Of course, I must give myself a small pat on the back for choosing her first museum well. The Lutz Children's Museum in Manchester, Connecticut, is designed to appeal to the youngest of tots, as well as to the child in everyone. With a children's art gallery, interactive science and humanities exhibits and a menagerie of rehabilitated animal residents, the museum is a place of discovery for pre-school and elementary age kids. "We teach them that the word 'museum' is not scary," said Executive Director Bob Eckert.
The museum provides a safe and comfortable environment even for young children, and my daughter was most fascinated watching the other kids crawling, toddling, banging, building, exploring and even steering the wheel of a Spanish galleon constructed by volunteers from Schoenhardt Architecture & Design in Simsbury, Connecticut, on the first anniversary of September 11. The Lutz Children's Museum has two main exhibit galleries--one dedicated to the sciences and one to the humanities. Interactive exhibits are changed every six months, so frequent visitors can always anticipate the creation of new learning and playing environments. Eckert said that some families visit as often as twice each week.
The Lutz Children's Museum marked its 50th anniversary in 2003, but the museum's origins pre-date its official establishment in 1953. The collection of more than 10,000 objects and artifacts was begun by the late Hazel Lutz, a Manchester art teacher who recognized the value of "hands-on" learning ahead of her time. During her world travels, Lutz collected curiosities to share with her students. The museum's first "home" was the trunk of her car. Later, the collection occupied a coatroom, then a school basement. When the collection outgrew an entire schoolhouse, it was time to find a permanent space where the historic, cultural and natural artifacts could be utilized and enjoyed by teachers and children throughout the Greater Hartford area.
Eckert, who has been involved with the museum since his days as a high school volunteer, said that less than a quarter of the collection is exhibited at the museum at any given time. Many objects are circulated through a school outreach program that makes 250 learning kits available to teachers in 29 area towns.
Learning kits aren't the only museum resources that travel. The museum's staff of curators and even its diverse collection of abandoned, mistreated, ill and injured animals also make visits to schools and community organizations.
The Lutz Children's Museum is home to the state's largest animal rehabilitation facility east of the Connecticut River. While every effort is made to return animals to their natural environment whenever possible, Eckert describes the museum as a "nursing home" for animals who can't survive in the wild. Each of the permanent "patients" has a story. Sampson the iguana (click the image above to launch slide show), for example, was found wandering the streets of Hartford. "We think he was somebody's pet and they just got tired of him," said Eckert, who added that when Sampson visits schools, he provides an opportunity to teach children about responsible pet ownership. A groundhog named Connecticut Chuckles, the state's official prognosticator of the status of spring each February 2, is deaf and blind in one eye. I didn't want to know the story behind Julius Squeezer the boa constrictor!
Each day at 4 p.m., one of the museum's animal handlers presents a short program about one of the fascinating critters. In fact, the museum's calendar is packed with presentations, performances, literacy and homeschooling programs, art show openings, parent/child workshops and classes for pre-schoolers through sixth graders throughout the year.
You're likely to feel as comfortable at The Lutz as your kids do. Keep your shoes on, though.
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