For a while, I sat observing in the Garage. I noticed that this is the space where many parents assisted their children when playing with the games and activities. The visitor’s ages ranged from very young, about 3, to older, about 7. The older children ran around on their own, parents watching from the sideline, while the younger children watched as their parents set up the contraption to be activated by them. For example, one boy watched his mother organize train tracks while he sent cars flying down them. Another small girl watched her mom set off the gravity balls and helped her set them up once more to pull the lever herself. Another pair of parents held their daughter as they set up the ball that moved around the room above their heads, and set down their daughter to crank the wheel that brought the ball to the mechanism. I also noticed that an older child was on the treadmills meant to move several gears above his head. However, he was too short and distracted by the treadmill itself, to see the true effect taking place above him. This trend I noticed in many rooms. Another instance occurred across the Attic room. Two 5-year old visitors were jumping on each illuminated dot, enticed by the way the could run up and down the hallway jumping on each like it was a race. They did not notice however, the lights moving and changing. In the same way, a young visitor about the same age was attempting to “poke” the painting across from the attic space. The visitor was so keen on poking with this mechanism off to the side of the painting, that he was too distracted to notice it’s effect in the painting and had to be pointed out by his parent.
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