Mary Sinker: Museum Consulting: Portfolio
 
Children's Discovery Museum, Topeka:
Pretend
Science
 
Imaginosity, Dublin:
Imaginosity, The Climber
The Town Centre
 
McKenna Children's Museum:
Entry Corridor
Lend a Hand Ranch
 
Nevada Discovery Museum:
Under the Stars
Little Discoveries
 
Kohl Children’s Museum:

(Designer: Jack Rouse Associates)

Kohl Children’s Museum, located in a near suburb of Chicago, is a special place where families from the city and families from the suburbs meet one another, find common bonds, and play, imagine and have fun together. The exhibits are especially designed to meet the needs of children from birth to age eight. Exhibits are powered by kids’ imagination and creativity, and serve as a learning laboratory where young learners construct knowledge and parents and caregivers help to facilitate the learning process.


Hands On House
(Full Image)

Children experience construction on a large scale, taking on the role of construction workers, working to complete a house. Here, they choose their exterior siding and roofing materials as well as carpeting, tiles and wallpaper for the inside. Sending landscaping materials up the enormous conveyor is fun, too!

Car Care Center
 
The Children's Museum of Brownsville:
Fishing Boat
Fountain
 
The Children's Museum of Winston-Salem:
Animal Alphabet
Enchanted Forest
 
The Children's Museum of Naples:
Banyan Climber
Company Farm
 
Austin Children's Museum:
Rising Star Ranch
Song of Korea
 
Peoria PlayHouse:
Peoria Then and Now
By Your River Sweetly Flowing
Museum Consultant
1998 to present


  • Knock Knock Children's Museum: Baton Rouge, LA: Museum Master Plan (new museum)
  • National Museum of Aruba: Aruba: Archaeology Museum Family Experience Specialist (expanded museum)
  • Kansas Discovery Center: Topeka, KS: Museum Master Plan (new museum)
  • Healthy Kids Initiative: Children’s Discovery Museum,
    Normal, IL (Exhibit Master Plan)
  • Imaginosity!, Dublin, Ireland: Museum Master Plan (new museum)
  • Nevada Discovery Museum, Reno, NV: Exhibit Master Plan; Design Phase Content Specialist (new museum)
  • Guangdong Science Center: Children’s WonderLand, Guangzhou, China: content development (new museum)
  • The New Children’s Museum of Tampa, FL: Exhibit Master Plan (museum expansion)
  • McKenna Children's Museum, New Braunfels, TX: Exhibit Master Plan (new museum)
  • Children's Museum of Naples, FL: Exhibit Master Plan (new museum)
  • Peoria Playhouse Children's Museum, IL: Exhibit Master Plan (new museum)
  • Children's Museum of Iredell County (NC): Exhibit Master Plan (new museum)
  • Children's Museum of Central New Jersey: Exhibit Master Plan (new museum)
  • Phoenix Family Museum: Content Specialist (new museum)
  • Mid-Michigan Children's Museum: Exhibit Master Plan, Exhibit Design Phase Content Specialist (new museum)
  • Austin Children's Museum: Exhibit Developer, Freeman Foundation Asian Initiative; Exhibit Developer, Rising Star Ranch (Infant-Toddler Area); Exhibit Planning, 'Growing Up', NSF-funded exhibit
  • Madison Children's Museum: Museum Expansion Preliminary Plan; First Feats Exhibit Developer
    (*exhibit was winner of Metropolitan Life-AYM Innovative Practices Award)
  • Winston-Salem Children's Museum: Exhibit Master Plan (new museum)
  • Kohl Children's Museum: Museum Expansion Exhibit Master Plan, Content Specialist Exhibit Design Phase
  • Kohl/McCormick Teaching Awards Story Bus Moveable Museum: Exhibit Master Plan; Project Management
  • Children's Museum of Brownsville, Texas: Exhibit Master Plan (new museum); Project Management
  • 1913 Schoolhouse Museum, Boynton Beach, Florida: Museum conceptual plan
  • Louisiana Children's Museum: Exhibit development

Director of Exhibits: Kohl Children's Museum
1992 to 1998


  • 1998: The Shoes We Use. 1000 square feet; budget $125,000
  • 1997: Mighty Maze. 800 square feet; budget $10,000
  • 1997: StarMax Technology Center. 800 square feet; $110,000
  • 1996: Chagall for Children. 1300 square feet; budget $220,000
  • 1996: Election '96. 600 square feet; budget $20,000
  • 1995: Construction Zone. 1,000 square feet; budget $125,000
  • 1995: H20: 500 square feet; budget $105,000
  • 1994: People: 1,200 square feet; budget $250,000
  • 1994: All Aboard: 1,000 square feet; budget $45,000
  • 1993: Recycle: 1,000 square feet; budget $30,000
  • 1993: Traveling Recycle House; budget $25,000
  • 1993: Art and Technology Center: 1,200 square feet; $15,000
  • 1992: Election ë92: 500 square feet; budget $5,000
  • 1992: State of Illinois Daycare Center Playroom: budget $10,000

Publications

  • 2005: Applying Research to Children’s Museum Exhibits. Hand to Hand, Quarterly Journal Association of Children’s Museums
  • 2001: The Story Song lyrics; music by Ella Jenkins
  • 1999: The Play's the Thing: Parent's Guide to Children's Media.
  • 1998: What is a Good Toy? Parent's Guide to Children's Media
  • 1998: Designing for Play. Hand to Hand, Quarterly Journal Association of Children’s Museums
  • 1997: Computer Connections: Using Computers to Bring People Together. Hand to Hand, Quarterly Journal Association of Children’s Museums
  • 1996: The Adult’s Role in Children’s Museums. Hand to Hand Quarterly Journal Association of Children’s Museums
  • 1993: Children’s Concept of Play: A Study in Four Countries. Women Researching Play: Sweden
  • 1993: Toys and Play. Toy Manufacturers of America: New York.
  • 1993: Play and the growth of competence. In C. Schaefer (Ed.),
    The Therapeutic Powers of Play.Northvale, NJ: Aronson.
  • 1990: Play is For All: Toy Libraries in an International Perspective. Women Researching Play: Sweden
  • 1988: Come Play With Us. Parent booklet on play and toys. McKids Children’s Stores: Chicago.
  • 1984-1990:“Toybox” column in Childsplay, newsletter of the U.S. Toy Library Association.
  • 1986: Toys for Growing: Choosing Toys That Develop Skills. Chicago: Yearbook Medical Publishers.