The children's room at Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park in
Phoenix is a low-budget model of what a museum can do to interest young
children.  There are wooden blocks in a carpeted pit that the children
can use to recreate a Hohokam site, if they are old enough to understand
the functions of the various blocks, but they can just play with blocks
if not.  There's a model to hang jewelry pieces on, drawings on cheap
paper that can be colored, and text on the wall to be read.  The text
is accompanied by historic photos and maps, so the level of intellectual
communication can be quite high.  I have seen pre-K and middle school
kids playing in parallel, and both groups appeared fascinated.  Roger
Lidman is the director of the museum, and I'm sure could tell you
more.
 
Jannelle Warren-Findley
Graduate Program in Public History
Arizona State University