Beyond Glitter and Glue: 12 Days of Christmas, Day 1

Show Notes

Welcome to the first episode of the “12 Days of Christmas Museum Education Edition!”

Let’s dive into a vital topic: moving beyond “crafting for craft’s sake” in museum programming. 

Key Quotes

“To craft for craft's sake is your mother's museum education. And I said what I said.”

“Every crafting activity that we design should be more than just a fun distraction. It should be a powerful storytelling tool that aligns seamlessly with our mission, and it should transform simple projects into impactful educational experiences.”

For more detailed show notes and a transcript, visit www.modernmuseumeducation.com/podcast/009. 

Connect with Rachel

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please take a moment to subscribe, like, and leave a review—it helps other museum educators find this resource. For questions, coaching opportunities, or to be a guest on the show, visit http://modernmuseumeducation.com.

Creators and Guests

Host

Rachel Gibson

Museum Education Consultant | I help museum educators create sustainable, strategic, and pedagogically sound museum programs for children and families through 1:1 consulting, museum program evaluation, educator professional development workshops, and online content, sourced from my unique experience as a long-time museum educator and academic researcher.

What is Modern Museum Education?

Rachel Gibson is a museum education researcher, consultant, and former frontline educator helping museum professionals create engaging, sustainable programs for children and families. On the Modern Museum Education Podcast, she explores topics like family learning, audience engagement, museum strategy, program design, intergenerational learning, and the real-world challenges museum educators face every day.

Part conference session and part coffee shop chat, each episode blends research-backed insights with practical strategies you can actually use—whether you're planning field trips, designing family programs, leading education teams, or trying to keep your creativity alive in a stretched-thin museum world.

If you believe museum education matters deeply—and that your work isn’t childish just because you work with children—you’re in the right place. Discover more at modernmuseumeducation.com!

Hi, I'm Rachel, a resource expert and
career coach for museum educators who

are stretched thin, but long to fall
in love with their world changing work.

After over 15 years with my own hands
in the glitter, I know how it feels

when your board thinks your work is
childish because you work with children.

I know how hard it is to lead
a tour on a difficult subject.

And I know the frustration of waiting
on a school bus that is 20 minutes late.

Or worse, 10 minutes early.

As I'm heading towards the second half of
my career, I find myself with the passion

to help my fellow educators reverse the
chronic state of being overworked and

underappreciated so that they can reclaim
their creativity and emotional energy.

Join me and my museum buddies as
we share our best tips, tricks, and

techniques for modern museum education.

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas
Museum Education Edition, my holiday

gift to the museum educator community.

For the next 12 days, I'll be releasing
a bite sized podcast episode stuffed

with actionable tips, and as always,
grounded in current research to help you

level up your museum education programs.

So today's episode is
"beyond glitter and glue."

Let's reimagine museum education
programs for real impact.

Okay, so if you've spent any time
at all on my website, you know

that I love glitter and glue.

But also, I have a deep conviction
that no craft or activity should

happen in our programs "just because."

I was recently talking
about this with a professor.

I'm in the beginning stages
of planning my dissertation

on the use of play in museums.

And this professor told me a story about
how she was taking her grandchildren

to a museum over the summer and the
museum offered a scavenger hunt of

the galleries, but she felt like the
activity was, and these were her words,

"cheap" and not in terms of the
financial cost, but in terms of the

quality, because it was clearly just
something to keep the kids busy while

the adults did the "real learning."

And this burns me up.

My huge soapbox is that museum
programs, all programs, all tours

and all exhibits should be planned
for the specific use of children.

In fact, my opinion on this subject is
so ginormous that I had to go back to

school to get a PhD to support the weight
of my spicy take about kids in museums.

So let's talk about why crafting
just to craft belongs in the

past of museum education.

Let's dive into why every crafting
activity that we design should be

more than just a fun distraction.

It should be a powerful storytelling tool
that aligns seamlessly with our mission,

and it should transform simple projects
into impactful educational experiences.

This is really, really important.

And so let's go through the steps of how
we can level up the crafts and activities

that we offer to children in our programs.

The first thing is that you need to
understand your museum's core mission.

This is crucial.

This isn't just some lofty statement
tucked away on your web page.

This is the heartbeat of
everything that you do in your

museum, or at least it should be.

When it comes to education, our role is to
breathe life into that mission, making it

accessible and engaging for all visitors.

The days of crafting for
craft's sake are gone.

Instead, let's turn our
attention to missional crafts.

Projects that not only entertain,
but also educate and inspire by

reflecting our museum's themes.

So imagine designing an activity that
not only results in an adorable piece

of art or a fun memory, But also,
actually, really, impactfully deepens

the participants connection with
the exhibit or the narrative theme

that you're trying to teach them.

This is where we want to head.

So when we align crafts with our museum's
mission, something magical happens.

Visitor engagement skyrockets
because they see and feel the

relevance of what they're creating.

