Tag: Play

Learning to teach: Future educators from TCALC volunteer time at Discovery Center

From left, Ainsley Schimmel, a junior at Topeka West, creates a cat using a Rigamajig Basic Builder kit as Topeka West senior Emma Banka-Bayless watches her. The students are part of a group of volunteers from the Topeka Center for Advanced Learning and Careers, better known as TCALC.

A tightly knit group of high school students from Topeka Unified School District 501 have been volunteering their time and energy to make the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center a better place for its young visitors, as well as honing their skills as potential future educators.

These six student leaders are members of the Topeka Center for Advanced Learning and Careers, or TCALC — an innovative program created through business partnerships to help teach youths about different career pathways they are interested in following. TCALC has several different professional pathways it offers to students, with this group representing the teaching pathway.

“These students are juniors and seniors in high school,” said Diane Kimsey, elementary math consulting teacher for TCALC. “They represent Highland Park, Topeka High and Topeka West. We meet every day for half a day and they all think that perhaps they would like to be teachers eventually. We have those who want to work with elementary, we have middle school dreamers and we have high school dreamers.”

So far in the four weeks they have been volunteering at the Discovery Center, the students have helped clean up the Discovery Center’s outdoor nature area, as well as creating educational materials for children. Last Wednesday, March 2, they taught young visitors of the Discovery Center about engineering using Rigamajig Basic Builder kits.

“Covid has kept us from being in the classrooms as much as we’d like to be, but at the same time we’ve had incredible opportunities,” Kimsey said. “For the last month, we’ve been here (at the Discovery Center) on Wednesdays, and we’re looking forward to this partnership to continue through the rest of the school year.”

The students came to the Discovery Center after contacting Visit Topeka to support Topeka Dino Days, a communitywide dinosaur exhibition. Staff at Visit Topeka connected the educators to the Discovery Center to support the museum as they opened the traveling Tiny Titans: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies.

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Thank you Washburn Next Generation Educators!

The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center hosted a great group of volunteers from Washburn University’s Next Generation Educators group this past week during the opening day of our Tiny Titans: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies exhibit on Feb. 24 to help create educational materials for children.

WNGE’s mission is to create a community of future educators who engage in collaboration, volunteer opportunities and learning from one another.

Kansas Children’s Discovery Center offers high-quality, interactive experiences to inspire a lifelong love of learning for every child. Volunteers support our mission by creating these memorable experiences for every family that walks through our doors. Volunteers engage children in fun, educational activities, pitch in at special events, maintain our outdoor space and keep exhibit areas ready for play. If your organization is interested in a fun volunteer day at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center, call our volunteer coordinator at (785) 783-8300. We have indoor and outdoor projects for any size group.

Thank You, Washburn Next Generation Educators!

Caitlin Luttjohann promoted to Vice President of Play and Learning

The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center is pleased to announce Caitlin Luttjohann, formerly the Director of STEAM Education, has been promoted to Vice President of Play and Learning.

In her new role, Luttjohann will oversee the functions of programming, exhibits, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) experiences and outreach.

Luttjohann joined the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center in February 2016 from the Flint Hills Discovery Center, where she served as the Education Specialist for Science. She holds a bachelor of science in engineering from Kansas State University and has been selected as a NISE Net fellow. She has presented nationally on the work of the Discovery Center.

 

Foster creativity and team-building by bringing the Discovery Center to work

The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center is well known as a great place for kids to play and grow, but did you know that grown-ups can get in on the fun, too?

The Discovery Center’s Corporate Play Days lets employers treat their staff to a bit of fun and play, while also creating team-building experiences for them that help strengthen creativity and problem-solving skills. The Discovery Center can host three- to four-hour events with one of our educators, allowing employees to get out of the office and explore the museum, either during business hours or after hours. However, we can also come to you, using our Mobile Museum to bring workplace versions of our most popular play experiences directly to your office or school, including building a roller coaster, constructing with recycled materials, creating art and doing a maze using programmable, robotic mice.

Play is important, even for adults. Play is the primary way humans learns about the world we live in, because our brains are wired to learn by doing. Researchers have documented multiple benefits from adult play, including boosted memory, a greater sense of belonging, problem-solving skills, resilience, empathy and just plain having fun! It makes a great experience, particularly for educators, but also for corporate offices, small businesses, nonprofits and other groups.

And it’s not exclusive to just businesses and nonprofits. Got a group of friends you’d like to bring? Pool your money and come on out!

Prices begin at $850 for the mobile experience, with additional sessions available for $425, for a maximum of 25 people per session. Travel costs will also be added for any locations that are more than 30 miles from Topeka, starting at $75. Pricing to come play at the Discovery Center varies, contact us for pricing.

“It was a fabulous morning for our staff,” said one participant. “They were so well organized and kept everyone engaged.

“I appreciated how they tied the activities into our profession while not making it be a regular professional development day.”

To book a Corporate Play Day, call the Discovery Center at (785) 783-8300 or email us at mobilemuseum@kansasdiscovery.org.

Photos from Corporate Play Day events

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North Fairview’s educators built one heck of a sturdy building during our Corporate Play Day today! #STEAM #STEM #engineering #topcitykids #teachers

♬ Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On – Jerry Lee Lewis

New Play Space in Marysville, Kansas, offers some serious fun close to home

Photographs courtesy of JoAnn Shum/The Marysville Advocate

A recent Kansas Children’s Discovery Center project is helping kids in a rural community find ways to have some serious fun close to home, thanks to generous funding from the Children’s Cabinet.

The Discovery Center this year used a grant from the Children’s Cabinet to plan and construct an educational play area in Marysville – the county seat of Marshall County – called Discovery Play Space, with Marshall County Partnership 4 Growth partnering to help inform citizens of the project. It is located at Seventh and Elm Street in Marysville, along the Seventh Street Corridor.

The Discovery Play Space opened to the public on Nov. 17, and is free and accessible to all families. It is part of the Discovery Center’s goal of becoming a more regional resource for children and families as it expands its outreach beyond Topeka’s city limits.

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