Isabelle Anastacio reviewed the exhibit: “ROMKidsShow: The One About Archaeology”, a virtual exhibit offered by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Anastacio focuses on the video activities that are offered in this virtual exhibit. Anastacio states that although these activities are interactive and related to the subject matter, that the results will be the same for each individual. Working from Nina Simon’s idea that “participatory projects require people to do something for them to work”, Anastacio writes that the “Let’s Talk About Archaeology” section is a good participatory project because it includes those unable to participate in the activities into the discussion. Anastacio states that the ability for visitors to interact with physical items during their video-led activity, is an invitation for children, for example, to interact with the museum in an engaging way that does not need to involve actual museum artifacts. Further connecting to Simon’s ideas, Anastacio states that there is a call to action that helps to “articulate goals” that are intended in the exhibit.

The Robert Munsch Immersive Experience was an event that took place in Toronto at the Gerrard Square Mall in Toronto. The experience was a 45 minute, 270-degree visual and auditory experience during which images of Munsch’s works Moira’s Birthday, Jonathan Cleaned Up...and Then He Heard a Sound, PIGS and The Paper Bag Princess were displayed on 4 walls. Erica Armata suggests that the exhibit’s set-up allows for an immersive experience, but that it could include greater participatory elements. Armata states that the experience after the immersion, taking photos with story decor, could use more interactive elements and could lose children’s attentions. Armata writes that having more opportunities for content participation and participation in activities could lead to a better overall experience. Armata also mentions that by taking lessons from scholars that the exhibit could become a space for learning.

Imani Brown proposes to modify “A Question of Truth” exhibit at the Ontario Science Centre. The proposed addition is an exhibit dedicated to medical biases associated with BMI that includes interactive activities to engage audiences and provoke critical thinking skills. The current exhibit aims to highlight discriminatory practices associated with the dominance of Western science within developing nations. However, many aspects of the current exhibit are too broad and fail to acknowledge the complexities of medical racism.

Cormier discusses how children need to interact with and see physical copies of the Harry Potter books and how the books should be central artifacts to the exhibit. She explains that stories allow children to immerse themselves in the fantastical aspects of the book, allowing children's imagination to take its course. By using Perry Nodelman’s  “Touching Art: The Art Museum as Picture Book, and the Picture Book as Art” Cormier expands on the idea that children encounter books before museum exhibits such as the one in the Great British Library. By introducing the physical books as artifacts it also allows children to role play and imagine physically being at Hogwarts. 

Eva Escandon proposes creating a VR extension of the physical Anne of Green Gables Museum in PEI. Escandon writes that the current in-person exhibit lacks accessibility and does not regard the financial difficulty of visiting the museum in person. To this end, Escandon proposes that the new exhibit will simulate the in-person space, creating interactive elements and allowing for greater exposure of and engagement with the museum and the Anne of Green Gables texts. Escandon proposes 2 modes for the VR experiences - single-player, and multiplayer. Escandon also proposes having options available for VR on desktop, and VR using a head-set, to allow for those with different finances to participate. Working from Nodelman’s ideas, Escandon states that the visual aspect of the VR experience works like a picture book and is able to achieve a similar experience and engagement as the physical. Escandon believes that by adding this VR element, international exposure will be greater, allowing for greater creativity to be sparked, and lending itself to the idea of participatory engagement, as is mentioned in Nina Simon’s work. In order to promote sustained visitor participation, an idea of Simon’s, Escandon proposes limited time monthly events, to further encourage participation, with repeated access and new experiences.

