Cultural Institutions in Health Promotion Emily Kuross Former BCM Health and Fitness Program Educator, FAO Schwarz Family Foundation Children’s Fellow Boston Children’s Museum’s GoKids! in Boston Neighborhoods Program

The Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) Mission: “The Boston Children’s Museum exists to help children understand and enjoy the world in which they live” Founded in 1913 Pioneered the idea of hands on learning in 1960’s Developed urban mission in late 1990’s

“Engaging families and building communities.” For 5 desired outcomes, aka “the pinwheel”: Families Communities Green Kids Global Kids Creative Kids Curious Kids Healthy Kids

2006 expansion included Kid Power exhibit GoKids! programming Festivals Weekly programs Kindergarten program Head Start programs

GoKids! in Boston Neighborhoods Grant from Institute of Museum and Library Services 4 BHA housing developments: Washington Beech in Roslindale, Old Colony in South Boston, Gallivan in Mattapan, Charlestown* Unique project: Population generally underserved by museums Still fairly new for children’s museums to take interest in health Not aware of any other programs that combine these two * Not a BHA housing development, organizing occurring with the neighborhood instead

Project Goals Engage community residents to come as families (children and their caretakers) for free museum programs Engage participants in healthy activities, designed with attention to participant feedback about their interests and concerns Bring families to the museum - 1st visit for many Create welcoming environment Demystify museum experience Present BCM as a family/community resource for continued learning ($1 Fridays, for example)

Who BCM Staff: Manager of Community Programs and Partnerships Community Programs Educator Teen Ambassadors Health and Fitness Educator Community contacts (varied by location): Tenant task forces Tenant health advocate BCYFF staff After school leaders Resident families Partner -ships Cultural liaisons Content

Program timelines Weeks 1-3Weeks 4-9Week 10 Kick-off! PlanningActivity Days (about 6) Museum visit

A Sampling of the Activities Balancing Act the Musical Snack Iron Chef Super Hero Breakfast The Power Balance Challenge (shake off a shake, eg.) Dip-ology Build A Gym Human Dominoes Music and Movement Water bottle weight lifting Family Dinners

Evaluation Study Questions: Did participants have fun? Do participants think the activities or information would be useful to them at home? Which activities do they find most memorable?

Methods Questionnaires: both adult and child Recruitment: anyone who would agree to take a minute to answer a questionnaire Done at at least one activity day and at the free museum visit finale Observations of randomly selected families Enjoyment Adult-child interaction Understanding

Results

Most memorable: The interactive musical, active games (kickball, jump rope), dancing, snacks with bananas Most effectively engaged adults and children together: The interactive musical, food preparation (active games were least effective) Best Practices: Family dinners, semi-rigid structure, connecting neighbors, more staff

Limitations Very small sample sizes - some skepticism from participants about ‘los papeles’ Not completely same groups for activity survey and final survey Very simple, unvalidated, survey Response bias, desire to please

Other Challenges Trying to collect data while running programs Only partial buy-in from museum colleagues Limited funding and staffing Limited draw - trade off between depth vs. breadth Different facility quality at different developments

Conclusions Museum style health and fitness programming was well received by this population, which is not generally familiar with this type of programming Museum outreach programs were able to engage families together and connect families to one another Children’s museums represent a potential partner for working with communities and providing nutrition and physical activity information or programs