Small museums in or near your home, have fascinating exhibits, and in this COVID world, they have created great programs, particularly for families with children – virtually.
The John Jay Homestead in Katonah, NY, has a “Play Days @ Jay @ Home” activities page with games, puzzles, recipes and crafts, including how to make a glass harmonica just like its inventor, Benjamin Franklin, did. Explore their site and learn all about John Jay, too.
The Heckscher at Home Initiative (H@H), from the Heckscher Museum of Art, located on Long Island, has a range of online arts activities including virtual music and a virtual art activity series. A classical flute quartet is among the music choices and on February 6, a museum educator will read Ezra Jack Keats’s The Snowy Day, to teach kids about Black History Month and then help them create a winter themed collage. Register for other family programs, too.
The New York Institute for Special Education in the Bronx, New York, has a Museum and Archive, and one of its online sections is all about famed hymn writer, Institute student and teacher Fanny Crosby , noted as “one of the three greatest personalities that have risen from among the blind of America.” Fanny is noted in the archive as having been from Putnam County, New York. Actually, Fanny lived in the town where I live today, Brewster, and I live on Crosby Avenue. I’ll be visiting the archive more than once.
Find out more about your local museums by browsing by state and type of museum here.
