Final session #ncph2016 #S67 starts at 3:30 | The Underappreciated Audience: Children’s #Museums and #publichistory. pic.twitter.com/rwdFGVz5xs

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Excited for some childhood & #publichistory to end my #ncph2016 — esp. as my #wmnhist projects take a girlhood turn… #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Jesie Swigger on the Smithsonian's Children's Room: "Knowledge Begins in Wonder" as founding philosophy of the space. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Swigger's next project: 'Putting Audience First: Children's Museums in the United States' (Brooklyn, Boston, Detroit, Indy) #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Jessie Swigger: What happens when we put children's #museums at the center of museum history? #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

How do you display objects for children? Q for the Smithsonian at the turn of the century – #museums as entertainment. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Swigger: Labels for the Smithsonian's Children's Rooms used literature to connect kids to specimens. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Swigger notes Grace Lincoln Temple – woman painter tasked w/ frescos for SI Children's Room, influenced by color theory. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Swigger: Children's Room closed 1939 but it is example of rethinking notions of 'where knowledge begins' – with feeling. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Don't forget children are part of the public too. #s67 #ncph2016 pic.twitter.com/U5wc6JSYol

— Benjamin Craske (@bjcraske) March 19, 2016

Elee Wood (IUPUI): Bridging Divide Between Log Cabin Role Play & Actual Historical Content. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Wood on history exhibits in children's #museums: how do spaces ask children to reenact (inauthentic) histories? #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Wood took an inventory of 350 children's museums across the U.S. and most (~70%) have no history exhibits #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Wood: Is Piaget to blame? Or if later children's #museums are not collections-based, where's the basis of knowledge? #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

An issue for children's #museums and #publichistory: Do we need artifacts to help us know who we are? #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Wood reminds us that time is a very different conception for children, understanding then vs. now. #ncph2016 #s67 pic.twitter.com/YU1GTBSlDZ

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Children's Museum of Indianapolis uses idea of 'grandma, mom, and me' – time constructed through family relationships? #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Most children's museums lack insight into deep historical content. Here's why: #ncph2016 pic.twitter.com/z5n86wcPPe

— Sara Anne (@NYYanksFan19SAF) March 19, 2016

Wood found 12/350 children's #museums with 'deeper historical content' — using evidence and sources, solving problems #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Children's museums that show deep historical content do the following: #ncph2016 pic.twitter.com/Z6srvjKUZH

— Sara Anne (@NYYanksFan19SAF) March 19, 2016

Wood: types of "deep history" content @ children's #museums also emphasize multiple perspectives, creating historical empathy #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

These are #museums w/historic locations, partnerships, relationships to community/local history. #ncph2016 #s67 https://t.co/h3wdkDBuC0

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Wood also notes children's #museums don't often have historians on staff. #ncph2016 #s67 https://t.co/DZ4Jj2zaPR

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

@Epiplectic Giving an awesome EDU, theory-based presentation on children's museums and public history #NCPH2016 pic.twitter.com/qfx4g1nYMl

— Sara Anne (@NYYanksFan19SAF) March 19, 2016

Elee Wood asks what is the potential for history at children's #museums – where do we go from here? #s67 #ncph2016 https://t.co/8X5RtJ5Fq0

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Let's make kid historians! I'm pumped! #ncph2016 #s67 https://t.co/mBwuBfTsYm

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

#s67 #ncph2016 is giving me a lot of flashbacks to summer #museums camp ("Time Tunnel" lol) at the @nysmuseum… #upstate4eva

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Wendy Jones, @mnhs: shift in emphasis from building content to audience #ncph2016 #s67 — educators now core members of exhibit teams.

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

People don't visit museums alone, exhibits need to function in the way people naturally behave. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Wendy Jones, @mnhs #ncph2016 #s67 — these are changes that make education central to programs at the institution. https://t.co/A2578i2Woa

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

.@mnhs thinking about the 21st-c field trip –> IMLS grant to develop mobile app connecting field trip back to the classroom. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

.@mnhs focus groups weren't just students and teachers, but also focus group of parents/ chaperones! #ncph2016 #s67 https://t.co/laEA7kUDVW

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Teachers asked for 21st-c Am Indian voices; stories where kids are central players; diverse stories (Hmong, Somalis) @mnhs #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Visitor evaluation/focus groups important to exhibit development at MHS. #s67 #ncph2016 pic.twitter.com/89qoL3Nt5J

— Tammy Gordon (@TammySGordon) March 19, 2016

What Teachers want in a history museum: #ncph2016 pic.twitter.com/SZNHpvKIcV

— Sara Anne (@NYYanksFan19SAF) March 19, 2016

Teachers wanted accessible content and design but not a 'childish' space – @mnhs research. And parents want to learn w/kids. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Are children missing out on an exhibit and authentic museum experience when they view it through the lens of technology? #ncph2016

— Sara Anne (@NYYanksFan19SAF) March 19, 2016

What is a meaningful experience for children in #museums? #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

KIDS TODAY #ncph2016 #s67 https://t.co/P0c2GsYPXu

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

@mnhs tips
– focus on fewer artifacts with more 'wow.'
– manage expectations
– do you want kids to get something or nothing? #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Wendy Jones notes that for @mnhs this often means spending a lot of time thinking about graphic design. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Play the Past experience for children @mnhs is like a video game–kids collect history in a digital "backpack" w/mobile app. #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Laura Huerta Migus, Assoc of Children's Museums: children tell you the truth. (My Q: What truths do we tell children?) #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

What children are we talking about in each of these scenarios? Kids w/class groups? With families? #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Clearly there is a lot of conceptualizing around age w/children's #museums but I want to know more about *other* demographics #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

What is the def. of childhood & children's rights? What's the relationship b/w adults & engaging children? #ncph2016 #InquiryBasedLearning

— Sara Anne (@NYYanksFan19SAF) March 19, 2016

Laura Huerta Migus interested in adults' relationship to children's learning–power dynamic, cultural norms & family behavior #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

#ncph2016 #s67 reminding me to go to panel(s) a little outside of my comfort zone. Now thinking about recent convos re: kids & #archives.

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

Didn't realize there's another exhibit at Children's Museum of IN focusing on Anne Frank, Ruby Brides, and Ryan White #ncph2016 #s67

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016

I did not! Still learning at the very end of #ncph2016. #s67 https://t.co/Ue4eUHGR9Y

— Monica L. Mercado (@monicalmercado) March 19, 2016