Confidence, Belonging, and Big Imaginations Collide

Children gathered together lean in, listening to the story of a young bird who dreams of becoming a knight.
Little do they know—each of them is about to become one.

The pages turn.
The book closes.

“I really loved that story! It makes me want to become a knight! Does anyone want to pretend with me?” the reader asks the group.
"I do!"

The reader—one of our Visitor Experience team members—begins to don a cardboard helmet, shield, and hobby horse, a green polka-dot cape, and a spoon for a sword. As they transform, they invite the children to dress up in their minds as well, sharing simple physical gestures for the group to embody the shared game.

“Now…” the Knight says in a deeper, pretend voice.
“Who wants to find a Dragon?”

This winter, Out of a Box Puppetry collaborated with Visitor Experience team member Dod March to reimagine a former program, informed by four years of exploration in interactive children’s theater.

Together, we proposed turning the entire Museum into the performance space—relying on the imagination of children, focused through character archetypes, to build narrative experiences woven throughout the exhibit environments.

The first archetype chosen was the Knight.

Here, the Knight moves beyond a relic of the past and becomes a conduit for embodying:

• Courage in the face of the unknown
• Protection of others
• Perseverance
• Service to the community

The lead performer—in this case, Dod—models this archetype through body, voice, and presence, offering children a living reference for shaping their own creative play. The goal is to create a safe atmosphere in which children can confidently role-play situations rooted inStepping Stones’ six core values:

• Safe – exploring bravery within supportive boundaries
• Responsible – making choices that affect the story
• Kind – helping fellow adventurers
• Empathy – protecting others from danger
• Honest – speaking truth within the quest
• Mindful – listening for clues and noticing what matters

This experience relies heavily on what we refer to as the Third Level of Engagement: “I Belong.” At this level, families become active participants in the unfolding experience, helping guide and shape the layers of narrative together.

Rather than sitting back to watch the Knight open the Dragon’s treasure chest, children discover that the treasure is locked—and are invited to imagine ways to open it. The role of storyteller, and of living the story, is placed firmly in the hands of the children, within the context of collaborative play focused through character archetype.

Importantly, there are many valid ways to engage. While we endeavor to create a spacious, responsive atmosphere that gives children ample room to make suggestions and listen to one another—with the ideal being that even the most shy child feels able to contribute—we actively validate multiple levels of participation.

The First Level of Engagement, “I Am Safe to Watch,” refers to experiences in which children remain less directly involved. They may sit and listen to the story being read, or follow the group of adventurers through the Museum. In traditional theater terms, the fourth wall remains intact, rooting the child in the role of observer. At Stepping Stones, we carefully curate setting, content, and facilitation to ensure that this sense of safety is firmly established.

From there, and by gauging the energy of the group, we move into the Second Level of Engagement,“I Am Included.” At this level, the fourth wall dissolves and the facilitator opens a creative dialogue with children. This might look like a simple aside during a story—“Oh, I love this part, don’t you?”—or a puppet stepping off the stage to interact directly with the audience.

During the Knight’s adventure, this begins when children are asked if they enjoy pretending, as the performer visibly puts on their costume.

Once the group reads as fully included, we enter the Third Level of Engagement, prompting children to take on the role of Knights themselves and inviting them to decide where the quest should begin.

Over the past several weeks, we have experimented with the shape of this experience—introducing new characters that activate different exhibit spaces, such as a masked Shopkeeper inhabiting the Grocery Store, or a helpful hand puppet named Sancho waiting in the Energy Lab to ask if he can join the adventure. We have explored removing all props and puppets entirely in favor of fully imagined play, as well as outfitting not only the Educator/Performer but each child with visible costume elements. We have shifted perspectives, adjusted pacing, and discovered new ways to wake up exhibit components as narrative partners.

In all of this experimentation, the question becomes: How do we know when an experience is successful?

We know it is working when children place imaginary helmets on their heads, mount pretend ponies, and gallop into Museum spaces together—initiating play, inviting others in, and generating safe, inclusive worlds of their own making. In these moments, the story no longer belongs to the performer. It belongs to the children.

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