Corning Museum of Glass
Glassmaking is the perfect topic of inquiry for families.
It has it all. It’s an art. It’s a science. What’s more, glass itself is cool.
It’s a solid. It’s a liquid. Take your pick.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย A day trip
to the Corning Museum of Glass is the best way to learn about, see, touch, and
even make glass objects. The museum, located about 90 minutes south of the
city, is so extraordinary — beautiful, contemporary, varied, smart — that I
put it in the same league as San Francisco’s Exploratorium. Seriously.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย When we
visit CMOG, about once a year, we are lured in several different directions.
There are glassblowing demonstrations, hands-on science activities, and
astonishing art glass. As the children get older, we find we spend more time in
the sweeping — some might say exhaustive — history of glass exhibit. Even
the shops on the ground floor tempt me, and I’m no shopper. In a workshop
behind the museum you and the kids can make simple, attractive glass objects
for an extra fee.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Thanks to
CMOG, on our recent trip to Venice we couldn’t wait to get to Murano, the tiny
island famous for centuries of glassmaking. What a disappointment. Touristy.
Cheesy demos. Stick with Corning Glass Museum and save yourself the airfare.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Corning Museum of Glass:
800-732-6845, www.cmog.org. Kids 17 and under free. Can’t make it to Corning?
Keep an eye out for classes and open studio events at More Fire, Rochester’s
own glassmaking studio: 242-0450, www.morefireglass.com.
— Jennifer Loviglio
This week for families:
Brighton
Memorial Library Story times: toddlers, Mondays, 10:30 a.m.; preschoolers,
Mondays, 11:30 a.m.; PJ stories, Tuesdays, 7 p.m.; toddlers and preschoolers,
Fridays, 10 a.m.; families, Thursdays, 7 p.m. 2300 Elmwood Ave. 784-5300
Henrietta Public
Library Preschool storytime, Tues, May 25, ages 3-5, 10:30-11 a.m. 455
Calkins Rd. 359-7092
Hochstein School Full
scholarships available for low-income kids ages 4-12, summer Arts in Action
Program. 454-4596, www.hochstein.org.
Preschool
Family Workshop Thurs, May 20. Art project, story, tour, for ages 2.5-5,
Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Tix: $15. 473-7720
ext 3056
Seneca
Park Zoo Hug a Bug, Fri, May 21, for ages 3 and 4, 10:15 or 11:30 a.m. Tix:
$18. | 2222 St. Paul St. 467-9453
Strong
Museum Tuesdays for Tots, Tues, May 25, puppets and music, 9:30 and 10:30
a.m. Tix: $7, $5 kids. | One Manhattan Square, 263-2700, www.strongmuseum.org.
Information
on museum exhibits can be found in the calendar’s Museum section.
Bicycle
built for three
Sending our
children out on bicycles on busy city or suburban streets may be a risk that
many parents are unwilling to take. But we are a family of cyclists. Showing
our children the joy of cycling and how to go about it safely has been a
priority.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Our children started riding as
babies in child seats on the backs of our bicycles. Later, they rode in a
tandem Trail-a-Bike, a contraption with two seats, two handlebars, and a set of
peddles for each of them. It attached to an adult’s seat stem and was towed
along behind so essentially, my husband and two daughters rode on one vehicle.
We modeled bicycle safety by always wearing our helmets and following the rules
of the road.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย We took rides on the canal, around
our neighborhood, to the library, to church, to friends’ houses, and sometimes,
to the ice cream store. By the time they graduated to their own bikes, they
were already experienced cyclists familiar with the rules of the road and how to
ride safely.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Now their bicycles give them
independence, allowing them to ride to a friend’s house or the library. They
get exercise and our car stays in the garage.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย With the warm weather, we’ve resumed
our family bicycle rides. And we’ll make the ice cream store our destination as
often as possible.
— Marjorie Sangster Rolleston
This article appears in May 19-25, 2004.
