The Five Senses: I. Through Windows and Mirrors: Seeing Multiple Ways

Join us to be decorated by a Henna artist! Henna is a natural and temporary dye that comes from a plant (lawsonia inermis), with natural colors from flowers and leaves. Often used across cultures and religions to celebrate holidays and special occasions, visitors will be invited to choose a symbol or create a design that represents them best!

Use your sense of sight to make meaning of visual distinctions – like clothing, accessories and markings. Visitors will be able to ask questions about what you see, and uncover what beliefs might lie beneath the surface of visual appearances and identities that children may encounter everyday.

This program series explores the five senses by inviting visitors to examining beliefs, identity expressions, and religious-based traditions. Intended for both children and adults, this series offers visitors an opportunity to practice empathetic inquiry, make meaning from multiple viewpoints, and build understanding in community with other learners.

This program is recommended for visitors ages 6+ and their grown-ups.

Beliefs, Traditions, and the Stories They Tell
Traditions are rituals or customs that help people share and celebrate our beliefs. Traditions can help us mark special occasions, remember our history, and pass information from one generation to another.

Some traditions are linked to a religion, and others are not. Traditions also grow and change as the world around us evolves. Holding space for these diverse traditions and stories to be told can build bridges of understanding and empathy as we learn, grow and develop in community with other people.

Boston Children’s Museum’s Religious Literacy initiative believes children and families, regardless of religious or non-religious affiliation, deserve opportunities to learn and share about religion, beliefs, and spirituality. Understanding our own beliefs and those of others supports identity development, increases comfort with different belief systems, helps people discover similarities, and celebrates the traditions and ideas that have significance and meaning to us all.