376 Bridgehampton/Sag Harbor Turnpike, P.O. Box 316, Bridgehampton, NY 11932

631-537-8250

January 2017 – Letter From The President


Dear friends,

Happy New Year! Have you made a New Year’s Resolution? We asked kids attending our New Year’s Eve Ball Drop to write down a resolution for 2017. You can see them displayed in the Museum’s lobby and posted on our Facebook page. Some of my favorites included “Eat more mac and cheese”,  “I will not suck my thumb” and “I wish for everybody to have stuffed animals.”

I couldn’t resist asking my son, Bennett, for his resolution. After a bit of explanation (it was only the new 3rd New Year he had ever experienced), his response – “I want to go out more” – surprised me. Bennett has a busier social calendar than anyone I know. Between playdates, classes, birthday parties, trips to the Children’s Museum and the “Parachute Wob-ewy,” which is what he calls the Bridgehampton Library, I didn’t think he had the time to go out more. Rather than merely seeking opportunities to socialize, though, he was “resolving” to spend more time outdoors. Especially when it’s raining or snowing, the first thing he announces in the morning is that he wants to go outside so he can splash in puddles or make a snowball.

My own New Year’s resolution is to support Bennett’s desire to go out more. As Richard Louv explains in his book, Last Child in the Woods, “Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health and also, by the way, in our own. Unlike television (or cell phones) nature doesn’t steal time, it amplifies it.” Nothing beats playing outdoors, but my hope is that the Children’s Museum can offer the same kind of playful, child-directed, open-ended opportunities for physical activity, emotional stretching, and cognitive development. As a nonprofit organization, we are committed to ensuring that all children in our community have the chance to learn through play.

If you or your child made a resolution for 2017 and want to share it, I encourage you to post it on our Facebook or Twitter feeds.

Sincerely,

Steve

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