POCATELLO — The Idaho Museum of Natural History at Idaho State University will take part in Our World: Worldwide Day of Play this Saturday, reopening a newly renovated gallery and unveiling new exhibitions as part of the international event.
Worldwide Day of Play is built around joyful learning through play, encouraging kids and families to get up, get outside and take part in hands-on activities.
As part of the celebration, the museum will host Mabon, a fall equinox festival, in partnership with the Shire of Stonegate. Visitors can watch warriors sparring in combat armor, see artisans demonstrate period crafts and try coloring pages designed to look like an illuminated manuscript, working alongside one of the group’s scribes.
Admission to the museum’s revamped gallery, its newest community exhibition and the Waters of the West room will be free for the day.
That new community exhibition, “Soul Connections: A Photographic Perspective of Japan,” features work by Boise-based photographers Frances Fujii and Dave Fujii. The exhibit guides visitors through Japan’s Hokkaido and Kansai regions, highlighting the country’s remote landscapes and its connection to nature, culture and rural life.
The exhibition also includes items, images and stories from the Pocatello Iwamizawa Sister City Foundation. The city of Pocatello authorized the private, nonprofit foundation to represent it in its sister-city relationship with Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, Japan. The foundation works to strengthen that relationship through cultural, educational and economic exchanges, along with fundraising and the care of exchanged gifts.
Idaho State University students have also contributed to the museum’s latest additions, helping build a 3D model of a Megatylopus, an extinct camel species, from scanning and printing its bones to welding the finished structure. Fine arts alumni also helped create other exhibit pieces.
“Play is a powerful experience that enriches people’s lives in museums, schools, homes and beyond,” said Arthur G. Affleck III, executive director of the Association of Children’s Museums. He said the organization is glad to partner with Nickelodeon to highlight how play supports wellbeing and healthy brain development, and to make learning more engaging for everyone.
Amber Tews, the museum’s assistant director of public operations, said staff are excited to reopen to the public after a three-week closure and show off the updated gallery and new exhibits as part of the global event.
Worldwide Day of Play is part of Nickelodeon’s Our World initiative, which aims to give children tools to build individual and collective agency. The Idaho Museum of Natural History joins a network of more than 360 children’s museums that are members of the Association of Children’s Museums, as well as more than 1,500 museums that take part in Museums for All, a national access program the association manages.
A full list of participating Worldwide Day of Play events is available at childrensmuseums.org/dayofplay.