Building Brainstorm is a blueprint for fun at the Canadian Children’s Museum

Building Brainstorm is a blueprint for fun
at the Canadian Children’s Museum

Gatineau, Quebec, May 29, 2009 — Excitement is building over a new exhibition opening this weekend at the Canadian Children’s Museum. Building Brainstorm, presented from May 30 to September 7, 2009 in the Kaleidoscope Gallery, will inspire young visitors to break new ground as they discover the fascinating world of construction and design.

“From planning a treehouse to building a model skyscraper, Building Brainstorm engages children in activities that encourage them to use their hands and their minds, working together to find creative solutions to design problems,” said Dr. Victor Rabinovitch, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. “The exhibition’s emphasis on environmental stewardship and sustainable building strategies adds a valuable educational element, helping all of us to think about our surroundings in better ways.”

Visitors will step into a child-friendly design studio chock-full of architectural plans, photographs, models, authentic building elements and tools. This exciting learning environment is full of hands-on activities that will introduce children to city planning, architecture, engineering, landscaping and green design. The exhibition is a wonderful way to discover the basics of buildings while exploring how structures are created to match the needs of the people inside them.

Children and adults alike will tap into their creativity and put their heads together to tackle challenges that involve building materials, engineering concepts and design decisions. In the Shape Search Challenge, they must recognize basic geometric shapes in complex buildings. Or they can experience curved, angled and square building shapes from a different perspective by making their own crawl-through structures in the Inside Shapes Challenge.

The Window House Challenge lets them test changeable clear, translucent and opaque panels in a house made of windows. The Floor Plan Challenge teaches children about spatial organization and how people use rooms. They can create a floor plan by rearranging the walls and miniature furniture in a model home.

In the Brainstorm Challenge, visitors work together to generate creative designs for the needs of imaginary clients — such as designing a house for the family dog or a school for skateboarders — and then make sketches or build models to reflect the best ideas to emerge from the collaborative design process.

Building Brainstorm shows both how the natural environment can influence construction, and how construction can affect the environment. Children will discover building techniques and materials used in different climates and cultures, including straw, leaves, mud and ice.

The exhibition is suitable for children between the ages of 5 to 12 and their caregivers. They are also invited to participate in a variety of activities designed by the Canadian Children’s Museum in conjunction with the exhibition, including opening weekend celebrations, weekly workshops and special events throughout the summer.

Building Brainstorm was developed by the Brooklyn Chil