BY ALINE REYNOLDS | The South Street Seaport Museum’s educational youth programs are now back in full swing.
On Monday, Nov. 21, thirty effervescent fifth graders from St. Francis of Assisi, a Catholic school based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, created three-dimensional models of forts, streets, bridges and other infrastructure from 17th-century New Amsterdam based off of a colorful, representational painting from the museum’s permanent collection.
The interactive workshop, named “Life in New Amsterdam,” traces the history of Dutch life in Lower Manhattan in the 17th century. It is one of four new history classes the museum will be offering throughout the year on the museum’s fourth floor. One of the other classes, “Growing Up in the 19th Century Seaport,” will teach youths about daily neighborhood activities in the mid-to-late 19th century, while another class will offer youths a walking tour of the historic district.
So far, more than 50 K-12 schools Downtown and citywide have committed to attending one or more of the courses in the coming weeks.
“Learning [New York history] in the classroom is a little different than learning it in the space where it happened,” said Nicole Haroutunian, a per diem educator of the Museum of the City of New York, which has temporarily assumed control of the Seaport Museum’s programs and other operations.
“This is their museum. This is their history,” Haroutunian continued. “Where we’re standing now was once water, which is kind of exciting, since water was so important to the evolution of New Amsterdam.”
The day’s lesson fit nicely into the school’s fifth grade history curriculum, which focuses on American studies, according to homeroom teacher Norma Chavannes, who welcomed the hands-on activities for her students and is hoping to sign up for the museum’s walking tour in the new year.
“They don’t learn in [the same] manner as they [do when] sitting in a classroom,” said Chavannes. “Even though the program is much too short… they’re going to take away a lot with them.”
Meanwhile, M.C.N.Y. has resumed the Seaport Museum’s weekly toddler program, “Mini Mates,” which introduces toddlers, ages 18 months to three years, to maritime studies. The program’s instructor, Barbara Barry, welcomed in eight neighborhood parents and their toddlers to the first class session last Fri., Nov. 18. Surrounded by South Street Seaport illustrations that lined the wall of the children’s room, the tots listened to “Sheep on a Ship,” recreated boats, water, and starfish on paper using decorative stamps, and jumped in and around a big parachute.
“It’s a growing community of families down here,” said Barry. “We want to offer something to bring them together.”
“In the past, arts and crafts were the center, and there was a lot of free playtime,” said Franny Kent, educator at the Museum of the City of New York, of the Seaport Museum’s former Mini Mates program. “What we’re trying to do is focus a little bit more on the content.”
When asked about educating such a young age range, Kent said, “I think the younger you are in a museum, the more comfortable you feel in any kind of museum.”
Indeed, recreational spaces for tots found in eastern Manhattan Canal Street to the Staten Island Ferry are few and far between, according South Street parent Amanda Zink, who Kent approached in mid-November to help spread the word of Mini Mate’s resumption.
Zink said she was more than happy to participate in the outreach effort. “We desperately need more children’s programs on this side of Broadway,” she said. “The more community support we get, the more programs we’ll get, and the more we’ll be taken seriously as a real family district.”
“We liked it — it’s a great get-together with local moms,” commented John Street resident Tatyana Neufeld, who sat in the session while watching over her five-month-old tot who was sleeping in a stroller.
