Inspired by the nearby Staten Island harbor, the Sea of Boats exhibit on the
museum's outdoor plaza provides tall and low-lying elements that create visually
interesting views from both an adjacent meadow and a nearby museum building.
The exhibit engages children in imaginative and open play while still providing enough
structure for unfacilitated play. The larger boats, a tugboat and sloop, are wheelchair
accessible and feature interactive elements. Dockside activities invite visitors to
try their hand at fishing and oystering. Speaking tubes and semaphore flashers allow
visitors to communicate with each other across the plaza.
Small dories encircling the dock create smaller-scaled play areas for younger
children and also serve as seating for children and adults. Interpretive signage
directed at adults is located at one spot, so as not to overwhelm the exhibit's
playful environment with signage.
Read what the Staten
Island Children's Museum had to say about working with Wondercabinet.
