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:
Hands On House
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:

(Designer: Jack Rouse Associates)

The Children's Museum of Naples (C'mon) will be Collier County's first inclusive, safe, welcoming, and nurturing learning environment developed exclusively for children. Celebrating the natural curiosity of children by offering an educationally dynamic space that encourages exploration and discovery, C'mon will enrich the lives of children in Collier County without regard to developmental, physical, sensory, social-emotional or socio-economic status. The mission of C'mon is "to provide an exciting, inspiring environment where children and their families play, learn and dream together."

Banyan Climber

Company Farm
(Full Image)

The Company Farm exhibit will give children the opportunity to experience the workings of a corporate farm. As they pick, sort, load and 're-circulate' the vegetables, they will be working on early math skills, engaging in physical play, social play, and fantasy play. They will develop both individual gross and fine muscle strength and an overall integration of muscles, nerves, and brain functions, learn social rules such as cooperation and sharing, and try out new roles and possible situations. Experiencing the life of a farmer will also facilitate children's understanding of where the food we eat originates, and perhaps draw them closer to their agricultural roots.
 
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.