They're not just making something,
they're connecting with history, art,

science, whatever your focus may be.

They're connecting with
it on a deep level.

Okay, so let me give you
a couple of examples.

Years and years and years ago,
I was planning, this was for a

summer camp and I needed to create,
um, like name tags for the kids.

They were like middle school age kids.

This was a junior docent camp.

So the kids would come and we would teach
them all about historic preservation and

exhibit design and also how to give tours.

There was public speaking and
we, we wrote little tours and it

was actually a really fun camp.

I really enjoyed it.

But I needed, you know, name tags for
the kids that first couple of days.

So I thought it would be fun to
create a craft to make the name tags.

And y'all, I don't have any idea what
in the world possessed me, but for some

reason I thought, you know, what's fun?

Shrinky dinks.

Shrinky dinks are fun.

Do you, do you remember Shrinky Dinks?

I, I hope you know what I'm talking about.

If you don't know what Shrinky Dinks
are, they're like this specific kind

of plastic that you color on and then
you bake it in the oven and it shrinks.

They were very popular when
I was a kid back in the 80s.

Anyways.

Did you know you can still
get Shrinky Dink material?

In fact, you can get, or at least
you could, this is like maybe 10

or 15 years ago, but you could get
like plain Shrinky Dink material.

Just like a, like a, like a
sheet of it, like a eight and

a half by eleven plain sheet.

So, And I guess you could run
it through the copy machine,

because I printed something on it.

Like I printed the reverse image of our
education mascot, and then I colored it.

Maybe?

I can't even remember exactly.

This is, and this is my point.

I don't even remember what
I did because it was, it was

literally a craft for craft sake.

It had absolutely no connection to
anything that I was teaching the kids.

I, um, but the point is, well, not
the point, but incidentally it was

a complete and utter fail because I
could not make these shrinky dinks work

I did it I mean I spent hours trying
to figure out how to make these work.

And every time I baked in the oven
they completely curled up weirdly.

It was it was an absolute total
crafting fail And I'm glad that

it was because again that craft
had nothing to do with anything.

It was just, it was fun, and there's
nothing wrong with fun, and you know,

and I am researching the role of play,
and you guys know I'm a huge fan of Dr.

John Falk's work, and he talks a
lot about the importance of personal

engagement, and the role of fun.

It's important, I get it, it is
important, but also, we are not just

about having, just about having fun,
like the fun needs to connect, right?

If we're doing a program that
has a teaching element, the fun

needs to connect to what we want
people to come away with knowing.

So to contrast that shrinky dink fail,
I also did another craft that week

where we took brown paper craft boxes.

And we modge podged them and we
modge podged them with pictures

of objects from the collection.

So what I did was I gave
each kid a disposable camera.

It wasn't a very big camp.

Obviously this would have been a cost
prohibitive craft if there had been

like at scale, but this was just a
small group of kids and we gave them

a disposable camera and I let them
each take, it was like a camera that

had maybe like 12 exposures and they
could take a picture with, you know,

of any 12 objects in the collection.

And incidentally using a disposable
camera where they couldn't see the picture

and they could only take the only 12
clicks was quite the experience for a

lot of these kids who'd only ever used
cameras that were like on a cell phone.

Anyways, then I got the pictures
developed and we then took those

pictures and modge podged these boxes.

So it was this sort of souvenir
take home craft that I had

pictures of the of 12 objects that
they personally connected with.

They were 12 objects that in their
little tours that they were writing,

that they were highlighting and, you
know, I made my own craft box that

week as well, and I still have my box.

It's in the top of my closet.

I keep things in it.

Um, I don't even work
for that museum anymore.

And I still have that box because
that craft meant something.

It was connected to actual
objects in the collection.

And that is the point.

When you are doing crafts and
activities, you need to make sure

that they are connecting with the
point of what you're teaching.

And it might be the, narrative
theme of your program, it ought to

connect to the mission of your site.

So it is really important to me that the
resources that I am putting out in this

podcast and anything on my website helps
to bridge the gap between scholarship and

practice for museum educators because I
know that when you're in the field every

day, day in and day out, you don't have
time to read all the latest research.

And I do have time to read it
and it's what I enjoy doing

and I am doing a lot of it.

And so I want to share with
you some of the interesting and

important research that I'm finding.

So I want to share with you a little
bit from a book called Activity

Based Teaching in the Art Museum,
Movement, Embodiment, Emotion.

And I'll put a link to where you
can find this book on Amazon in the

show notes so that you can find the
ISBN number and the author's names

and you can, you can get this if
you want to find out more about it.

So this book is all about how to
incorporate playful movement into

art gallery museums is so it's very
specifically written for art museums,

but history and science museums,
there's a lot in here for you as well.

So in this book, the authors point
out that people have been drawing

in museums since the foundation of
museums, people go into art museums

and they do a lot of drawing.

But as they note, sometimes educators
just let people draw, especially children.

