Did you wear a wristwatch when you were a kid? I recall owning at least half a dozen watches, all prized possessions, but I don’t remember checking my wrist very often. When a collections project here at the National Museum of Play at The Strong unearthed a Funtime Barbie watch that sent me into a fit of nostalgia, I started thinking about how kids perceive time—and it rarely has to do with clocks.

Sure, kids have to live by clock time […]

Continue Reading about About Time: How Kids Perceive It, and Why They Wear Watches Published on:
November 13, 2012

As the Olympic Games conclude, I can’t help but remember my years as a star athlete . . . just kidding. People who condition their bodies and minds for extreme competition will forever surpass my skill and understanding. However, I appreciate their urge to better themselves through feats of athleticism. And I, like many of my fellow non-Olympians, strive for personal improvement in my own way.
 I never succeeded at organized sports. Two seasons of middle-school basketball netted me (pardon the […]

Continue Reading about Physical Fitness: Play or Punishment? Published on:
August 13, 2012

Have you ever wondered how The Strong uses artifacts not currently on display at the National Museum of Play? Scholars from around the world visit Rochester to study firsthand The Strong’s collections, which are unique not only for their rarities but for their breadth and depth. Museums also borrow The Strong’s artifacts for temporary exhibitions, resulting in travel opportunities not just for the objects but occasionally for the collections manager who so carefully coordinates their excursions (that’s me!). Just such […]

Continue Reading about Have Toys—Will Travel Published on:
June 26, 2012

Consider a paradox: people who play the fastest devote great lengths of time to doing so. This presents a conundrum only slightly less challenging than a Rubik’s Cube—unless you’re the current world record holder, who solved the puzzling polyhedron in less than six seconds. If you asked champion Feliks Zemdegs, he’d probably say the goal of playing quickly is achieved slowly.
 Videos abound online in which Rubik’s Cube gurus demonstrate how to solve the puzzle. Novices will have no trouble with […]

Continue Reading about Play-Time: Racing Against the Clock Published on:
May 1, 2012

Some folks have reported visions of sugarplums recently—I’ve worked so closely with museum artifacts that I’m hearing their voices. Call me the Toy Whisperer or just plain loopy, but I listen when the museum’s toys and games talk about their New Year’s resolutions. The artifacts have some ambitious goals for 2012, but this doesn’t surprise me at all—they were busy last year, too.
 Mobo Bronco has committed to proving he’s a big-boy horse by sleeping without his night light as often […]

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January 3, 2012

Getting behind the wheel can be stressful. Congestion, construction, and detours are no day at the beach . . . especially when all we want to do is make it to the beach. Most of us enjoy a good road trip, but with so many obstacles taking the air out of our tires, who can blame us for just wanting to get from Point A to Point B? What happened to the days when simply riding in an automobile was […]

Continue Reading about The Open Road Published on:
December 6, 2011

Holy relationship crisis! Batman, is Robin your sidekick or your partner? Think you can get away with calling him just a chum? Empty words for a guy who’s always had your back. Heroes fighting for justice and peace should defend a new cause: equal rights for so-called sidekicks.
As Batman looms over the National Museum of Play’s American Comic Book Heroes exhibit here at The Strong, I can’t help but think of poor Robin—surely you’ve noticed that he wears no pants? […]

Continue Reading about Standing Up for Sidekicks: An Appeal to Heroes Published on:
August 23, 2011

As anticipation builds for the royal newlyweds’ first official North American tour, I’m reminded yet again of how beautiful Kate Middleton (er, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge) looked. With billions of eyes on her as she towed a nearly nine-foot train across Westminster Abbey, she embodied poise and grace, winning many admirers at home and overseas. Such was the reception of a gowned and bejeweled Frenchwoman introduced to the United States 125 years ago, “a mighty woman with a torch,” as […]

Continue Reading about Saluting the Statue of Liberty Published on:
June 28, 2011

Rolling my artifact cart through the exhibits at The Strong’s National Museum of Play, I often spot guests who are shoo-ins for the stage. These budding thespians linger under the colorful lights in Kid to Kid and the majestic red curtain in Reading Adventureland’s Fairy Tale Forest. There’s nothing like playing at plays—take it from me, since I spent most of my high school years performing in theatrical productions. One of the lessons I picked up through those acting experiences […]

Continue Reading about More than Words: Theater’s Unsung Heroes Published on:
May 3, 2011