Story Trail and Tot Land at Crocker Art Museum

Today the kiddo and I were lucky enough to attend the launch of two new programs for kids at the Crocker Art Museum. Story Trail is a journey through the art museum using a book called Birdy's Museum Adventure as your guide. Tot Land is more hands-on and designed for kids 5 and under.
We started our day off with Story Trail, following the storybook that parents can check out at the front desk called Birdy's Museum Adventure. This book is a fun story about two new friends, Birdy and Rainbow Kid. It was kind of like a scavenger hunt to find clues to help Rainbow Kid locate Birdy's friends. Our storybook lead us all throughout the museum, searching for various birds that could be in paintings or sculptures. The art pieces they chose for the book are a great introduction for kids to art. Kids are naturally attracted to pictures of animals, but this is also a great opportunity to help your child find more meaning in these paintings. Depending on the age of your child you can ask them questions about what colors or shapes they see, and for the older kids ask them how the people in the painting are feeling, or better yet how the painting makes your child feel.

Pieces we came across today included Sacramento River, painted in the 1980's by local artist Gregory Kondos, and Vision of Saint Francis painted in 1911 by Arthur Mathews.

After we finished helping Birdy find his friends, we entered a magical place called Tot Land, full of books, music, toys and art supplies that encourage creative thinking and imagination.

One of the coolest parts of Tot Land is "The Living Art Wall" that uses an interactive touch screen to help kids try and recreate some of the masterpieces they just saw in the museum, or their own special creation. I must admit it's rather amazing to see how quickly kids pick up on technology, and these kids were plastered to the screen in awe at how they could create something so beautiful with just their finger tips (Perhaps they can help me with my blog redesign?). This interactive screen would not have been possible without local company BKWLD. On behalf of this excited group of kids, I thank you.

Kiddo and I were happy to enjoy today with the number one aunt and sister-in-law today- Auntie Nani! Auntie Nani is very passionate about our local arts community, whether it's the Sacramento Ballet, Sacramento Music Circus, or the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, and these events are so much more fun when she's around! The Arts are a huge part of the education that kids should be receiving, yet they are the first to be cut when budget issues arrive. Please check out the various programs these organizations have for kids, and get involved in your local arts community!

After checking out the extensive kids library and "The Living Art Wall", Alex made her way over to the arts and crafts table to channel her inner Monet.....

The bulk of her time was spent here- creating masterpiece after masterpiece, meeting new friends, showing off her "sharing" skills, and enjoying the endless supply of art supplies that could appeal to the wildest of imaginations. This was such great fun, but I had to return to work *insert sad face here*. We will definitely be coming back to check out more of Rainbow Kids adventures!

Story Trail and Tot Land are included with entry into the Crocker Art Museum and are open during regular museum hours. For more information you can visit crockerartmuseum.org or call (916) 808-7000. Future events include "Pay What You Wish Sunday", every third Sunday of the month sponsored by Bank of America, and Little Buckaroos Day on Labor Day, sponsored by Target. Also check out their Studio Art Classes (ages depending on the art project). Thank you Crocker Art Museum for continuously inspiring kids of all ages (myself included). And, a special thank you to the First 5 Sacramento Commission for your support of this new program.