Kristin Koenigsberger, intervention specialist at the Onaway preschool, says when it comes to preschoolers, keep it simple.
“Just get outside.”
Her suggestions: Give your child a very small plot (a twelve-inch square is plenty) to dig and plant something small, or plan a scavenger
hunt with items found outside the house. “Sometimes we overlook the possibilities in our own backyards because we’re so busy going
somewhere else,” Koenigsberger says.
Of course, there are times when it’s good to go somewhere else. And at those times, parents and caretakers should keep in mind that quality
trumps quantity. “You want a good hour, half-hour, or five minutes, as opposed to three hours at the Art Museum where everyone leaves crying
and no one wants to go back.”
Her advice? Buy memberships. Or ask for them as gifts. “When you have a membership, you don’t feel the pressure of ‘Well, I paid for my
admission, so now I have to stay for x-number of hours,” Koenigsberger says, adding that many of Cleveland’s museums have reciprocity with
museums not just in Ohio, but across the country.
Koenigsberger says parents should seize any opportunity to build a child’s vocabulary through experience – whether that’s outside
or at a museum. Her top picks to engage children and start building connections between their lives and the world around them:
SHAKER LIFE | SPRING 2015 35
From the Experts:
Go Big
or Go Home?
In Shaker, Both!
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Holden Arboretum – Last fall, the
Holden Arboretum joined forces with
the Cleveland Botanical Garden so
that now members of each institution
enjoy privileges at both. “It’s only
25 minutes away and for children,
it’s wonderful,” Koenigsberger says.
“There’s a tree that children can
actually crawl inside.”
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The Children’s Garden at the
Cleveland Botanical Garden “in
summer is fabulous. Children can lie
on the deck and see frogs and fish
bobbing out of the water. There’s a
place for digging a planting. Inside,
kids can enjoy the butterflies in the
Rainforest,” says Koenigsberger.
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The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes
– “The hikes are short, but you feel
like you’re in the woods and you
feel like you’ve gone somewhere,”
she says. “It’s preschool-sized and
something they can accomplish. They
feel like they’ve gone somewhere.”
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Gallery One, the Cleveland
Museum of Art’s hands-on, childfriendly
gallery, is “fabulous,” says
Koenigsberger. “It acclimates children
as to how to be a patron at the Art
Museum. It’s a learned skill for kids to
know that you can’t just run up and
touch a picture. Gallery One makes it
accessible for families and kids in a
way that you don’t feel scared.” SL