In the Loupe: Preparing Kids to Visit Museums

Prepping a group of young people to visit a museum?

Sometimes museum spaces can seem a bit formal or unapproachable to kids, especially when there are no designated youth spaces. But even traditional, object-focused museums can be exciting for everyone. 

Though we no longer offer this remote program, educators and caregivers have told us they appreciated the prep activities we offered for our Skype: In the Loupe program, so we are sharing them here! 

Why do we keep it?

Sometimes the concept of a museum can be confusing to kids. History museums, in particular, might seem like unfamiliar buildings that hold old things in glass cases.  It's not always possible for smaller museums and historical societies to host children's programs or "please touch" exhibits, but that doesn't mean kids can't find these spaces engaging.

This first activity can be completed as a worksheet or a conversation. It is an opportunity to talk about the types of things people keep and find important. 

Q- Ask children what objects in their possession they find interesting, important, or dear? And why?

If the museum you are visiting has a website or social media presence, this might be an opportunity to share some interesting posts or articles. Helping kids orient and set expectations for their visit goes a long way to making the site visit or field trip successful.  At Morristown, we have a Junior Ranger program, and our activity booklet is available on site (in print) and on the web (PDF).

What is a Collection?

The artifacts or collections displayed in a museum can vary in content and materials.

Collections might include historic structures (buildings), library and archival materials (books and papers), natural specimens (flora, fauna, rock, and minerals), and museum artifacts (furniture, clothing, art, etc.). Some collections overlap into more than one category of description. 

This activity is fun to play on a chalkboard or white board with teeny post it notes. 

Newark high school students play the collection game.

Nomenclature

Nomenclature is the name or term given to something. Museums name, classify, and categorize artifacts as a way to record their unique qualities for identification and interpretation. 

Artifacts are categorized by type (what they are), purpose or use (what they are used for), and material (what they are made of). 

Museums also catalog or record specific details about artifacts, such as size, condition (good, fair, poor), historical information (when or how they were used and who used them), and provenance (who has owned an artifact and how it was acquired). Natural history artifacts, like specimens, might include additional scientific information like chemical content or indication of rarity. 

In most traditional museums, artifacts contain labels with this information.

Note the artifact description on this object label. 

 

Exploring Galleries with Specific Lenses

A fun way to explore galleries is to gamify your visit. We often have students use the following thought lenses when they look around. 

Consider...

Accessibility

• descriptions and language 
• is it user friendly?
• layout
• color and image contrast
• exhibit height
• connecting the story
• viewing or audio description

Story Telling & Dialog

• exhibit themes
• paring of artifacts
• does it inspire questions?
• layout (room and exhibits)
• educational use
• relevance to visitors
• is it engaging?

Preservation

• artifact condition
• artifact materials
• surrounding environment
• artifact conservation needs
• cases, mount, & displays
• lighting
• exposure (touching, humidity) 

Prep activities by Sarah Minegar

The Making of an Historical Park: Why Morristown?

MNHP dedication button, July 4, 1933.

By all accounts it was Mayor Clyde Potts who advocated earliest and most pointedly for some type of heritage tourism site at Morristown as early as 1930, immediately after the start of the Great Depression. What form or shape that might ultimately take was undetermined. Mayor Potts had as his close associate Lloyd W. Smith, who had recently purchased the bulk of the land known as Jockey Hollow from investor W. Redmond Cross and partners. It was likely Redmond Cross, through mutual acquaintances, who introduced NPS director Horace Albright to Clyde Potts and Lloyd Smith sometime in 1930 or 1931.

Morristown map de[icting the location
of the Continental Army Encampment, 
dated June 1929.

Director Albright was interested from the start of his tenue with the NPS in acquiring national historic site for the creation of a new type of park, a National Historical Park. When he was introduced to Potts and Smith, Albright probably could not believe his luck. Potts and Smith presented Albright with what was in essence a ready-made historical park. Potts could provide the land at Fort Nonsense, and Smith could provide land at Jockey Hollow for a new National Historical Park. Albright's new chief historian, Vern Chatelain, was equally enthused by the idea of a historical park in Morristown. 

Close up of label from March 1931
blueprint of the "Proposed
Jockey Hollow Park" 

At some point in 1931, Albright became interested in the Ford mansion being included in the new national park taking shape in Morristown. While the exact sequence of events are not known, Albright likely promoted the idea of the Ford mansion being part of the park to the Washington Association of New Jersey, who owned and operated the mansion as a tourist site since 1874. The Depression, and lagging membership, made the Association receptive to Albright's overtures. By mid 1932, the Ford mansion, Jockey Hollow, and Fort Nonsense, where lined up as the first National Historical Park. Legislation was prepared, and Congress debated the measure in January 1933, sending the final bill to President Hoover for signature. 

