Santa Fe's Children's Museum Unites Generations Through Outdoor Soundscape

A small children's museum in Santa Fe has made the most of its outside space by creating a series of 'soundscapes' designed to encourage intergenerational play and learning.

The Santa Fe Children's Museum is set in an old military armory warehouse. As it gears up to its 40th anniversary next year, it decided to renovate the outside space—with music as a focal point. Founded by a group of local women who wanted to see something different from home and school, they created an informal place of learning and play that is being enjoyed more than ever by local children and families.

The museum has just over 10,000 sq ft inside, but outside, it has over an acre, so there is plenty of space to create something special. The space was redeveloped with the National Wildlife Federation and their Early Childhood Health Outdoors organization, and today, the new outdoor space is being enjoyed by everyone.

Donna Ralph is a trustee of the museum and helped lead the renovation. She says, "Music is usually one of the first things babies and young children are introduced to – it's an important part of their development, so it was natural to consider instruments as part of the museum." Donna discovered Percussion Play and set about choosing a selection of instruments. She particularly loved the instruments' colorful and creative shapes, but tone and sound were also important.

Donna says, "It was important that when choosing the instruments, we consider how the sound is created and what the child would hear back. The larger Tubular Bells create a resonance that children feel inside- they are experiencing sound waves- even if they don't know they are learning! They don't understand how these sound waves are created, but when they learn about them, they will already have felt and experienced this."

The museum also includes Percussion Play's Rainbow Cavatina and the Rainbow Bongos, Penta Post, Harmony Flowers, Harmony Bells and a Petal Drum. Donna says, "We loved that we included all different styles, colors, and shapes to encourage the kids to go out to play and have fun!"

In one corner of the soundscape are the Stepping Stones, which children are surprised by as they run through the area. They are suddenly creating music with their steps!

Hannah Hausman, Executive Director of the Santa Fe Children's Museum, says, "Our new outdoor space is truly special. It was important for the learning experience to be intergenerational and organic. Children, parents, and caregivers of all ages can walk through and meander around the area—we designed it so they could come in through either path and discover the instruments organically."

Hannah explained the new, more structured area, which now includes a new amphitheater. She says, "In the theatre, we host performances where professionals, such as the Santa Fe Symphony, come and perform. It's beautiful to see how Percussion Play's instruments align nicely with what is going on in the theatre. We see kids reflect what is happening on stage—they copy and make their own music!"

And adults, too, are enjoying the instruments. Donna says, "The instruments are such a pull for adults—it attracts the adults as parents might not sit and dig in a sandpit with their kids, but in the Soundscape, they're the ones playing the instruments, and that encourages their children to spend more time music-making!"

Photo Credit: Sam Wesson