This Spring, I had the good fortune of visiting the DiMenna Children's History Museum and the NYS Historical Society. This highly interactive museum brings the history of New York City to life, and focuses on the perspective of a group of persons with no small part in shaping it: The Children! The Historical Society Staff were very friendly and accommodating, and I would certainly. encourage other educators and childcare providers to consider taking their charges.

The design of the exhibits was such that technology was used to facilitate children's interaction with the content. Touch screens, turnable pages and openable boxes, large scale reproductions of how intriciate crafts are done, digitial telescopic viewers and more made the exhibits kinesthetically engaging. Students Digital representations of primary source documents gave children direct access to pictures, newspapers, or other artifact from well before their time.

The interfaces were very intuitive and natural to use, and I think that with today's wave of touchscreen technology, children will delight in a museum where everything is designed for their use and presented at their level. I especially enjoyed the digital picture frame which was being utilized to show digital images of classic paintings. The juxtaposition of the new and old was lessened by presenting the images within a screen embedded in a classical looking gilded frame. I think when we present the new with a mind to the aesthetics of the old, we can marry the two quite seamlessly. My favorite exhibit was the one on old-fashioned medicine, featuring Dr. James McCune Smith (Doctor and noted Abolitionist). The touchscreen "try to treat a patient" game was weird and engaging. The 3D displays like a medicinal jar labeled "leeches," were super cool. My mother is a doctor so I have always find medical things engaging, but I think for children who like "gross" things this display would also be a treat!