Berkshire’s Ten Days of Play

Mar 4, 2013

By Morgan

It drives Suzanna mental that I go off on Pop-Up Adventures and then fail totally to write them up as blog posts – which means that I am now proud both to share images from my recent trip to Pittsfield AND to get them online!

A couple of weeks ago I was at the Berkshire Museum to provide training and event support for their Ten Days of Play (part of the area’s 10×10 Upstreet Arts Festival). They’re an amazing institution, open since 1903 and dedicated to “making inspiring educational connections between art, history and natural science”.
Berkshire's Ten Days of Play 1
I got there early on Wednesday, to meet and chat with the staff team before the first session. When I stopped at the coffee shop opposite, I found our listing in the local newspaper!
Berkshire's Ten Days of Play 2
They’d gathered lots of great materials from local businesses and bought crates of bright blue duct tape.
Berkshire's Ten Days of Play 3
As part of our training, we had some playtime for the new playworkers. Craig, who had brought us to the Museum in the first place, made this extraordinary robot which he later “walked” down to visit his colleagues in the offices downstairs.
Berkshire's Ten Days of Play 4

You can see a time lapse video of much of the first session, covering our training/playing time and the first busy patch, then a brief rest and some quick re-staging of materials.

I was there for the first four days, helping the museum staff gain confidence and experience as new playworkers.  Families came from all over the area to play, explore and create – there are lots more fantastic images on the Berkshire Museum Facebook page!

Berkshire's Ten Days of Play 5
Berkshire's Ten Days of Play 6

The museum staff and visitors were wonderful – so warm and welcoming and enthusiastic.  It was an amazing program, an absolute joy to be a part of.  Thank you, Berkshire Museum – I hope we can play again soon.

To read more about Morgan’s adventures, please visit her blog. For more on Pop-Up Adventure Play, find us on Facebook.