Toys are a monumental part of childhood, let alone they create lasting memories that are cherished for years to come. The new exhibit in Cole Hall captures this feeling perfectly.
Opened to the public last month, the latest exhibit featured in the Anthropology museum, “At Play,” focuses on what “play” means, the varying ways people play and how the idea of play is important in people’s lives.
The “At Play” exhibit showcases a variety of toys and activities many children and adults have enjoyed in the past and still do today.
The exhibit has 24 different sections, each describing a different game or activity used by people to have fun. This invokes nostalgia in visitors who experienced or played the game and awakens their inner childhood memories.
These sections were labeled as “Therapy,” “Sensory Noisemakers,” “Toy Makers,” “Dexterity,” “Primates,” “TableTop RPG,” “Holidays,” “Mahjong,” “Kites,” “Dolls,” “Miniatures,” “Live-action roleplay,” “Strategy,” “Toy tools,” “Pokémon Go,” “Monopoly,” “The Olympics,” “Sepak Takraw,” “Ulama,” “Rarajipari,” “Esports” and “Video games.”
Bennett Driver, an employee of the Anthropology Museum who organized the “At Play” exhibit over the 2023 summer, enjoyed working on the Tabletop RPG section and invites students to check out the museum and relive games they haven’t played in a while.
“The topic means a lot to me as someone who has played Dungeons and Dragons for many years,” Driver said. “If possible, I’d also like to encourage people to come check out the board game library within the exhibit so that people can come and try out games they’ve never played before or ones that they may have grown up with but haven’t played in a while.
These sections represent various games, activities and toys that bring joy to those that still hold the heart of a child. Each section holds a description of how it ties into the aspect of “play” in the lives of children and adults along with a visual of a toy, game or activity that ties into that section.
A few of the displayed items were old school video games from consoles such as the PS2 and the Nintendo 3DS, a working PC and a Huskie jersey from the NIU Esports team hung on the wall, mahjong pieces, a shelf filled to the brim with dolls and a special DeKalb-themed Monopoly board to name a few.
Oliwia Rozanski, a senior psychology major working for the museum, enjoys working in the exhibit and its interactive nature.
“It’s honestly a really good exhibit,” Rozanski said. “I think it is the best one I have worked in and this is my fourth exhibit here. I like the more interactiveness of it because a lot of our other ones weren’t as interactive.”
The “At Play” exhibit does an outstanding job at stirring up enough nostalgia and memories to bring a tear to the eyes of visitors who enjoyed playing with their favorite toys while also introducing them to new games and activities.
Seeing the various games and fun activities of the past is enough for someone to reminisce about the moments they had with their own toys and games, alone and with loved ones.