Cristal Gillette proposes a physical adaptation of the virtual exhibit on the Toronto Public Library’s website, Animals are Allowed in the Library. Gillette proposes transforming the virtual content into a physical gallery space that allows for more engagement. Gillette also proposes take-home toolkits to assist adults in reinforcing the leangin that happens in the exhibit. Gillette states that the original content in the virtual exhibit was chosen due to its content that children like, can use, and understand, important aspects of a children’s exhibit according to Swigger. Gillette states that the physical adaptation helps to deal with the web-page’s lack of hands-on opportunities and participatory elements. In the section about domestic pets, Gillette proposes a space where children are invited to be creative, draw and write about what pet they would bring to the museum. This would allow for the museum to be more participatory by soliciting participation from visitors, which Simon states is important. Similarly, it increases engagement and confidence in museum settings for children. Working with MAyfrield’s idea about touching objects, Gillette promises sections where children are invited to touch aspects like stuffed animals and sculptures with fur, claws and feathers, for example. Gillette also proposes an interactive quiz, working from Simon’s idea of educational participation.

Arianna Guaragna proposes changes to the National Children’s Museum’s Innovation Sandbox exhibit in Washington, D.C. The Innovation Sandbox exhibit focuses on the importance of human-environment interactions, particularly as it pertains to climate change. Guaragna states that “[e]xperiential learning and play-based inquiry are integrated elements of Innovation Sandbox’s current exhibit experiences”. Guaragna states that Weather Worlds is an “immersive uses green screen technology “to allow children to manipulate elements of the weather via bodily movements.” Guaragna proposes, however, that (considering works by Henderson and Atencio as well as Harlen) that dialogical components be included to engage older children especially. Guaragna states that while the exhibit is already very interactive, and child-focused, that it could be improved by including artifacts and stories from children on display to show that their experience and knowledge is important (to reference Patterson and Friend). To these ends Guaragna proposes an exhibit extension called The Climate Change Storytelling Project—a co-creative project between child participants and curators that incorporates the material culture of children reflecting their perspectives on climate change, asking their perspective on solutions and incorporating literacy.

Maxwell Hedington proposes revisions to the Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada. Hedington states that the exhibit should advocate for endangered species in the space the museum occupies (Ontario) rather than protecting animals that do not exist. Working from Anderson’s ideas, Hedington states that the exhibit failed to challenge the Western museum legacy by omitting Indigenous voices vital to the physical space of the museum. Hedington believes that by co-creating the exhibit with Indigenous peoples that the museum would be taking a step towards decolonizing. Working with Orna and Heinecke’s idea that museums should be spaces that mediate discussion of societal values, Hedington proposed that they use the opportunity to engage with modern discourse. Hedington proposes incorporating a VR component to allow families to engage at home, also allowing for more interactive, online elements between visitors. Hedington also proposes extending the exhibit by introducing interactive and visual elements to ameliorate the learning experience for children. For this second revision, Hedington proposes mimicking a forest environment and adding interactive television screens where visitors can contribute their own ideas, as well as having closed-captioning, and text-to-speech functions available. 

Lorraine Illeperuma proposes a Revision for the Victoria and Albert Museum’s “Winnie-The-Pooh: Exploring a Classic” Traditional museums offer the general public to become educated on various topics that ranges from European history to children's literature.But what happens when museum education does not consider a child’s attention span, learning styles, and accessibility for all? This is where individual exhibitions fail, especially when it comes to online exhibits. An example of this is the Victoria and Albert Museum’s (V&A) “Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic,

Karen Li reviewed the Boston Children's Museum’s website and virtual museum aspects. Li states that the inclusion of tours and learning resources allows parents and educators to explore activities they could do at home or in classrooms. Focusing on the “Build Your Own Museum" game, Li states that this is the only item that is tailored to children on the website, engaging users to design both the interior and exterior of the museum. Thinking of Nina Simon’s argument that museums need to provide instructional scaffolding and usefulness in their participatory projects, Li states that the game does not utilize educational materials to help learn about museum content, or users themselves. Although, Li contends, there is an aspect of collectivity in the displaying of the creations to a gallery, nothing is being done with participation and that the game is only included for the “sake of interaction” .Li contends that there are elements that would transfer well to the virtual museum setting, such as the experiments in the “science playground”, or simulations of the ski-jump activity, for example. To conclude, Li states that the museum seems like an interesting place to visit in-person with children, noting that its site allows for the purchase of interactive resources, but ultimately stating that the visual version of the museum does not provide interactive opportunities for children. 

