A few weeks ago, the idea that in a matter of days, countries would close their borders, schools, restaurants and bars to protect against a novel virus infecting thousands and forcing millions into quarantine, may have seemed more like an apocalyptic film plot than real life. Yet here we are living that plot since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Like so many other nonprofit organizations, we are feeling the effects of this global health and financial crisis. Even so, I’ve never been prouder of the KID Museum team. We have embodied the same “Mind of a Maker” philosophy that we help our kids and youth develop, and we are making the most of these uncertain times.
We are modeling through our response to the COVID-19 pandemic the same curiosity, creativity, and compassion that drive our experiential learning approach. Just as our kids will need these values to become the inventors and problem-solvers of the future, we need them right now. Here’s how these values are showing up in our work:
Curiosity:
We are bringing curiosity to all we do, recognizing that almost everything is new and unknown. None of us have ever lived through a global pandemic, and we are leaning into this problem as an opportunity to explore new ways of working and partnering with families, educators, and schools.
Creativity:
This month we launched our redesigned weekly newsletter: Make It! This tool will deliver five activities for learners ages 4-14 into parent and educator inboxes each weekend. Each edition of this newsletter is thematically curated by one of KID Museum’s maker-educators and designed to spark creativity.
Compassion:
We are looking ahead to when our educational makerspace reopens to the public and we are proactively planning new, exciting experiences. For now though, we’re all in this together. Our program team is exploring ways that we can engage kids in virtual learning and support parents and educators with free and reasonably priced options.
We hope that you all stay healthy and safe and that we are all on the other side of this soon. In the meanwhile, know that KID Museum is here as a partner and resource.
