PBo Notes/Observations

Crown Fountain 08/31

Observations_
Younger kids [4 and younger] are closely watched by parents or older siblings.
Parents are usually within 4-6 ft of their smaller children.
There is a quieter zone with all the benches where all the adults sit and watch.
They love taking pictures of their kids.
Lots of bystanders without children.
Lots of strollers.

Navy Pier 09/01

Observations_
Going up the escalators, the children always went first.
When sitting, the strollers with or without children clog up walkways
Escalators don't accommodate strollers. Parents loaded strollers and then lifted the back end up to level out the stroller.
When parents walk with smaller children they often hold hands.

Lincoln Park Zoo 09/01

Observations_
Lots of strollers.
Lots of extended families or larger families moving together in packs.
Entering buildings was difficult for families with strollers.
Strollers were also often used to carry and store purses, bags, shopping bags.

Chicago Children's Museum 09/06

Observations_
Many parents or adults were sitting around and watching children or supervising from afar.
Many of the educational signs were in small type in both english and spanish. Overall too much writing.
Many of the kids were role-playing in the Skyscraper exhibit, they wore aprons and safety goggles.
In the Waterways exhibit, the kids got to pick out raincoats based on size and color.
Interview: Couple no.1_
Parents were younger and very engaged with playing with their child in the exhibit.
They said they played with their kid because they had a lot of fun too.
They said it's cool, because they get to learn in a physical way. They work out their brains and muscles at the same time.
They come one to two times a month. They are orginally from the city, but they said they like coming to the city now from the suburbs with their daughter. Their daughter really enjoys taking the train too.
The other places they take their daughter is the playground or zoo when they don't come to the CCM.
They said they spend sometimes eight hours there. They sneak in coffees to stay awake.
The Dad thought the new Grant Park location is great for the CCM and didn't have any concerns about it's underground location other than the quality of light.

Interview: Single Dad
He played the wall and was talking to a woman most the time while his kid played around.
He thought it was important for the kid to play on her own and learn from her mistakes.
He's been the CCM twice, the last time was two years ago.
He didn't care that the new museum was going to be underground. He thought it might a little dark though.

Interview: Couple No.2
Both Mom and Dad were very engaged and encouraging of their daughter in the exhibit.
They were in the Inventing Lab.
They thought the CCM was awesome and definitely a great place for their daughter to come and learn.
They go to the CCM once a year.
They come once a year.