Long Island Children's Museum's new Disney/Pixar 'Inside Out' exhibit helps teach big emotions
Oh so gently, fourth grader Paxon Leong moves a long paddle up, down, left and right to roll a ball into a hole at a table’s end.
Finally he releases a jiggle of joy after many quiet fails.
"It was frustrating, when you were so close and then it fell off the track," says Paxon, 9, of Glen Head.
Feelings. They're the focus of the new exhibit at the Long Island Children’s Museum, "Emotions at Play," based on "Inside Out," the 2016 Oscar winner for best animated film. Just like the Disney/Pixar movie, the interactive displays aim to help children identify and understand five key emotions — Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear — the main characters in the growing-up tale of preteen Riley.
In a recent sneak peek at the Uniondale museum, dozens of children hustled from colorful set to set at the exhibit, a collaboration between the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and Pixar Animation Studios. Youngsters scribbled and drew memories on colored paper — each emotion has a color, yellow for joy, for example — and posted them in front of orbs, which then glowed the paper’s color.
On the "control panel" that dictated Riley’s main emotion, they cranked handles and pushed colored buttons that resulted in a cacophony of sounds and flashing color. A painted Rainbow, a white unicorn who stars in Riley’s dreams, filled a wall.
Jayden Romero, of Glen Cove, left, and Mateo Gonzalez, of Sunnyside, Queens, right, play on the "Emotions in Motion" station during a sneak peak of the new "Emotions At Play" exhibit based on Disney/Pixar's "Inside Out" at the Long Island Children's Museum. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
One intriguing display shows mirrors that seemed to read faces. Urged by their parents, children smiled, grimaced and made other expressions. The mirror diagnosed the main emotion with starbursts of the appropriate color, say purple for fear, and if there seemed to be a mix, such as fear and disgust (broccoli-inspired color in the movie), the various colors rose up in cylinders under the mirror.
"It’s OK to be sad," says museum president Erika Floreska. "By talking about it, it helps let it out. ... How do you talk to kids about what’s going on in the world? A very easy way is to say things are happening that are making other people sad and hurt. Sometimes, that’s the only message you can get out but just by saying that, it helps kids."
Zen England, of Hempstead, left, and her brother Jax play at the "Balancing Our Emotions" station. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
To Stefan Singh, the exhibit is a "super cool" way to help parents navigate complex matters.
"It’s an opportunity for kids to learn about their emotions and to dive deeper into it in a human manner that is friendly and not too intense to learn about their emotions and feelings," the Wantagh father says as he watches his two children at opposite ends of the exhibit. "It’s extremely important for kids to learn about the emotions and to try to understand how they’re feeling and how it can impact their decisions."
Mateo Gonzalez, of Sunnyside, Queens, plays on the "Train of Thought" station with his mother, Maria, during a sneak peek of the new exhibit. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Floreska says this feely-touchy exhibit illustrates a shift: Museums are consciously defining how they can cater to society’s needs. A few years ago, the Association of Children’s Museums adopted guidelines to help pandemic-era kids, whose home isolation affected their social and mental health development.
"Kid were suffering," Floreska notes. "They weren’t in school and they had this whole development period disrupted. ... When you look at the world and what can we do as a field for children and families, it’s really focusing on that well-being because hands-on playful learning is what activates all the learning for kids."
Parker Leong, of Glen Head, left, plays on the "Train of Thought" station with his brother Paxon. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Floreska helped craft a well-being statement that guides her museum on kinds of exhibits to showcase and says "Emotions at Play" emphasizes the power of play: "This is the perfect example of the choices we can make under this new vision."
As Ava Mogadam, 8, stares at herself at one end of a wall of mirrors, each showing a different "Inside Out" character, mom Sepi Mogadam hugs her from behind and fakes crying with a "wooh, wooh" sound.
They stand in front of the mirror with Sadness, whose reputation in the movie evolves from negative to useful in shaping Riley into a well-rounded person.
James Calvo, of Levittown, left, plays at the "Balancing Our Emotions" station with his mother Janice Chan. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
In reality, the Melville mom says she's pleased her children haven't asked for their iPads as they explore the exhibit.
"It’s always good to be able express joy, especially in this day and age when kids are connected to their electronics," says Mogadahm, 50.
"I enjoy it as much as they do," she confesses about the museum visit with her children. "I feel sad they are growing up so quickly."
The "Inside Out" exhibit will remain open through May 10.
'Emotions at Play' at the Long Island Children's Museum
When | Where: 11 Davis Ave., Uniondale; open through May 10
Admission: $18 ages 1 and up
More info: licm.org; 516-224-5800