Emily Mackey’s piece centers on Roald Dahl’s exhibit online titled “Make Stories”. In this paper, she proposes that the online version of the exhibit should include an online forum for children to increase creativity. By including an online forum she explains that it was to expand on the museum's already existing activities presented in the Museum at Home and Make Stories Exhibit. By pulling from Nina Simon’s Participatory Museums, specifically “participatory projects” idea, Mackey brings to light the improvement the museum can make while simultaneously using their already productive programs to better children’s experiences during their interaction with the exhibit and museum.  

Melina Milkis reviewed the digital version of the “Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic” exhibit hosted by the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada. Working from Nodelman and Simon’s ideas of a traditional museum as “elite” and untouchable and complete, Milkis states that the exhibit does not follow these ideas as they provide large versions of the books with rough sketches of Pooh displayed. Milkis states that the participation and invitations for engagement that Simon stresses are present in this exhibit through its placing of visitors into the setting of the book as well as the fictional story read-alouds and “dress-up” activities that are included. Milkis further states that the exhibit seems to focus on a child’s agenda and features many activities related to learning, such as a competition to design a book character, or the use of Christopher Robin as a child-substitute, asking questions that might mirror those from the visitor. To conclude, Milkis states that the transformation of the exhibit to an online version was ultimately not successful as there is no “real” exhibit, just links to videos, “activities included in the physical exhibit, and the creation of the exhibit”. Finally, Milkis proposes the use of an interactive map tour with Pooh as the guide. 

Tigers in Picture Books, is a virtual exhibit hosted and created by Princeton University’s Cotsen Children’s library. The exhibit is free to explore virtually. Referencing Shelley Ruth Butler and Erica Lehrer’s Curatorial Dreams: Critics Imagine Exhibitions, Lola Messersi asserts that by showcasing books and artwork from all over the world, the exhibit opens visitors up to new ways of looking at the world. Messersi further posits that the exhibit could benefit from multimedia to increase accessibility (e.g., audio-transcripts) and could increase engagement by giving further information about the books on display, especially as it relates to their context. Lastly, Messersi states that, considering Nina Simon’s emphasis on participatory elements, that the Tigers in Picture Books exhibit would create greater value for participants and all others concerned by adding activities/opportunities to participate such as read-alongs and audios of tigers. 

Jacqueline Petsinis reviewed a virtual tour of the “Boston Black: A City Connects” Exhibit produced through the Boston Children’s Museum. The exhibit showcases the history of Black Bostonians and its connection to Black and African diaspora. There are various spaces in the exhibit such as “the Dominican store”, “John Smith’s Barbershop”, and “Cafe Sodade”, however, Petsinis states that the virtual tour does not offer the same level of participation or engagement for children, in particular. Referencing Nina Simon’s The Participatory Museum, Petsinis states that there are less opportunities for the social experience, although the exhibit does get its message across, due to its lack of adaptability from the in-person context  to the virtual context. Petsinis proposes that more social objects that captivate and capture Black history and culture would be ideal for prompting visitor discussion and greater discussion amongst families, in particular, as it pertains to cultural understanding (an idea also referenced from Nina Simon).

Ahmed Ridha explains that the exhibit attempts to create social objects in order to connect visitors (as per Nina Simon’s idea from The Participatory Museum of what objects in a museum should strive for) but does not achieve this. Ridha uses the example of a quiz wherein one attempts to match the sound to the animal as an example of a participatory element that does not promote further engagement. Ridha suggests that, perhaps, this social element might arise from the provocation inherent in juxtaposing mythological animals with real-life counterparts. Lastly, Ridha highlights the educational aspects and connections to animal conservation efforts as ways in which the exhibit applies Shelly Ruth Butler and Erica Lehrer’s ideas of reminding visitors of social/historical issues in order to create empathetic spaces.

