I am a big fan of children’s museums. If you have never been to one they are basically designed for children (usually 8 and younger) to engage in play activities. I think we have 4 dedicated children’s museums in Ohio. This past weekend we went to one in Pittsburgh though and a great time was had by all…mostly.
This particular museum’s claim to fame is the Mr. Roger’s wing where they have Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood sets for kids to play on… the castle, the trolley, the front porch swing, the clock tower, etc. They also have a elaborate attic for kids to crawl through and find treasures, an art studio, a garage complete with tools and a real car and gas pump, a dance/music studio, a nursery, and a waterplay area.
My kids had a blast. Mom and dad have a few complaints though. The staff was overall very unfriendly and one staffer woman even shoved my 4 year old daughter. Hubby had to handle that situation because mama bear was ready to attack. The beverage/snack bar closed about 1.5 hours before closing time so that was irritating. We went into the art studio over and hour before close and they refused to give my oldest son paints because they were “closing soon”. We ended up having to use paints that other kids left out and they hadn’t gotten around to cleaning up yet. They officially closed the room a full half hour before the close of the museum. Then with 30 minutes till closing we went back to the waterplay room and they were already cleaning up all the waterplay toys, practically snatching them out of kids hands. Basically they were trying their hardest to get parents to pack up and leave 30-60 minutes before closing time. I thought that was really outrageous and I will be writing a scathing letter to them. So much for customer service. IMO if the museum closes at 5PM then that means they don’t touch anything until 5PM. It is like trying to get people to leave a movie ten minutes before the end!
BUT my kids did have a good time and we have some great pictures and memories of them playing.. check out this Flickr set for complete pics. We just won’t be going back to that museum anytime soon. Cleveland will likely get our business next time.
Sounds cool. The Mr.Rogers neighborhood sounds really awesome. That sucks that they started to put things away early, but that is kind of the way it works in PA. Everyone shuts down at least 15 minutes before close and most places start putting things away an entire hour before close. It’s pretty frustrating.
how fun! sadly they don’t have a museum like that near us. they have one in Houston where I grew up and I remember going to that one as I kid and I wish there was something for my little one.
btw, you will have to let us know if you get a response to your letter. what a frustrating thing to happen!
Hey Tiffany! I’ve had this experience with museums before. I wonder why this is? I love hands on experiences for the kids. My children enjoy this type of museum but we don’t get to them very often.
We enjoy taking our boys to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum…..we all have a great time!!!
Yes it sure is frustrating when people pack up before closing.
I think it may be due to the fact that the staff may actually leave at closing time. I remember working in a shop where our shift finished at closing time so if we stayed to clean up after that it was in our own time. If they are not given paid time to clean up you can understand their need to get everything clean and tidy before 5pm.
This happens in daycare centers too, so the children who are last to leave, waiting for their parents to come at the last minute are left with one or two things to play with cos everything has been tidied away.
British schools are like that at the end of the school year. Staff are not paid to work after the children leave for the summer so everything is tidied and cleaned well before the end of term. This means the children have less resources to use during the last week and on the last day it is traditional for under 11s to bring in a toy to play with on the last day whilst the staff do the last of the putting away etc.
Having read my post I want to add that it has always frustrated me that the tidying up happens so early and many years i have refused to take down the Christmas decorations until after the children have left for the holidays because it seems so sad to do it while they are there.
Mind you it is no fun to be the last person in the building still clearing away when you are tired.
Another thought is that if a person does not like their job and does not find it fulfilling they will be thinking about going home, and therefore wanting to tidy up well before a person who is engaged in the job. When I worked in a daycare in Montana I found it frustrating that the owner was pushing me out the door at 6pm, when I hadn’t quite finished the job. I was used to teaching where I stayed at school, well after the kids had gone, until the job was done or the caretaker threw me out.
When you write to the boss people at the museum bare in mind that it is the bosses that create the atmosphere where the staff are happy and caring. (Which they didn’t seem to be from your experience.) And a kind word turneth away wrath. You will be more likely to get a good result if you turn the whole episode into a positive ‘if your staff did this it would create a better atmosphere’ etc.
I love your blog by the way. lol.