As part of the Museum’s three-year Linking with Libraries project, funded by Boston Children’s Collaborative for Community Health, the Museum created Me, You, We—a school readiness resource for children ages 2–5 that focuses on supporting social-emotional development.
Me, You, We is a multilingual resource, which includes a family learning kit with accompanying activity sheets and how-to videos delivered through a new website, and curriculum tools to support community-based educators in using the resources with families in online or in-person playgroups. Using playdough, finger paints, puppets, blocks, and more, families practice identifying and managing feelings, learning about others, following directions, taking turns, and problem solving.
In the spring and summer of 2021, the Museum supported community-based educators, librarians, and parent partners in Boston, Brookline, Quincy, and Watertown to lead 15 six-week online or in-person Me, You, We playgroups with 153 families. Following the playgroups, most parents who responded to a survey agreed or strongly agreed that because of what they learned in the Me, You, We playgroups and kits they felt they would be able to help their child practice social-emotional skills.