Rebecca Rocillo reviewed the exhibit Kidtropolis, US, an online field trip version of their in-person exhibit at the Children’s Museum Houston, in Houston, Texas. Rocillo states that the museum does a great job of making the exhibit interactive as possible, though it is online. The exhibit acts as a simulation of a small town in the USA where child-visitors play as “law-abiding, economy-contributing citizens” running this town. The virtual offering is a 3D space (similar to Google Maps’s streetview). Rocillo states that there are “info dots” that make the virtual space more interactive, with different colours denoting different functions, with some showing activities that children can participate in at home. Rocillo states that the strengths of this exhibit include its ability to provide a framework for children to enact their creativity. Working from Buckingham and Sefton-Green’s idea that Pokemon gives children a framework to practice ownership and responsibility, Rocillo claims that the KidCard system used in the exhibit gives children practical economic frameworks to learn about spending, saving, and earning money. Rocillo notes that the KidCard aspect of the exhibit, as well as others, were not adapted to the virtual environment, therefore, taking away certain areas to enact agency. Similarly, working from Nina Simon’s idea of creating lasting participation, Rocillo proposes greater efficacy of the virtual environment if there were places for visitors to make their mark, and/or to contribute via feedback of online community activities.

Paris Salmon-Wright introduces Winnie-The-Pooh Exhibit a Collaborative Comic Book Project for the Victoria and Albert Museum.  The curators of the Winnie-the-Pooh exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in England understand the importance of valuing children. The curators created the exhibit using child-centered approaches to incorporate non-traditional learning styles that enables children to have their own connections to Pooh and the other characters. The original museum was offered from December 9, 2017 to April 8, 2018 (Winnie-The-Pooh: Exploring a Classic). The online exhibit consists of a few images, along with reading and listening exercises to engage their audience. However, the longest activity lasts only three minutes and does not incorporate the child. Overall, the online exhibit fails to meet the same interactive engagement level as the physical exhibit and becomes a highly unforgettable experience for its users. The online exhibit fails to include interactive activities. The proposed activity for consideration for the online exhibit will be through personalized storytelling from the child. The proposed activity would be to create a comic strip based on a chosen Winnie-the-Pooh story. 

Eleni Sapounas reviewed the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Sapounas states that the exhibit is family-friendly and balances artifacts and information in a way that can engage and entertain both children and adults. Sapounas states that the layout of the virtual exhibit is like a story, and that there are headings that allow the user to be brought back to the different sections, but that there is a clear structure, with controls such as zooming in and out, and clicking on headings to be brought back to specific sections in the exhibit. Sapounas states that by being able to click on the headings, that there is an aspect of the child’s experience that is being privileged, rather than overlooked, something that is supported by Anderson et al..  Working with Nina Simon’s idea of the participatory museum, Sapounas states that there are blurbs in the virtual exhibit that could spark conversation, but that there is not a lot of pull for different visitors to engage with one-another, or with the museum. Sapounas proposes that the museum create a chat box where visitors can make comments and engage with the different blurbs and/or artifacts, building greater connections from an online platform, allowing audiences to engage with each other. 

Semhar Tesfagergies analyzes “Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?” exhibit presented at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. Tesfagergies focuses on the strengths of the exhibit and how the curators include many interactive elements that support children’s engagement. However, Tesfagergies proposes to include activities that allow children to learn in unconventional ways with the guidance of Nina Simon’s “Participatory Museum” ideology. These unconventional methods are accessible to all types of learners and creates an inclusive environment, especially for children who have disabilities. These methods also encourage children to use critical thinking skills as they engage with the educational exhibits.  

