Through the observation of the Children’s School, it was possible to make several conclusions about how children (of age ranges from 3-5 years old) react when exposed to experiences that focus on honing their independence, curiosity, and creativity.

In regards to what captures the attention of children, the school appears to take full advantage of implementing a variety of physical and visual experiences to allow for the sensory events to allow for the children to not only learn about the materiality of objects, but also allow for them to be creative and explore what can be done with them. Furthermore, unlike a museum, as a place that includes a structured set of goals for learning, the connection to the knowledge of the children is also quite compelling in order to help the children make connections with what they already know, thus generating excitement from even a knowledge-based success. Following the idea of success, the children thrive off of success and completion of tasks, but are also prone to the opposite effect when something fails.

In terms of the children’s curiosity and creativity, the school implements many physical interactions with “blank canvases” to promote creativity and artistic sensibilities. Regarding this topic, generating a “piece” whether it be from magnets, paint, etc., the ownership of their own creations instills pride and functions as motivation to continue on or show others what they have done.

The engagement that I felt was most compelling was where a student was drilling through wood and when he succeeded, shouted, “Hey guys, look at this!”. This reaction characterizes and frames the developmental frame of mind that is ruled by completion, success, and progress. However, the same child immediately grew bored of the mechanical task and wandered around the Makeshop afterwards. This example portrays the power of success and progress in the minds of children, but also shows that if there is no further step or possibility for creativity in their minds, that the subject then becomes boring.

In terms of filtering these ideas into the upcoming project, I believe that having a blank canvas sort of project where children can define their own goals and desires which can be acted upon will provide for the optimal engaging experience for the purpose of stimulating creativity, autonomy, initiative, and industry.

Turning back to some of the observations made about the museum, the water area, although perhaps the type of space requires a certain technicality regarding the work around for electrical devices in a water dominated space, this space also allows for a certain separation of the children from the parents to allows for the children to experience an exhibit similar to the independence-focused environment of the Children’s School. Furthermore, it is significant to implement exhibits that the children can engage with that emphasize the potential of physical and visual impact on engaging children and allowing autonomy, initiative, and industry to surface.