Relive all the adventures from some of the most popular children’s books as the “Storyland” exhibit visits Miami Children’s Museum (MCM), 980 MacArthur Causeway on Watson Island in Miami.
Created by the Minnesota Children’s Museum, the exhibit, which opened Feb. 1, is a literacy adventure through childhood books that brings children and adults into the world of seven beloved picture books.
Storyland transforms seven beloved and award-winning picture books — The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter; The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats; Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff; Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault; Abuela by Arthur Dorros, and Tuesday by David Wiesner — into three dimensional, bi-lingual (English and Spanish) play and learning environments that highlight the six pre-reading skills defined by the Public Library Association and Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. The skills include disposition to read, print awareness, letter knowledge, sound awareness, vocabulary, and narrative skills and comprehension.
Children explore literacy skills and concepts through imaginative, interactive experiences and dramatic play such as:
Families can immerse themselves in the world of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, one of the best-selling children’s books of all time. Children explore Peter Rabbit’s world as they build vocabulary and narrative skills while searching for Peter’s lost belongings, harvesting vegetables, and playing in Peter’s burrow.
Visitors will get a mouse-eye view of super-sized elements from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, such as a big glass of milk that encourages children to create new and rhyming words by matching letter magnets to word trunks.
The Snowy Day welcomes visitors to Peter’s wintry world, where a young boy explores his neighborhood after a fresh snowfall. Children have opportunities to build print and sound awareness, as they build a snowperson, and explore wintry sounds and words.
Babies and young toddlers can experiment with busy wall interactives based on Where’s Spot?, a well-known board book about the search for Spot the dog. Adults can get tips about cultivating pre-reading skills in very young children.
Young children explore the alphabet and letter and sound awareness while navigating three tropical islands featured in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Families also will enjoy creating rhythms with steel drums while playing along with the rhythm of the story.
Children can sharpen their narrative skills and vocabulary by delivering news from inside a TV and searching for hidden frogs in Tuesday, a story about a town mysteriously visited by flying frogs. Children are encouraged to reflect on their Storyland experience by creating a drawing inspired by the books and writing a caption, title or story. A digital Drawing Cam will capture the paper image and visitors can add it to an electronic gallery of other postcards for visitors to see, and email it home as a souvenir of their experience.
Storyland is a marvelous adventure of self-discovery for the whole family, only at Miami Children’s Museum through May 4, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Entrance to the exhibit is included in each regular admission to the museum. Admission is $16 for adults and children, $12 for Florida residents, free for children under 1 year and admission for members is complimentary.
For more information contact the museum at 305-373-KIDS (5437) or visit www.miamichildrensmuseum.org.
