A city museum was on the list of activities today, and we revisited Vapriiki, in Tampere, Finland. It is often changing its exhibition areas, so it is a good target to hit up every three to six months to see what is new. We don't check the website before, and just show up to be surprised. This time, one of the new exhibits was a superhero and comic book timeline, and the other was on DNA research on ancient bones. Both were interesting, but we spent more time in the superhero one, as Smallsteps liked studying the drawings and looking at the figurines.
The superheroes were better for photos too.
And there was lots that reminded me of childhood, and plenty that gave me ideas for various pieces of content in the future too. When I am out and about, I am always seeing if something catches my eye to capture with the camera, but also if something captures my mind to build some thoughts upon. Content topics is the easy part though - making the writing interesting is another story!
Would that be considered culturally inappropriate?
Smallsteps was interested in the superheroes and spent time looking at the figurines grouped by their ability. She has never seen a superhero movie (unlike me at her age), but is interested in what kind of skills they have and how they use them. She was also looking more to the female characters. These days though, none of the superheroes are suitable role models for anyone.
That is another topic though.
Kids need people to look up to, but those people have to be the right kind of people. The ones that encourage strength, not weakness. And that have strengths that are able to be applied in real life, without needing a superpower. Parents play a role, but we live in a society and that means that there have to be other positive roles played also.
Build them strong.
A path to follow and then trailblaze beyond.
I could have spent more time in the ancient DNA exhibit reading and discovering more, but it wasn't Smallsteps' cup of tea at her age. She was interested in parts of it though, and found it pretty cool how they are able to track family lines back many thousands of years. Also, that there were stone age "friendship" charms (made out of slate) that they would break and carry around to signify a social bond. A marriage of a fashion, I presume.
And then of course, always Smallsteps' favourite exhibit, the natural history museum. This is not a full nature museum by any measure, but it has a lot of Finnish animals so the local kids love it, as well as a couple interactive tactile displays to play with. Like "What's that hair" and "what's that smell?"
Which both sound like questions adults might ask.
This wolf will come in handy for an entry picture.
And a bit to my surprise, Smallsteps really got into a new crystal display, with rocks from all over the world cut and polished, as well as seen in split rocks. There was also a meteorite found in Argentina in the 1500s, which was cool because we are currently reading "A comet in Moominland" by Tove Jansson, as a bedtime story - so there was a nice connection.
And finally, the games museum, which Smallsteps always wants to visit, even though she doesn't really care for the games that much. We played a few things though, and it was hilarious to hear her constant chatter while driving in Virtua Racing from way back in the day, using references from the Formula One races we watch.
Moral of the story...
Museums are awesome.
It doesn't have to be the fanciest museum with the most amazing displays, but there is always something to see, do, and learn. Entertainment should be thought provoking, not passive. It should be something that gives insight that can be applied in the future. It should be inspiring. The inspiration comes from within.
Even a rock can hold secrets.
We just need to build the curiosity to discover what is hiding in plain sight.
Taraz
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