playspace that meets the needs of every member of your community, as well as a monthly feature on fully accessible playgrounds across America.
Source
Center for Creative Play press release
Google links
End of Google links