Your Pre-visit Briefing

Learning Team 5 Apr 2024

MoPA is founded on the belief that more play and creativity will paint a brighter future. Our Museums cater to children aged 1 to 7 and they champion unstructured, imaginative play that’s driven by the child. This approach is centred on open-ended inquiry and collaborative meaning-making. MoPA’s educational philosophy aligns seamlessly with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and the Victorian Curriculum, ensuring the strongest and most relevant learning foundations. We take immense pride in our recognition as global leaders and innovators in the fields we play.

When your little learners arrive at MoPA, they will generally require no encouragement to dive in. Everything you’ll find in the space is thoughtfully designed to allow children to safely discover and explore independently, without the need for instructions or cues. What might come as a surprise is that MoPA is not just a realm for little ones; it’s a place designed for families to explore and learn together. Every exhibit you encounter will allow for collaboration, and actually offers opportunities for both you and your child to engage in play and learning together.

Research indicates that children’s earliest development occurs through their connection to communities, especially their families, who serve as their initial and most influential educators; and so you will play a pivotal role in your child’s learning and growth during each MoPA visit.

Play may not come as naturally to some adults as it does to children, and parents often seek guidance on how to facilitate their little ones’ interaction with various exhibits. While you may spot me wandering the museum floor in my ‘expert in early learning’ t-shirt (please say hello, if you do!), ALL of our wonderful educators are capable of pointing you in the right direction in this regard. At any time during your visit, please don’t hesitate to ask us questions.

Our Museum’s are jam-packed full of exhibits and activities, but here are some of my personal favourites that will help you get your play-based experience started:

The Blue Block Room

This STEM-inspired exhibit encourages critical thinking while experimenting with engineering concepts. Collaborative building offers richer opportunities for your child to articulate observations and derive new meanings from their creation, and as a caregiver, you can prompt your child to identify shapes, angles, and patterns that provide stability to the structure. Or how about a family building challenge? Using 15 pieces, can you build a contraption that transports us across time? You’ve got 10 minutes.. GO!

Star Studio

Lights, camera, action! The Star Studio offers numerous learning opportunities, including increased confidence, creative expression, voice animation, and character development. By actively participating in this performing arts exhibit, you can help your child develop the capacity to present ideas to an audience through embodied expression and role-play. Why not encourage your child to dress up the adults in costumes, assign character names, teach dance moves, and stage a family performance? Participation from adults will deeply enrich your child’s experience here in the Star Studio – plus, it’s FUN!

Art Wall

Resembling a more traditional museum display, The Art Wall offers a range of learning moments, and is the chance to introduce your child to the world of art. Interact with the unique exhibits, mimic the displays, and discuss what you notice in each artwork. Whether identifying aesthetics like colours, textures, and shapes or forming opinions about preferences and why, these group discussions greatly benefit your child’s cognitive development and overall understanding of how broad our interpretation of the arts can and should be.

Zoom Room

Set up a family Zoom Room race! Time how long each car takes to get from start to finish. Who won? What shape was the track or car that they used? Did that help them win? How about the size and shape of the car – did that help? Try a few rounds using different tracks and sized cars to test out the differences. By actively using questions in this exhibit, you can prompt your little one to make new connections about the basics of physics. And as they compare the different race results, they consolidate new understandings about the effects of push and pull and an object’s shape and size.

Cinema Room

Need a break? Head to the Cinema Room, grab a beanbag, and read a book together. There’s nothing like finding a moment of stillness to savour the magic of MoPA. Taking time as a group to regulate energy and emotions in a low-sensory space underscores the importance of reflection, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence for your child. And if it’s ultimate peace you seek, be sure to find your way to our cocoon-like privacy rooms for time-out, silent feeding, prayer, or just some good quality quiet time together.

Remember, it’s okay for your visit to be entirely child-led. Depending on what captures the interest of your little one, you may explore some of these areas during one visit, and other areas next time. Embrace your child’s natural inclinations to unfold and enjoy the journey with them.

The learning potential in these spaces is boundless. Whether it’s socially developing through role play with new or old friends, dialogue and group games with fellow guests, cognitively developing with problem solving and critical thinking, or physically developing by increasing fine motor skills, coordination, balance and stamina – the learning opportunities at MoPA really are limitless.

If you’re interested in more ideas, don’t hesitate to reach out to any of our amazing MoPA Educators on the floor during your visit. We relish discussing all things related to play-based learning and creative exploration.

We cannot wait for you to dive in and experience all the ways your family can play together.

No matter what age, we’re always learning!

Billie Georgieff
Director | MoPA

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Dear Casual Job Seekers of Geelong, MoPA would ❤️ to meet you! 

If you know someone that might be a great fit at MoPA Geelong, please tag them below (or FWD this post and let us know via PM)... And if your friend ends up joining the team, we’ll happily gift you a free annual membership to say thanks!! 

