By Megan Fischer, Associate Director, Providence Children’s Museum
For a fifth summer, Providence Children’s Museum is bringing playful hands-on activities to parks across Providence, building on its commitment to advocate for and raise awareness of the critical importance of children’s play, and its efforts to provide unstructured play opportunities throughout the community.
Families will join the Museum to try a variety of playful open-ended activities – to build forts, blow bubbles, send rockets soaring, play parachute games, and more. Activities take place evenings in July and August from 5:00 – 8:00 PM during Celebrate Providence, the city’s Neighborhood Performing Arts Initiative performances, and are free to the public.
Play at the Park with Providence Children’s Museum from 5:00 – 8:00 PM:
Thursday, July 7 • Bucklin Park (Bucklin and Daboll Streets)
Tuesday, July 12 • Fargnoli Park (Smith and Jastram Streets)
Wednesday, July 13 • Harriet and Sayles Park (Harriet and Sayles Streets)
Thursday, July 21 • Dexter Training Grounds (Dexter and Parade Streets)
Wednesday, July 27 • Harriet and Sayles Park (Harriet and Sayles Streets)
Thursday, August 4 • Billy Taylor Park (Camp and Cypress Streets)
Unstructured, child-directed play is vital for kids’ healthy growth and development, and the Museum is bringing play to public spaces to combat children’s growing play deficit and to make unstructured, high-quality play experiences available to all kids and families. A strong advocate for the critical importance of open-ended, child-directed play, the Museum is excited to continue partnering with Providence parks to bring creative play opportunities to kids and families in communities throughout the city.
Children’s Museum activities at the parks are part of its participation in Playful Providence – a citywide celebration commemorating Providence’s fifth consecutive designation as a “Playful City USA” by KaBOOM!, which recognizes communities commended for prioritizing play.
There are plenty of great play opportunities at the Museum this summer, too! Get Out! for hands-on activities in the Museum’s garden on Tuesday afternoons, climb aboard a different vehicle during Wheels at Work each Wednesday morning, build with big blue Imagination Playground blocks every Friday, and much more! Learn more.
