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May 07, 2007
Museum Delights
Wednesday AM I decided to make one last stop before leaving Flagstaff. My visit was to the Museum of Northern Arizona http://www.musnaz.org/. My timing couldn’t have been better. It was a Wednesday in May. May is the time where most schools take field trips. They’ve been studying from books, learning lessons, and getting ready for state testing. Now a good deal of that is done, and it’s time for a field trip or two.
Williams Elementary School in Northern Arizona had brought their second graders to the Museum of Northern Arizona for the morning. New visitors were nearly trampled by a group of second graders tumbling out the door headed for the lane with the rabbit hunt. I understand they use boomerangs for this particular hunt.
I didn’t realize how many kids were in the building at first. I was busy following my nose looking at Zuni, Hopi, and Navajo artifacts. After enjoying some Hopi Kachinas, Zuni jewelry, and Navajo rugs a group of children caught my eye.
I was getting toward the end of my tour, but some of the school groups were just getting started. Watching them was going to be fun.
The docent from the museum for the group had his own flair. Pat Cassidy, a very Irish Irishman, was conducting the tour. I chuckled wondering if any of the children in the group were having trouble with his wonderful brogue. He was artfully explaining the Kachinas to the children. Some were listening, some were looking with their eyes, and some were looking with their fingers, normal for seven year olds. All were curious. One or two were more curious than others. I heard the name Leo several times, and figured he was probably one of the more curious of the group. At one point Mr. Cassidy walked by me caugh my eye, rolled his eyes, and whispered, “Faith and be gorra.” We forget sometimes how much energy second graders have.
Moving to the next room I watched an amazing change. The children went into a room between the bookstore and the museum shop. I figured either of those two areas would have caught their attention, but not true. The room in the middle had them all sitting in one area and you could have heard a pin drop. There wasn’t a sound as they listened to Pat.
Any quesses about what could keeping a wiggling group of small children quiet? Well, it could have been the rather large skeleton of the dinosaur standing next to them that was keeping the group still. I am always amazed at the interest children have in dinosaurs. This group was no exception. They hung on every word.
“What did they eat?” “How big were their teeth?” “Where did they live?” They were just fascinated by the stories of dinosaurs in this area. This time their curiosity was focused. They couldn’t get enough information.
Their interest left their teacher, Miss Wilson, enough time to check on the bus, keep things on schedule, and make sure all heads were counted.
Pat taught them a couple of songs about dinosaurs. The kids stomped, chomped and romped just like the big old ancient creatures. I thought it might take a bit of time to settle them down after their song, but Pat turned the dinosaur saga over to the next docent,and again there was immediate quiet. Interest was immediately recaptured.
I listened for a bit longer, but knew they would be entertainined for as long as it took to get the buses ready, lunch set up, or the next group through bunny hunting. What a fun morning for the kids. What a delightful morning for me.
My thanks to the Museum of Northern Arizona and the Williams Elementary School 2nd grade classes for making my morning a great deal of fun.
Posted by Dr Joni at May 7, 2007 12:07 PM