This grant is from LEGO Group’s LEGO Playful Learning Museum Network program.
This is the third grant that The Orlando Science Center has received from LEGO group’s playful learning museum network, and OSC is one of the 16 museums in the LEGO Playful Learning Museum Network.
Emily Duguid is the center's education vice president. She said the play-based learning initiative is creating a productive environment for the children.
"They're practicing skills, they're trying things out, revising them, and then discovering new challenges that can lead to deeper learning," Duguid said. "And it's also socially interactive at times where we really need our children to interact, communicate with each other, understand each other's interactions and build deeper understanding with each other."
With this grant, OSC can provide hands-on workshops in its Neighborhood Science programs at the Grand Avenue Neighborhood Center and the Bradley-Otis Boys & Girls Club.
The grant also allows OSC to train each member of its staff. The education team and public programming team will receive in-depth training to help develop curricular programs with the initiative.
Duguid said OSC allows children to experience stem-based activities that have not been exposed to it before.
"The mission of the Science Center is inspiring science learning for life. And we really are doing that you can see that in the children's faces when we are there," Duguid said. "And so, bringing this learning to play to them, where they can see that it is fun to learn, it is fun to do science in STEM, it just opens up so many possibilities for them in the future."
