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The hour-long session began with a tour of some of the museum’s holdings, including a scrimshaw walrus tusk carved by a sailor into a cribbage board to pass the time on what might have been a voyage of several years. Then the children delved into “activity bags,” each containing objects to be held, inspected and identified — in this case, hanks of thick rope and a fid (the children learned what it is and how it’s used) – followed by a chance to make their own versions of scrimshaw using cakes of Ivory Soap as a base, orange stick carving tools and bottles of tempera paint.
The South Street Seaport Museum at 12 Fulton St. is rolling out the welcome mat for kids and their families, with programs designed for children from 1 year old to 9 years old. The Family Programs series for 6 to 9 year olds, revolving around such topics as a sailor’s life aboard a merchant ship, the 19th-century Seaport and life in New Amsterdam, takes place every other Saturday morning. The next one will be on March 3.
Mini Mates programs for children from ages 18 months to 3 years currently meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and on Thursday afternoons (12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.) but the program has proven so popular that Wednesday morning sessions will be added starting on March 14. The children play in a large room enticingly stocked with toys and open-ended materials such as paints and Play-Doh, and do art projects on a “theme of the day.” Part of each session is also devoted to movement and music. The fee is $15 for a single session or $40 for four consecutive sessions.
On March 16, the museum will start “Circle Time” for children 1 and 2 years old. It will meet every other Friday morning for 30 minutes with story readings and songs at a cost of $10 per child.
“We want little ones to get comfortable in a museum setting and start learning,” said Franny Kent, director of the Frederick A. O. Schwarz Children’s Center at the Museum of the City of New York, and now fulfilling the same role at the South Street Seaport Museum, which is being managed by the uptown museum for a year, or perhaps longer, to see if the Seaport museum can be made financially viable after having nearly closed.
Barbara Barry, an artist and an educator, leads the Saturday Family Programs and the well-loved Mini Mates programs that started under the South Street Seaport Museum’s previous administration but have been reconfigured with additional equipment and new activities. Of the Family Programs she said, “We’re linking the museum to art and to the history of the area. The art project is a way of putting the content into a material form that the children can take home.”
Kent said that the experience is for the children and for the adults who come with them. “We don’t want the adults sitting on the sidelines,” she said. “We want them to learn together.”
The Saturday Family Programs cost $15 per child and $5 for each accompanying adult, which includes admission to the museum. After the program is over, they are encouraged to explore the museum on their own, fortified with new information and understanding.
“You’re never too young to start learning,” Kent said — or too old.
For more information about South Street Seaport Museum programs for children and their families or to register, email reservations@seany.org. All programs meet at the museum, located at 12 Fulton St.
