Keeping up with the kids may be more challenging this summer but there’s a new online resource that will allow them to explore activities from museums all across the world, including the Miami Children’s Museum and the City Museum of Manhattan.
The Children’s Museum in the District is quite familiar with being virtual, as it doesn’t exist in a brick-and-mortar fashion, yet. But in the meantime, it has launched a new one-stop-shop for interactive activities, the Explore! Sandbox website.
It offers everything from cooking and art projects to science and educational tools.
“Everything on the site has been groomed so that it’s all free and accessible,” said Jane Cafritz, founder and chair of the board for Explore!
“Today, kitchens and living rooms are being turned into play spaces and art studios, and the need to provide valuable and trusted resources that inspire creative exploration is more important than ever,” she said.
The online educational space also tackles some tough topics, like racism and staying healthy during the pandemic. There is also guidance for parents on a number of topics. Its focus is on allowing kids to re-imagine the at-home experience in exciting, new ways, Cafritz said.
The website is the latest addition to an exhibit that will resume at the National Portrait Gallery once it is safe for museums to reopen, and a traveling experience known as Mission Mobile that serves students throughout the region.
While a brick-and-mortar children’s museum is also planned for the Fort Totten neighborhood, the Explore! Sandbox is the next chapter in the vision to build an online community ahead of the new physical museum.