Morristown National Historical Park Celebrates 90 Years!

Welcome to Morristown National Historical Park’s 90th anniversary year. Among the various activities planned to commemorate public history becoming publicly funded, our social media sites will feature virtual exhibits from time to time looking at unique and rarely seen artifacts from the park's collections. We will look at the last 90 years through artifacts that will help explain the history of the park and the concept of public history which officially began when President Herbert Hoover signed the Morristown NHP into existence on March 2, 1933, as the first recognized national HISTORICAL park.

#MorristownNHP90

Stay tuned!

[Image description: MNHP’s 90th anniversary logo. A prominent dark green 90 is featured. Artistic icons representing each of our four park sites fills the zero. In the center is the tour road and three snow-covered soldier huts, representing Jockey Hollow. Moving clockwise is an image of the Ford Mansion, the Fort Nonsense cannon and park sign, and the New Jersey Brigade water tower and Cross Garden. Under the 90 the text reads, “Morristown NHP Celebrates 90 Years.” Artwork by visual designer, Chelsea Bakos-Kallgren.]

COVID-19 Park Closure

Effective immediately, all Morristown National Historical Park site locations and grounds are closed.

Morristown National Historical Park (NHP), in response to State of New Jersey’s Executive Order 107 issued on March 21st directing all residents to stay at home until further notice to curb the spread of COVID-19, is announcing that all park gates providing access to the grounds and trails at Jockey Hollow Area (including restroom facilities), Fort Nonsense Area, and the New Jersey Brigade/Cross Estate Area are closed until the Executive Order is lifted.



Washington’s Headquarters Museum and the Ford Mansion remain closed.

Jockey Hollow Visitor Center and Wick House remain closed.

All visitor access gates to the Jockey Hollow Area and restrooms will remain closed.

All visitor access gates to Fort Nonsense Area will remain closed.

All visitor access gates to the New Jersey Brigade/Cross Estate Area will remain closed.



The health and safety of our visitors, employees, volunteers, and partners at Morristown NHP is our number one priority. The National Park Service (NPS) is working with federal, state, and local authorities to closely monitor COVID-19. The National Park Service (NPS) encourages all visitors to park lands to adhere to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local public health authorities to protect visitors and employees. #covid19 #nj #coronavirus #parkclosure #morristownnhpclosed #stayathomeorder #stayhomesavelives .


Please check our park website for the latest updates: www.nps.gov/morr and stay tuned for virtual museum features next week! .


[Image Description: This post features a closeup image of a skeleton keyhole at the historic Ford Mansion.  Sarah Minegar].

ML 15: Lesson and Wrap Up

Lesson:  Lyrical History and Document Based Questions 

Lyrics to Gordon Ward's Grandfather River
Click to enlarge or print.

After the Kahoot game, the teacher will pass out the lyric sheets to the students. Have students listen to Grandfather River and annotate at least three sections of the lyrics. The teacher can change these directions to specific lines or may leave it broad. After listening to the song one or two times the students, should pair up and talk about the song. This is where they should quickly go over the part they annotated and explain to the other student their thought process. The teacher should than hold a class discussion to answer any questions about the song and to engage the class in discussion. It would also be a good idea to ask the students to explain their thought process about their annotations. After the discussion the teacher will hand out the worksheet DBQ to the students. After some time, the students should go into pairs and work together and go over their answers.  




🎶  Click here for the audio recording of Grandfather River 🎶




All maps and and charts are from the Morristown NHP Library and Archives.


Click the DBQ thumbnails to enlarge or print exercises:

Terra Australis Incignita
America Nova Tabula

The Travels of Capts
Lewis and Clark,
From St. Louis, By Way of the
Missouri and Columbia Rivers
to the Pacific Ocean, (1809).

Discoveries Made in Exploring
 the Missouri, Red River, and Washita
by Captains Lewis and Clark
1906, A + G Way Printers

Mississippi Map,
Given to William Law
N.D.

America Septentrionalis
a Domino d' Anville in Gallis
edtia nune in Anglia
Noriberga, 1756.

Conclusion: House Hunters Historical 

To finish off this lesson the teacher should go over the worksheet and play this YouTube video called Louisiana Purchase: House Hunters Historical. This is a hilarious way to reinforce the lesson! 







ML 15: Lewis and Clark
Mini Lesson by Nicholas Quintero
For Complete Lesson Overview click HERE.