This collection serves as a digital companion to a Cultivating Learning professional development session with Anna Hindley (Director), and Ariel Moon (LeadEducation Specialist) of the Early Childhood Education Initiative (ECEI) at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. At ECEI, celebration and affirmation are at the foundation of early conversations about history, culture and identity with children. In this session, Anna and Ariel show how museum objects can be used to create joyful and empowering learning experiences for preschool through 2nd-grade students. They share NMAAHC Kids’ Joyful ABCs online resource collection for use in participants’ classrooms. Based on the book, A is for All The Things You Are by Anna Hindley, this series of activity books and videos uses museum objects and stories of Black history and culture to support all children to express and love themselves. The session focuses on supporting educators to use developmentally appropriate strategies for beginning these important conversations and lessons by utilizing the Joyful ABCs series resources.

This interactive webinar is part of “Cultivating Learning,” a professional development webinar series focusing on techniques to use digital museum resources for learning. Check out “Cultivating Learning” and other Smithsonian Learning Lab webinars: https://learninglab.si.edu/help.