PORTABLE ACTIVITY BOXES OFFER EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY RESOURCE

December 27, 2021

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – With at-home and hybrid learning becoming the norm thanks to COVID-19, museums are developing ways to deliver creative learning experiences directly to consumers. An example is the Anchorage Museum’s activity box, a subscription education kit launched last year that delivers interactive learning activities to Alaska parents.

Curated by museum educators with resources shared through local businesses and civic organizations, each activity box is built for remote learning using Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) skills. Make art at home, build your own water filter, learn to grow your own plants using hydroponics, or make your own doodle “bot.” These activities and more come packaged in boxes filled with materials geared toward imaginative play for toddlers through youth.

Released seasonally, each box focuses on a different Alaska or Northern theme. In addition to ideas for how to use the box, each box comes with a quick-start guide (lesson plan), community profiles, and suggested readings. Parents can subscribe to boxes as themes change with the season, and can pick up their boxes at the museum or have them mailed.

January box theme: HOME

In collaboration with Anchorage Park Foundation, the museum’s January activity box is organized around the theme of “home,” inspiring young learners to consider what the idea of home means them and what's needed to make a place a home. With the home-themed boxes, toddlers can engage with art and science activities, learn about local weather and climate, create a harvest basket, learn about local foraging plants, and examine maps of different types of homes. Children ages 9-13 can design a shelter for Alaska's environment, make tools to investigate weather, and learn more about local place names through map-based activities.

Deadline for subscription to Home-themed boxes is Jan. 24. Visit anchoragemuseum.org/box for more information or to register.