KidsQuest participates in Museums for All, a program that encourages individuals of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum habits. Through Museums for All, those receiving food assistance (SNAP benefits) can gain free or reduced admission to more than 600 museums throughout the United States simply by presenting their SNAP EBT (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Electronic Benefit Transfer) card for up to four people per card.

In 2019, KidsQuest saw 5,288 patrons who used Museums for All to enjoy the museum. Finances should never keep a child from playing and learning at the Museum. Lauren Belmonte, KidsQuest’s Director of Visitor Services talks about the importance of making cultural institutions accessible for all visitors.

KidsQuest is celebrating its sixth successful BizQuest corporate fundraising event. BizQuest is a unique way to come together virtually and network with local professionals and community members. The panel this year shared some fantastic insights on how newly learned adaptations in the work place are likely to become lasting business trends.

Madeline Read, Corporate Relations and Event Manager joins us on the podcast to talk about the widespread impacts BizQuest has on the Museum and within the greater community.

If you weren’t able to join us live, you can find a recording of the event on KidsQuest’s YouTube page. Here’s the link to check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyVb7QUBzkM&t=330s

In this episode we learn about the incredible collection of dolls that live throughout the Museum’s galleries. Before KidsQuest moved to the space in 2017, the building was home to the Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art. Rosalie continues to share her collection of dolls representing cultures from all over the world with KidsQuest visitors. She talks about her experiences opening her very own museum and what dolls can teach us about history and tradition.

Thank you so much to Rosalie Whyel for joining us on this episode. If you want to check out the dolls in person, head over to KidsQuest’s website to purchase tickets. 

https://www.kidsquestmuseum.org/

KidsQuest is excited to welcome back Low Sensory Afternoons from 3-5 PM on the third Thursday of each month. This very special event is returning on May 20th after a long hiatus due to COVID. As many of us know, visiting KidsQuest can be a loud, bright, shiny, sometimes splashy, experience. For some kids and adult guests too, those stimuli can be overwhelming to the point of being uncomfortable or even unbearable. Low Sensory Afternoons are set aside just for kids and families with sensory sensitivities or anyone with special needs. Registration is free, even if you aren’t a member!

Museum educator, Jenn Boesenberg talks about how the museum created this program specifically for families who have a child living with sensory processing difficulties or who is on the autism spectrum, and her work to make KidsQuest a certified Sensory Accessible Venue.

KidsQuest has compiled a pdf of sensory tips available on their website in both English and Spanish.

Thanks for listening!

STEM Paths Innovation Network is a nonprofit working with partners in King County, Washington to design and lead STEAM opportunities to students who otherwise wouldn’t have access to them. According to their website, they’ve served over 800 girls and youth of color through their programming with over 20 community and school partners in the greater Seattle area. Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Shana Beckwith talks with host Allie Cheroutes about creating a future in which all students can see themselves in a STEM field and have the support they need inside and outside the classroom to get there.

Check out their website to learn more about their incredible curriculum and programs:

www.stempaths.org

Visit KidsQuest’s website to learn more about their online and in-person STEAM opportunities:

www.kidsquestmuseum.org

KidsQuest wants to ensure that everyone is able to enjoy a day of play at the Museum. Through the Museums for All program, they are able to offer discounted daily admission rates with proof of EBT, Chip, Provider One, or WIC.

Invite your family over to listen to this episode’s Audio Postcard segment! Host Allie will guide you through making your very own straw rocket in honor of Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician whose calculations were used in the first moon landing and in the development of the Space Shuttle program. As a Black female mathematician during 1950s and 60s, she was truly a pioneer who broke barriers of gender and race and inspired generations of future STEM leaders.

This episode is all about the Arts in our Full STEAM ahead series exploring Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. What’s the deal with the A in STEAM? Traditionally, the arts and sciences were viewed and treated separately. Now, the wider understanding is that the arts’ role in STEAM is to encourage application of creative thinking and ignite imagination. STEAM is meant to engage both the analytic and creative sides of the brain. Liberal arts, language arts, and physical arts all help prepare kids for an increasingly interdisciplinary world. What innovation would we have without someone first following a creative spark?

In this episode we’ll hear from Sadie Bowman, co-founder and performer in the musical theater group,  Matheatre. Their mission is to get students (and adults!) excited about math and science through comedy. Bowman shares how a musical about calculus turned into a mission to make science and math accessible and fun to all audiences. Fifteen years later, Matheatre tours worldwide performing four shows in schools, museums, and planetariums.

Head over to their website to learn more about their shows, digital offerings, and their own podcast, History Science Theater:

https://matheatre.com

In this episode’s Audio Postcard we put our creativity to work in a fun hat design challenge for kids from the KidsQuest educators. Take a listen with your family and see what they come up with!