They just let them draw.

And there is value in just
drawing whatever feels

interesting to you.

Again, this connects back to John
Falk's research, Lynn Dierking's

research, the, you know, visitor
identity and motivations and the

well being needs that museums meet.

This is all important.

But, let's consider for a second the
value in a more intentional activity.

What the authors of this book suggest is
observational drawing, or contour drawing.

So in this more intentional activity, you
replace just free drawing with an activity

that is holistically engaging the visitor.

It's something that is encouraging
close looking, which is going

to encourage an appreciation of
both the artwork and the artist.

So it's going to encourage

visitors, particularly children here,
we're talking about to look closely at

the objects and, and to look for details.

This is going to allow you, it's
going to open up the door for you

to have conversations about the
piece itself, its, its role in the

world, the artist or the maker.

So let me read you a couple
of quotes from this book.

So in this case, observational drawing
is where you're going to look closely at

a piece of art and and try to draw it.

Or, contour drawing is where you look
closely at a particular object and

you just trace the outline of it.

You don't try to draw any of the details
on the inside, you just draw the outline.

Conversely, you can like,
not draw the outline.

The object, but you can shade where
it is in space so that you end up

with this sort of like shaded picture.

There's a couple of options that the
authors are suggesting that might sort of

level up your just regular drawing craft.

So this is what they write.

"Students discover things as they draw."

And they go on to say "what students
discover and learn about objects is

more important than whether or not
their drawings look like the objects.

How does the hand inform the eye?

When does the eye need the hand?

The hand helps capture and elucidate fine
detail and also tests visual hypotheses.

The hand and the drawn line answer
questions that the eye asks.

How smooth or rough is this surface?

When Where does this surface turn away?

Similarly, each line drawn asks to be
confirmed or contradicted by the eye.

Eye and hand learn from each other
to the point that the eye learns to

draw while the hand begins to see."

So this is an example.

a, an up leveled activity where
instead you could have just been

like drawing in the art museum.

Here, let's, let's invite students
to do something a little bit more

holistically engaged, but I get it.

We are all running around like headless
chickens sometimes, and it might feel

like there's just not enough time to fully

renovate every program that you
have and, and all of the activities.

So don't necessarily look at this
as a challenge to go backwards and

fix everything, but maybe look at
this as a challenge to go forwards.

So anytime you add a new activity, or if
you're building a new program over this

next year, what can you do to link the
activities to something that's maybe a

little bit more holistic, maybe something
that's connected more specifically to

your mission, maybe something that's
connected more specifically to the

narrative that you're trying to teach.

And a really important key in this is to
make sure that your staff, or especially

if you rely on volunteers to run your
education programs, you have to tell

them why you're doing what you're doing.

So tell them specifically "we are doing
this activity because it relates to this

topic that we're talking about on the
tour" or "we are doing this activity

because it allows children to meet
this particular learning objective"

or "we are doing this activity because
it allows for a connection between

their body and their brain" or "we are
doing this activity because it offers

a movement or brain break from an
otherwise heavy learning experience."

Every activity that you do
should have a so what involved.

We are doing this because it
meets this need on our tour.

And it might be something as simple as,
we're going to let them run around because

they're going to need that space after
having been quiet on a 45 minute tour.

It might be, we're going to encourage
them to do close looking because we want

them to engage their whole bodies and
their brains while they're looking at

this artwork, we're going to have them do
this craft because it's going to connect

to the meaningful part of the tour.

So whatever it is, make sure
that your craft and activity

has a "so what" component.

Why are you doing what you're doing?

If you can't tell me the reason
for every activity, then you

shouldn't be doing that activity.

To craft for craft's sake is
your mother's museum education.

And I said what I said.

You should be specifically connecting
every activity, every part of

your tour to a particular outcome.

And that doesn't have to be a
learning outcome like an objective

or a curriculum connection.

But it needs to have a reason.

You need to be doing this for your
visitor for some particular reason.

Okay.

So there you have it.

So if you are ready to ditch the random
craft projects in favor of something

more meaningful, you can start by
revisiting your museum's core themes.

You can start by thinking carefully
about everything you want students

or children or families to come away
with on your tour, including not just

what you want them to learn, but how
you want them to feel, what you want

them to experience, and then connect
those objectives back to every single

activity that you do on your tour.

Don't let any second of your program
time be wasted on meaningless activities.

All right, so here's to making every
craft count and I will see you back

tomorrow for day two of the 12 days
of Christmas museum education edition.

Thank you so much for joining us.

If this episode has been helpful to
you or interesting, please take a

minute to like, subscribe, and leave
a review, which will help other

museum educators find this resource.

As always, if you would like to work with
me more directly, have any questions, or

would like to be a guest on the podcast,
you can find links to all that and more

on my website, modernmuseumeducation.

com.

I'll see you back here next time.

And in the meantime, please remember
that your work is not childish just

because you work with children.