PS. Pic for attention only (is it NOT the cutest pic ever ❤️)
MoPA中文日:
2月17日 星期一在 Sandringham 
2月19日 星期三在 Thomastown
2月21日 星期五在 Geelong
❤️🦄🚗🎨🖌️🖼️
FREE entry for grandparents - Woohoo!! Just two weeks left to celebrate “Forever Young February” @ MoPA!!
Sometimes a post doesn’t need words… 😂
Chinese (Traditional):

MoPA 將在二月份舉辦三天的特別活動,和維多利亞州的華人朋友們一起享受語言之美。

MoPA中文日:
2月17日 星期一在 Sandringham 
2月19日 星期三在 Thomastown
2月21日 星期五在 Geelong

當天, 我們會換上時髦的中文歌, 一起閱讀中文的兒童讀本,我們要把博物館裡的所有音樂和所有的文字都變成中文。
還有, 千萬別錯過我們的熱舞派對!

如果你喜歡中文這個語言,或者這是你熟悉的文化,不妨在這一天, 帶上你的親朋好友們來拜訪MoPA ,跟著MoPA的哥哥姊姊們一起享受中文的語言薰陶。
當天會有三場活動,位子有限,記得上我們的網站預約買票哦!我們 MoPA見 !

Chinese (Simplified):

MoPA将在二月份举办三天的特别活动,与维多利亚州的华人朋友们一起享受语言之美。

MoPA中文日:
2月17日 星期一在 Sandringham
2月19日 星期三在 Thomastown
2月21日 星期五在 Geelong

那天,我们会换上时髦的中文歌,一起阅读中文的儿童读物,我们要把博物馆里的所有音乐和所有文字都变成中文。
还有,千万别错过我们的热舞派对!

如果你喜欢中文这个语言,或者这是你熟悉的文化,不妨在这一天,带上你的亲朋好友们来参观MoPA,跟随MoPA的哥哥姐姐们一起享受中文的语言薰陶。
当天会有三场活动,位子有限,记得在我们的网站上预订买票!我们MoPA见!

�
English:

In February we are going to have some very special days at MoPA to celebrate Victoria’s enormous Chinese community. 

Chinese Community Days:
Mon 17th Feb in Sandringham 
Wed 19th Feb in Thomastown
Fri 21st Feb in Geelong

We will dance at our dance party to Chinese childrens music, our books will be read in chinese languages, and even our signage will be translated. So if you’d like to get together with other families of the Chinese community, we’ll see you down here at MoPA! We expect these days to be very popular, but we do only have limited space available, so please be sure to jump online and book now to secure your spot. See you all then!

PS - Stay tuned for MORE cultural celebrations at MoPA. Comment below with your ideas and requests!!

x MoPA
…jussst casually droppin’ our new favourite video of 2025!!!

All the beautiful advice (in this video) is FREE… And so too are tickets to MoPA for all grandparents — for all of FEB!! Love you all. x
Mid-Term ART CLASS Enrolments: Now Open! 

“This week at MoPA’s AFTERNOON ART CLASSES we learned about Yayoi Kusama. We created spotty mushrooms, met our new teachers, made friends with our classmates, and earned some very special rewards!”

Term 1 runs for 8 weeks, and there is still 7 weeks left - so if you’d like to join the fun mid-term (and pay only for the remaining classes!!) enrolments are now open. Head to www.mopa.com.au or call us on 1800 00 66 72 to learn more!

x MoPA
Grandparents are FREE for FEB!! ❤️ 

Yep. That’s right. FREE. So what are we waiting for? Let’s get out there and cut some intergeneration shapes on the MoPA D-floor!!

To celebrate the beautiful role grandparents play in our lives and our families, we’ve decided to rename February to “Forever Young February” here at MoPA.

Now… The bouncers are under strict instruction to shuffle all grandparents to the front of the queue - and waive their ticket price... All. February. Long! 

Note: We do still require that grandparents book online - but only to help us manage the comfy capacity limitations we maintain at MoPA (ticket prices at the checkout for grandparents are $0).

And so - Meemaw, Nene, Gigi, Glam, Pa, Zayde, Pop, Babu, Grandad, Gramps and Abuelo - we’ll see you ALL on the dance floor at MoPA this FEB, to show these young folk how that chicken dance SHOULD be done! 💃🕺🐔🎉
Term 1 Art Classes start in just 2 weeks (Feb 3rd)!! 🥳
 
Our Thomastown, Sandringham and Geelong Museum’s ALL still have a handful of spaces left for the Monday and Tuesday afternoon classes. Do NOT miss out - jump onto the website now to secure your enrolment in the 8 week Term 1 program!! 😘

This is going to be FUUUUNNNNN!!!!