What-To-Do Wednesday - Virtual Visit: The Strong Museum of Play

If you want to get your dose of culture while being stuck inside, many museums and other attractions offer a variety of virtual exhibits. This is an especially great time to explore museums and attractions that are outside of your area and maybe even outside of your country that you ordinarily would not be able to get to because of time and/or money constraints. We will doing so as well and  we will be sharing one or more of our virtual visits in today's and future What-To-Do Wednesday posts.

What: The Strong Museum of Play 

Physical Location: 1 Manhattan Square
                                Rochester, NY

The Strong Museum of Play was established in Rochester, New York in 1969 and opened to the public in 1982.  It was initially based around the collection of  Margaret Woodbury Strong. The museum is devoted to the study and exploration of play, and it is the largest museum of its kind. The National Toy Hall of Fame is located at the museum and new honorees are added to the hall each year. 

The museums numerous collections include:

Toy and Doll Collections

Video and Other Electronic Game Collections

and  much more.


Current online exhibits include:


American Board and Card Game History: 

Learn about early games like The Jolly Game of Goose and The Landlord's Game, a precursor of Monopoly.

Explore the history of popular games like Battleship and Trivial Pursuit.

Discover newer games like Dominion and Agricola.

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/american-board-and-card-game-history/9wJiZCrQ9FmHJw


A Brief History of Women in Gaming the 1980s:  

Learn about such pioneering women as:

Roberta Williams who along with her husband founded a software company and created the first graphic adventure game.

Dona Bailey who was a co-creators of Centipede.

Reiko Kodama  who was the first female video game artist

and more.

The exhibit also includes video clips of some of the games in action.

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/a-brief-history-of-women-in-gaming-the-1980s/CwKCGJf3HpdoIg


The Oregon Trail, MECC and the Rise of Computer Learning: 

Learn about the history of MECC and their development of the game Oregon Trail.

Learn how the game changed over time.

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/the-oregon-trail-mecc-and-the-rise-of-computer-learning/TAICA3oJZQm2Kw


Other current online exhibits include:

Margaret Woodbury Strong and the Making of the Strong Museum

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/margaret-woodbury-strong-and-the-making-of-the-strong-national-museum-of-play/PQICXcY_ELWwIA

Making Monopoly: A History of the Origins of American's Favorite Board Game

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/making-monopoly-a-history-of-the-origins-of-america%E2%80%99s-favorite-board-game/ZgLSngw0ZZDFLQ

Playing with Politics

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/playing-with-politics/UwKivEbgPUxQJQ

and more.


There are also several online picture collections to explore include ones devoted to:

Dolls and related items

Videos and related items

and more.


For more about The Strong Museum of Play or to explore its online collections and exhibits, visit https://www.museumofplay.org/.

Tune in tomorrow for Theater Thursday.

photo credit: Sean X. Liu Strong national museum of play via photopin (license)

Tips for Tuesday - Books: Something She's Not Telling Us & Misc: Herbal Essence Sulfate Free Potent Aloe + Hemp Frizz Control Shampoo and Conditione

We may have been given a complimentary copy of one or more of the books and other products mentioned below for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Books: Something She's Not Telling Us

Mom - Today I  am recommending Something She's Not Telling Us by Darcey Bell. This book begins with a mother's whose child is kidnapped from school.  Anyone who has ever had a child or loved a child can relate to the absolute horror and dread this event would entail. Just reading about it it makes you feel like you are living it, and immediately draws you into the story. In this case, it is Charlotte whose daughter Daisy has been kidnapped by her brother's new girlfriend, Ruth. Although, Charlotte can be somewhat of any overprotective mother, she really doesn't want Daisy around Ruth because there is something not quite right about Ruth.  However, for some reason, Daisy is drawn to Ruth even though she is a child who is quite reserved and usually doesn't take well to strangers. When Ruth picks Daisy up from school and disappears with her, Charlotte's reservations about Ruth seem well justified. This is a very exciting thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. The characters are well drawn and full dimensional none of them are all black or  all white even the character of Ruth is not just completely an evil villain. The ending  of the book is completely unpredictable and completely satisfying in an unexpected way. All in all, it is a very enjoyable read.

Misc: Herbal Essence Sulfate Free Potent Aloe + Hemp Frizz Control 

           Shampoo and Conditioner

Mom - Today I am recommending Herbal Essence Sulfate Free Potent Aloe + Hemp Frizz Control Shampoo and Conditioner. Although these products do not completely eliminate frizz they do greatly reduce frizz much more so than other similar products I have tried in the past. They give my hair a much smoother look even without  the assistance of blow drying or using other styling products. Additionally, they are not only sulfate free but they are paraben free, colorant free and even certified by PETA to be cruelty-free so you can feel good about using them. They are also reasonably priced and easily affordable .

And that's Mom's view. Tune in tomorrow for What-To-Do Wednesday.

Ten Fun Things to Do at Home That Don't All Involve Starring at a Screen

Me- Here are five fun things to do at home.

1) Play board games- Fun board games we would recommend include:  Trivial Pursuit, Be A Broadway Star, Can You Name Five, Taboo, Jenga, and Flapdoodle.

2) Do artwork - It is fun to do artwork because you can get as creative a you would like. There are so many things you can use around your house to create artwork like egg crates, paper clips. and even old hair accessories.

3) Make-up stories - Making up stories is fun because you get to decide everything in the story including the characters, what they say, what their names are, what they look like and everything that goes on in the story. You can either write a story down, just say it out loud to another person or a group of people or just make it up in your mind.

4) Watch movies - If you like movies about animals like me, I would recommend Beethoven, Beethoven's 2nd, Because of Winn Dixie, Andre,  and Superbuddies, Even if you don't like animal movies there are plenty of other options about just about any topic you can think of and that you enjoy

5) Read books  - Some books I would recommend are the Paddington series, Charlotte's Web, the Magic Puppy series, and the Fudge books by Judy Blume. However if you don't like these books or they are not on your reading level, there are plenty of books to choice from and you should easily be able to find one you like.

Mom - Here are five more fun things to do at home

6) Do puzzles - You can do a jigsaw puzzle. If that doesn't interest you, you can do a word puzzle. There are so many types of word puzzles to choose from including word searches, crossword puzzles and jumbles. You can even make-up a puzzle yourself and give it to someone else to solve.

7) Cook - When your stuck at home that is the perfect time to look for and try-out a new recipe. You might even want to make up a receipe of your own.

8) Listen to music- There are so many different ways to listen to music and so many different kinds of music. There is definitely something for everyone. You can even just make your own music by singing and/or playing an instrument.

9) Talk to your family- You can talk about serious things or just laugh and joke and just generally have a good time together.

10) Dance - This is not only a good way to spend a time at home, but a good way to get exercise too.

And that's our view. What do you like to do on when your stuck at home day?

photo credits:
photo credit 1: woodleywonderworks Sorry!™ boy via photopin (license)
photo credit:2 marcoverch Verschiedenfarbige Bleistifte zeigen Richtung Zentrum via photopin (license)
photo credit 3: marcoverch Nahaufnahme einer weiblichen Hand, die durch ein Notizbuch blättert via photopin (license)
photo credit 4: Martin Pettitt My Annual Binge On Harry Potter via photopin (license)
photo credit 5: RubyT (I come here for cameraderie) bookworm via photopin (license)
photo credit 6: cmiked Puzzle time. via photopin (license)
photo credit 7: Nestlé Cooking together via photopin (license)
photo credit 8: barnigomez Felipe Dj. via photopin (license)
photo credit 9: juhansonin Deep conversation via photopin (license)
photo credit 10: Evil Erin i will have fun via photopin (license)