Matheatre Music Credits

MAXIMA & minima, icanhasmath

Physics Extravaganza, icanhasmath

I Believe in a Power Rule! , icanhasmath

In 2005 Gever Tulley accidentally stumbled into starting his own engineering-based summer camp in his backyard called Tinkering School. In this episode we’ll hear about the philosophy behind this remarkable program and what can happen when you give kids real tools to solve real problems. Hands-on designing, fabricating and constructing empowers kids and helps them test their theories about the world around them. Giving tinkerers tools, autonomy and space has resulted in some unbelievable projects, like a gondola re-imagined as a dragon flying across their warehouse workspace!

This week’s Audio Postcard comes to you from Orcas Island, WA!  The SeaDoc Society is doing some incredible research and conservation work to ensure the health of the Salish Sea, an inland sea encompassing Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and the waters off of Vancouver, British Columbia for generations to come. Their Junior SeaDoctor program gives kids the tools to become their own nature detectives in any ecosystem they explore. You can sign up for free to become a Junior Sea Doctor today and receive your very own laminated nature guide in the mail!

Head over to Tinkering School’s website to read more about their programs, and find training workshops for educators and some awesome online opportunities for students: tinkeringschool.com

And if you’re interested in Tulley’s book, Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do), you can find more information here: fiftydangerousthings.com

You can register as a Junior Sea Doctor and read more about the conservation efforts of The SeaDoc Society here: juniorseadoctors.com

KidsQuest’s science educator, Chris Cunningham talks about the T in STEAM.  Technically, the T is for technology, but let’s not forget the very foundation of technology: Tools!  Often, we’re quick to narrow our focus to computers and other instructional devices when we think about technology. Chris and podcast host, Allie Cheroutes discuss expanding how we define technology, especially as it relates to hands-on learning in early education.

The episode wraps up with a fun activity introducing kids to the basic concepts of programming.  All you need is a partner, a piece of graph paper and a writing utensil. Turn your artwork into a "program" and then challenge your partner to draw it out.  We'd love to see what you create!

First up in our STEAM exploration series is SCIENCE! Throughout the season we’ll be investigating our way through each of the STEAM concepts. Specifically focusing on the positive ripple effect that happens when we actively engage with our children’s early STEAM learning.  Dr. Ashie Bhandiwad is the founder and CEO of an experiential science education startup called STEMChef. The philosophy behind STEMChef is influenced by her own childhood science education, subsequent career in bioenergy, and especially through moments shared with her young daughter while preparing dinner. 

Start pointing out and initiating science-based conversations during your family time together. Kids will start making connections between the concepts they’re learning in school and situations they come across every day. Developing that emotional connection results in stronger retention and deeper understanding throughout the rest of their education and even into their careers. At the end of the episode Dr. Bhandiwad guides us through a really delicious activity you and your family can try (and then snack on!) together.

KidsQuest is powered by STEAM learning! Check out our YouTube channel for more science-based activities to do with your family:

https://www.youtube.com/user/KidsQuestCM

If you’d like to explore the awesome online escape room experiences STEMChef has to offer, you can visit their website here:

https://www.stemchef.com

For more information watch Dr. Bhandiwad’s TEDxSanFrancisco presentation, “Teaching Science Through Cooking to Kids”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G3Ml2MRu5Y

It’s full STEAM Ahead for Season Two!

KidsQuest is powered by STEAM learning. Our exhibits, classes and home learning activities are all designed to engage kids in Science, technology, engineering, art and math through play. Opportunities for STEAM learning are all around us. I’ll be introducing you to individuals and organizations who are doing some incredible work to shift the perception that science and math can only be found in the classroom or in a lab, or that it can only be done by someone in a white lab coat. Regardless of your age, your gender, your experience level, STEAM learning is for you!

In this episode I’m joined by Dr. Dana Winters, the Faculty Director at the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media. Their mission is guided by Fred’s core belief that the foundation of every child’s healthy development is the power of human connection. We don’t need fancy gadgets or any special training to encourage and participate in science-based play. The key is to create an environment of inquiry-based thinking that celebrates a child’s natural wonder and discovery. Let’s recognize the STEM and STEAM learning potential in everyday moments happening all around us!

If you’d like to learn more about the Fred Rogers Center and the Simple Interactions Initiative Dr. Winters discusses in the episode, check out their website here: https://www.fredrogerscenter.org

Did you know that KidsQuest has a great series of STEAM-based learning videos on our YouTube Channel? I’ll share one of my favorites at the end of episode. Here’s a link to our YouTube channel if you want to check out the rest: https://www.youtube.com/user/KidsQuestCM