The Indianapolis Children’s Museum, an enriching environment full of wonder, for all

ages. I would like to acknowledge my time visiting this Wednesday. The practice of creating an
environment that can be applied to anyone. During our presentation from Elyse and Susan, they
showed us lesson plans used for areas around the museum. The beautiful thing about this part of
the presentation was showing different grades levels being able to use the same environment.
Plus, Susan and Elyse pointed out locations of interest for middle/secondary in mind. It was
insightful to learn how the museum can benefit many different grade levels. Personally, I never
thought about the ideas that can still apply to older grades, since it is called the “Children’s
Museum.”
For further explanation, I wanted to discuss the time I had with my classmates after our
presentation which included the “Power of Children” exhibit. I had a blast during my time there.
Because afterwards we explored recommended locations, like the “Dinosphere” and “Take Me
There: Greece.” You could see how interactive and fun these places were. “Fun learning” as I am
officially calling it. Going through those exhibits and some of our interests, like “American
POP.” There were all factors of interest that made us feel engaged. Which leads me to the point
of powerful interactions. This is a key practice at the Children’s Museum. The definition of
powerful interactions is: “a way of interacting with children and families that promotes open end
critical thinking, problem solving, and family learning.” A learning technique by Amy Laura
Dombro, Judy Jablon, and Charlotte Stetson, this learning technique is key to the museum. All
different experiences available for everyone to keep yourself engaged. Whether it is touch
screens and a marketplace in “Take Me There: Greece” or set pieces showing part of childrens’
lives in the “Power of Children” exhibit. As these examples reminded me of the Butler College
of Education’s shared commitment. The commitment for inclusive and responsive teaching, as it
describes: “We commit to keeping our teaching practices relevant and engaging for all students
across all identities. Our teaching and mentoring must reflect what we hope to see revealed in
our students’ professional practices.” As I truly believe the “Power of Children” and “Take Me
There: Greece” exhibits shows both the shared commitment and being able to have powerful
interaction for all ages.
This trip was truly a whirlwind of my inner child. Throughout the trip I was excited to be
there, whether it was entering from the Skyway or messing around in the Scooby Doo exhibit
making disgusting “sandwiches.” I felt so energized, amped up at exploring the place for the first
time. I was fairly distracted easily by things, wanting to look at and interact with everything, like
a young preschooler. I don’t have any shame in it though. I like to make myself think, I just
wanted to be an explorer throughout parts of the museum. During the presentation, my
excitement just kept me thinking to myself: “When can we go explore?” Don’t get me wrong, the
presentation was very helpful to learn about the curriculum at the Children’s Museum. I was very
impatient to explore on our own.
 Speaking of the curriculum. I wanted to next discuss the curriculum the Children’s
Museum follows. The curriculum they follow is the Reggio Emilia inspired curriculum. It was
great to know they do, as it is a goal of mine to better understand the ideas of Reggio Emilia. The
curriculum focuses on a multitude of things. The two that stuck out to me the most was the
image of a child, and the role the environment has as a teacher. For the image of a child,
continuously through the exhibits and their preschool program, the Children’s Museum builds on
having the child be explorers within the classroom and museum. Plus, the role of the
environment as a teacher is a huge benefit when the preschool is a part of the museum. There are
many exhibits the preschoolers can go to, and their own specific age level place called the
Playscape. With all the interactive equipment and different themes, the environment plays an
important role to the preschoolers learning.
Next up, I wanted to discuss what learning means to me thanks to the Children’s
Museum. For me, I want to define learning as “engaging and interactive content that helps
students understand new topics and concepts.” This site helped me truly understand the
importance of interactive learning, by having the touch screens, set pieces, and ways to get the
brain active. The Children’s Museum puts into place the standard that engaging content is
necessary for students to grow and think freely with imagination. Yet, allows for all age levels to
feel a sense of engagement, no matter the content. I believe it’s a great way that the Children’s
Museum makes interactions and exhibits be able to be learning content for different grades
levels.
Lastly, I wanted to discuss one of the people that stood out to me during this trip and also
helped me realize the value of being a Butler Prepared educator. That would be Elyse, a 2011
Butler Alumni who works at the Children’s Museum and was a part of the presentation to learn
about the curriculum in the preschool. To be a Butler Prepared educator, one is an educator that
is passionate and ready to tackle the education field and work for good change. Elyse is a great
example of this. Her story was quite sweet of how she was working to get a degree in Early
Childhood and wasn’t sure where she was going to work after graduating. After realizing she
could work at the museum, it opened her eyes and she realized “I want to do that.” Which
reminded me of an image in the book Change the Way You See Everything by Kathryn Cramer
and Hank Wasiak. The page had an image of a child looking at the stars with an astronaut helmet
on, with the quote saying, “Let passion be your power” (Cramer 47). She is a definition of a
Butler Prepared educator. One who is ready to work for their passions and have the support to
tackle those ideas. She was able to get word in for the museum thanks to Butler’s staff at the
College of Education. A Butler Prepared educator has the support that drives one forward to do
what they are passionate about. Elyse is a true inspiration to me, as I am in her shoes, that she
was in before. I am glad I was able to not only discover another place learning can be taken, but
find someone that made me realize how valuable my passion is for going into the education field.