HORSING AROUND
Horse Explorers provides fun learning for youngsters
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has a space set aside for the youngest race fans in the Capital Region.
Horse Explorers is the weekly program for children aged 3-6 that uses literacy and hands-on activities to teach about racing-related topics. During the summer, activities are available for an older age range as well.
Education Program Assistant Sheileen Landrey usually reads a book to the children, then guides them through an art activity related to the book. Along the way, the children will also experience tie-ins to math and animal science.
The program is completely free and operates on a drop-in policy. Children do not need to reserve a spot ahead of time to participate in the program. Adults accompanying the children also get in for free, and have access to the rest of the museum for the duration of their time there.
The museum’s Horseplay Gallery, which houses the Horse Explorers program, offers a world of hands-on learning experiences for children.
Different stations teach about different aspects of horse racing, from the different roles people have with a race horse (from trainer to owner to jockey and more), to a horse’s speed compared to other moving objects (like a running human or a race car),
Horse Explorers is the weekly program for children aged 3-6 that uses literacy and hands-on activities to teach about racingrelated topics
to a horse’s skeleton (there are a surprising number of bones that horses and humans have in common).
Every station is hands on and encourages learning and imaginative play.
“Even the adults who come in here are like, ‘wow, this is a really cool way to learn about this’,” Landrey commented.
Children can dress up in jockey outfits, compare different types of shoes to different kinds of horseshoes (fun fact - horses can wear sneakers just like us), and play in a pretend stable with a life-sized stuffed horse they can pretend to feed and brush.
Landrey says the most popular part of the Horseplay Gallery is the upstairs “literacy loft.” There, a bookshelf filled with horse stories sits at one end, and at the other end are toy barns and playsets.
“A lot of children will spend maybe half an hour doing the Explorers activity, then spend an hour to an hour and a half playing up in the loft,” she said.
Parents who are interested in bringing their 3-6-year-olds to a Horse Explorers activity can do so on Thursdays, from 10:30 a.m.11:15 a.m. But, time is running out for opportunities to do so.
The museum, which has already closed off its Hall of Fame and Racing Day Gallery for renovations, will be shutting its doors entirely at the end of the year. The museum will remain closed until renovations are complete in June or July of 2020.
The renovations will include new digital displays in the Hall of Fame, aiming to “establish a new standard for dramatic and immersive interaction experiences.”
Once the museum reopens its doors, the Horse Explorers program will resume. But six or seven months is a long time to wait for an activity like that to become available again. Parents are encouraged to bring their children in while they still can.
The museum is unlike any others in the capital district, and the Horseplay Gallery is filled with fun, educational activities for the young - and the young at heart.