Burke Museum visits Royal
This preschooler gets a real close look at insect pictures with a magnifying glass.
ROYAL CITY - The Burke Museum of Seattle has become quite a partner in the education of Royal City preschoolers.
The museum recently completed its second visit to preschoolers and their families here as part of its early-learning initiative. It will be back on May 11 for an Archaeology Day with seventh-graders at school and a Science Night in the evening.
The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture was founded in 1885. It is the oldest public museum in Washington and was designated the State Museum in 1899. The museum's administration resides with the University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences.
The Burke is a research and collections-based museum with 16 million objects in its collections.
More than 35,000 Washington K-12 students visit the Burke every year. For students unable to visit the museum, Burke Boxes and the BurkeMobile are two popular traveling education programs.
According to Growing Great Learners Preschool director Jeannie Enriquez, educators from the Burke partnered with local teachers and families to develop a series of programs that focused on the development of critical thinking skills in young children.
Each visit consisted of three elements: parent training, classroom visits, and a family night where all were invited to participate. The Burke classroom program visited Growing Great Learners Preschool as well as the Inspire Development Center, bringing real museum specimens.
The February visit focused on dinosaurs and prehistoric life. One highlight was children being able to dig for real fossils, just like paleontologists.
The April visit focused on investigating nature, plants, and animals by exploring mammal skulls and bird wings other such artifacts owned by the museum.
The newest addition to the program line-up is the "Backyard Scientist" backpacks. These take-home nature kits are filled with scientific tools such as magnifying glasses and binoculars, as well as scientific specimens such insects, rocks, and shells.
Families from the Growing Great Learners Preschool took these kits home in order to continue to practice science outside of school.