I worked at the Brooklyn Children's Museum in Crown Heights Brooklyn.
BCM is built underground. During the winter solstice parts of the building
are filled with low angled light from the terraced gardens in the south
west.
So on the science end we did lengths of our shadows at the same time each
day over a month long period. We brought out prisms and allowed visitors to
experiment with rainbows. We introduce the reason for the seasons allowing
children the first play the sun (with the aid of a powerful flashlight
light) and then the Earth/moon( with the aid of a mechanized model globe).
We introduced various solstice stories through storytelling performances
and films.
The patrons at BCM represented (pretty much) the whole spectrum of what is
called religion. Dealing with the sensitivities of people is not easy.
You can't please everyone all the time.
Around the holidays we introduce the approach of a festival of lights.
We lit parts of the museum with white non discript small white lights. In
these areas we would have programs related to that month's theme.
Different traditions and holiday related activities were introduced.
We made origami decorations. If the audience wanted to call them Kwanza,
Xmas or Channuaka (pease forgive my spelling) activities fine. That's not
what we at BCM were calling it.
We purchased, or had donated, the remains of trimmed Xmas trees and we
recycles old wire hangers and made solstice wreaths for doors. A low tech
way of bringing green nearer to the home. We had Tibetan artist come in and
make(Play doo) butter sculptures. We had Native American and Tibetan sand
painters come and demonstrate their art. A follow up activity was allowing
people to make white glue and sand greeting cards. Allowing the visitor to
insert their own holiday significance.
We had several small pine trees that were purchased for display. Some
children who frequently visited BCM often wanted to decorate them.  We did
not decorate the trees. We worked with the local kids so they could learn
about coniferous trees and their  different varieties.  Global warming
defroestation and paper making were introduced. These kids cared for a
living tree until the spring when we planted it outside in a local park.
Some of those trees are still growing as I type this.
We had candle making programs from the complicated ( Melted wax)to the easy
rolled wax sheets. Some kids made Xmas candles, some made kawnze candles.
The activity was candle making.
 We did a game week and made dreidals (spelling ?), awale boards, tops and
toss toys. All these games came from different cultures which had different
solstice ceremonies. And there's a lot of children's books that tell
related stories.
We had a Kwanza celebration and lit some of the candles we made earlier in
the month.
We collected dead , thrown out Xmas trees for recycling. Rented a wood
chipper and viola we had enough wood chips for garden paths for the
following year.
A big part of this month is that visiters shared information about their
cultures with each other.
I hope some of these suggestions are helpful.


>
>In an age of environmental degradation and urban loss of a sense of season,
>anything promoting renewal is fine in my book!  (But please, not plastic!)
>
>Heleanor Feltham
>Powerhouse Museum



Peter J. Vreeland                               Phone:  (212) 769-5183
Department of Education
American Museum of Natural History              Fax:    (212) 769-5329

Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY 10024-5192 ,USA                    E-Mail:[log in to unmask]

The opinions expressed here are solely the responsibility of the
author and should in no way be construed as representing the opinions,
positions and/or policies of his employer.