A new exhibit at the Geneva History Museum lets kids get to work learning more about the buildings that make up the city.
The child-friendly hands-on architectural exhibit called Building Geneva at the museum at 113 S. Third St. was designed “for planning and designing and building activities with references to Geneva buildings and homes,” museum officials said.
Markie Striegel, curator of collections and exhibitions for the Geneva History Museum, said the exhibit “focuses on architecture and includes different stations for kids.”
“They can build objects, there’s large blocks for them to build and it kind of talks about famous Geneva architects and different buildings around town and looking at pattens in the buildings,” she said. “This is a repeat exhibit that we originally did in 2017 to go along with our architecture exhibit at the time. People enjoyed it so much that we did bring it back and it focuses on different Geneva buildings and homes and different architects from Geneva.”
Striegel emphasized the hands-on nature of the reborn exhibit, which she said has been changed “about 20%” from the original one rolled out almost a decade ago.
“We added to it. We do add a few new toys in the Planning a City area and we’ve added some larger blocks and got rid of some things. It’s quite different from where it started out,” she said.
“Kids can sort of imagine being an architect or an interior designer. They can design floor plans or build brick patterns, and we also do some exploring with letters and shapes as well that are found in architecture,” she said. “It’s very hands-on.”
Striegel said the interactive exhibit is in addition to the Through the Eyes of Geneva: A Local Perspective on 250 Years of American History exhibit running at the museum.
“Because our current exhibit focuses on 250 years of the United States, we didn’t really know how to turn that into a kids’ exhibit, so we decided to bring back Building Geneva, which we knew was loved by kids,” she said.
Beyond designing floor plans at the interactive exhibit, children can learn how to build brick patterns with different magnet sets and there are a couple of areas where kids “can open a door to see a local Geneva building and learn about the future of that building,” she said.
“We have a dollhouse where kids can create their own little rooms, and we have a video on limestone and how they quarry that,” Striegel said. “We have an actual piece of limestone that kids can get a look at with a magnifying glass.”
Willow Dulli of Naperville brought Daisy Braun, 3, of Geneva, a youngster she is currently babysitting, to the exhibit recently.
“Her parents told me about things happening here in downtown Geneva, and we came over,” Dulli said as she and Daisy entered the exhibit, which playfully offers hard hats to those about to enter. “I think having something hands-on like this is a great idea.
“I’ve taken Daisy to a few hands-on things before, but this one is kind of nice because it’s in a condensed space and there’s so much to do. I can keep an eye on her, but there’s plenty to keep her busy,” Dulli said.
The Building Geneva interactive exhibit, which opened June 20, runs through Aug. 23. For more information, go to the museum’s website at www.genevahistorymuseum.org or call 630-232-4951.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