Nadia Tonkovic reviewed the virtual offerings for children on the Louvre’s website, Louvre Kids. Tonkovic states that the exhibit offers the ability to engage with different paintings and artifacts through media like stories and animated videos. Tonkovic outlines three sections that visitors can engage with: Stories, Seasonal Tales, and Gallery. Tonkovic states that although the site is targeted towards children, there are positive aspects for adults as well, such as the ability to access condensed material. Taonkovic states that Louvre Kids gives lots of choice for exploration and exemplifies Nina Simon’s idea of “pulling out” content, allowing children to select materials and experiences that are personally interesting to them. Tonkovis does concede that the information and artifacts that visitors can engage with has already been curated from a larger selection, thus limiting choice. Thinking of Nodelman’s idea of picture books inviting experiences of intimacy and closeness, Tonkovic states that the stories of Louvre Kids invites contact through the asking of questions, and the invitations for visitors to zoom in on specific pieces, blurring the idea of not touching museum pieces and allowing for greater participation and engagement. Finally, Tonkovic states that there is potential for greater “me-to-we” engagement (Nina Simon) through activities such as “Pose like Louis XIV” where challenges could be done in larger groups, something that is not capitalized on in the virtual setting.

Joanna Tortoici created their own exhibit that would be presented at the Royal Ontario Museum. This exhibit is “Munsch Madness” and would include interactive exhibits and activities about classic Robert Munsch picture books. Tortoici wants the exhibit to be targeted for children and to engage younger audiences to become immersed in the museum experience. Tortoici uses Nina Simon’s “Participatory Museum” ideologies to enhance the exhibit to ensure that the interactive activities are accessible, engaging, and appropriate for the targeted audience.

The Prehistoria Museum and Skull Store is an independently operated nature and archaeological museum and an accompanying gift shop which sells skulls, fossils and ancient artifacts among other objects. Kyrie Woolsey contends that although this museum was not necessarily created with children in mind, that it nonetheless suits their wants and needs through its participatory nature. Keeping in mind Perry Nodelman’s emphasis on touchability for children’s exhibits, Woolsey states that there are many opportunities for children to touch and physically engage with objects. Woolsey discusses how the museum’s magic and sideshow embrace Nina Simon’s idea of “collaborative projects” that are designed to engage children and get them to move through the space. Woolsey notes that areas for improvement include adding more interactive games and activities to engage children.

Tiffany Yeung reviews the “Louvre Kids” section of the Louvre’s website, the online space for the famous art museum in Paris, France. Yeung works from Nina Simon’s ideas in The Participatory Museum, contrasting traditional institutions which use authoritative methods to transfer information to visitors, vs. participatory institutions that include stakeholders using “multi-transitive methods.” In doing this, Yeung states that the Louvre Kids section delivers its information using a traditional method. Yeung states that although the section uses YouTube to share “interactive” activities and tours, that the interactivity is not utilized, with comments being difficult to access and also being filtered, thereby eliminating YouTube’s effectiveness to aid in participation and engagement. Yeung views the Louvre Kids website as a “dumping ground” for information, not allowing any true interaction, though it does provide high quality images. Ultimately, Yeung states that although the Louvre is one of the most well-known art museums in the world, their Louvre Kids webpages do not offer opportunities to interact and engage with materials, are geared towards educators, and would lead to frustration and boredom.

Vernon Zhou reviewed the digital exhibit “Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic” hosted on the Royal Ontario Museum’s (ROM) website. Zhou states that the target audience of this exhibit is children and families, as well as those with nostalgia towards the franchise. Zhou states that some of the strengths of the exhibit are its interactive website features, and the user’s ability to control their experience, something that allows visitors to choose their own activities at their own pace, discussed in Anderson et al.’s research. Zhou contends that the virtual setting of this exhibit allows for visitors to disrupt the experience in a way that would otherwise be considered “rude” in person, as referenced by Nina Simon. Zhou writes that some of the weaknesses of the exhibit are its lack of social aspects since it is a virtual museum. Similarly, Zhou writes that due to the online format, the concept of social objects cannot be included in the museum to connect people who encounter them, working from another of Simon’s ideas. Zhou also states that by showing the physical exhibit, the inaccessibility to these elements of play and interaction are highlighted. Zhou concludes that in weighing the pros and cons of the exhibit that the virtual offering is safe and convenient during times when visiting may not be safe or easily done.