Infant & toddler play porch
An inviting space just for our youngest visitors.
Discovery starts here.
This charming, Betsy-Tacy inspired setting is the perfect place for the Museum’s youngest visitors to notice, touch, listen, crawl, and climb. Everyone enjoys snuggling up to their caregivers to enjoy a good book on the Capstone Story porch. Older toddlers have an opportunity to explore and move while they busily cook, feed, push, poke, pick, jump, fill, and spill in the Janovy Family Imaginative Play Area.
This exhibit is great for...
exploration within the safety of an enclosed space just for our youngest visitors.
Large Motor
Spaces and places unfold into one another as toddlers follow a path, cross over a bridge, climb a hill, and dance on the changing textures of the pathway. Deeper in the yard, they can creep into a log, share a house with a dog, and peer through the window of the play house, happy to share their experiences with appreciative caregivers.
Social Emotional
Deep in moments of shared discovery, children point to objects and notice other children, fill up baskets and push carts, say words, repeat rhymes, and engage in turn-taking with adults. Toddlers, always on the move, listen as they cruise and roll, peek over and under, and mimic their caregivers who are ready with a trusted hand or the safety of a lap when something unexpected happens.
Brain Development
Movements and sounds, shapes and colors beckon and invite babies to watch, reach, touch, and clap. The porch is a cozy place for youngsters to sit, sway, smile, and snuggle with parents and grandparents. Toddlers shriek with delight as they observe phenomena when their basket of objects clatter down. Natural materials provide sensory experiences as children observe differences and likenesses all through the spaces.