Virginia Parks wrote concerning creating activity kits...
 
You may want to contact these three offices at the Smithsonian:
 
* the education department at the National Zoo
 
* the Hands on History Room at the National Museum of American History (Nancy
McCoy was project manager--I was one of the developers)
 
* the Discovery Room (name?) at the National Museum of Natural History
 
There was a publication created about how to make hands-on activity boxes.
Check with the Zoo or the Office of Museum Programs for a copy.
 
Do prototypes and test them before finalizing your design, content or approach.
I used Pagemaker to lay out and typeset labels and booklets, foamcore and
spraymount to try out components, and we spent weeks testing these prototypes
with visitors.  We observed their use and interviewed the visitor
afterwards--questions about ease, enjoyment, learning, language, layout,
instuctions, tecnology, flow of room, etc  were addressed.  Working on the HOHR
was a very stimulating and gratifying experience.  The key was collaboration
among all the team members and taping into other expertise in the museum
--designers, curators, technical staff and the audience--from the beginning.
 
In terms of making a professional product inexpensively--that's not too
difficult if you or your staff have some experience with desktop publishing (a
Mac and Pagemaker are worth gold!) and you're on good terms with your wood
shop--also if you have an in-house photography department.  Color xeroxes work
well and can be pasted into your booklet layout.  Remember to
purchase extra copies of your objects and to make extra copies of the videos
and booklets--you will be glad when you need to replace them.
 
Also, one caveat:  Give yourself a lot of time to create your activity kit.  It
always takes longer than you anticipate!
 
Good luck--if you have specific questions, feel free to e-mail me.
 
Lisa Falk
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