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Welcome to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood |
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Welcome to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood invites children and families to explore, imagine and create in a replica of Mister Rogers' television house and Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Based on the enduring and endearing messages of the award-winning Mister Rogers' Neighborhood public television series, the exhibit encourages children to feel comfortable and confident with themselves and others as they play and pretend, share and explore.
This award-winning exhibit was developed in partnership with Family Communications, the producer of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, with funding from The Grable Foundation.
There are three main areas to Welcome to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood:
Mister Rogers’ Television House
Swing on the porch swing or play peek-a-boo through the window of Mister Rogers’ house. Once inside, you can try on a sweater or sneakers just like Mister Rogers. You can play familiar Neighborhood songs on the player piano or make up tunes of your own. Peer into the fish tank, flip the lights on the full-size traffic light or watch selected “How People Make Things” factory videos. Move the trolley along its track and look down the trolley tunnel –
Neighborhood Trolley
Climb aboard and turn the wheel, pull the levers or take a seat in a full-size replica of the Neighborhood Trolley. The Trolley is also a great place to take a break and read a little about the history of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Neighborhood of Make-Believe
Visit the Castle and play dress up or put on a puppet show with the Neighborhood puppets and watch it on a television screen. Peek behind the 26 doors in the “Alphabet Wall” to discover a surprise for each letter. Crawl into Daniel Striped Tiger’s clock where you can look at books, listen to music or have some quiet time. And there's Lady Elaine Fairchilde’s Museum Go-Round, a collection of unusual objects - where you can make music using small wooden balls or an impression of your body on a wall of soft plastic pins.
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What’s the Real Stuff?
There’s more to Welcome to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood than many viewers are aware of, and in creating this exhibit we hope to help adults better understand the children in their lives. Here’s some of the “Real Stuff” to be found in Mister Rogers’ house:
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Porch: Hellos and Goodbyes There’s a kind of peek-a-boo at the beginning of each Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood program. The camera shows the room, but Mister Rogers isn’t there yet. When the door opens and he appears, he’s helping children deal with their feelings about going away and coming back. Peek-a-boo is a separation game that helps children learn to trust that adults will return. |  | | | | | Closet: Pretending to be Grown up On Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Mister Rogers changes from his “office clothes” to a sweater and sneakers, getting ready for a relaxed visit with his viewers. In this way he says that he is leaving his other work behind to give his full attention to his television friends. He’s also allowing the children time to settle in.
As children grow and want to try on the clothes of an adult, they can imagine what it’s like to be an adult. | |  | | | | | |  | | Piano: Making Music Mister Rogers started playing the piano when he was five, making up tunes to fit his feelings. Music has always been a central part of every Neighborhood visit. Music is a language that we can use to express our thoughts and feelings from an early age. Beginning with lullabies, music is a part of being human. We are all musical in our own way. | | | | | | Fish Tank: Taking Care of Living Things When Mister Rogers takes care of the fish on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood he is reminding children that adults will do their best to care for all living things. Then children can feel more secure and trust that the grownups in their lives will take care of them too. Children who feel cared for grow up to be caring adults. | | | | | |  | | Picture Picture: Seeing How People Make Things Mister Rogers’ father and grandfathers were all involved in factories. Through the factory videos, Mister Rogers models an appreciation of their work and the work it takes to make things, as well as a curiosity about the world around us.
Look for a new exhibit based on the How People Make Things videos coming in June 2007!
By seeing how everyday things like sneakers and quarters are manufactured, children learn that most things don’t happen quickly or magically – but by hard work and persistence. That understanding can help children be more patient with themselves and others. - Fred Rogers
| | | | | | Neighborhood Trolley The Trolley serves as a transition from Mister Rogers’ house and the real world represented there to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, the fantasy segment of the program where a pretend story is played out. When Mister Rogers was young, there were lots of trolleys in Pittsburgh and he liked riding on them. When he began Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, he decided to use a trolley as a transition between the real and pretend segments of each episode. Transitions give children a middle ground – space and time to settle in while they get ready for what’s ahead. They also help make the change smoother by connecting what children were doing to what’s next. | |  | | | | | |  | | The Castle: Dressing Up Royally The Royal Family, King Friday, Queen Sara and Prince Tuesday, experience many of the typical situations that occur between parents and children. In dress-up play, children try on costumes and different roles – what’s it like to be a commanding king, a regal queen or even a baby? Putting a costume or a puppet on our outsides lets us explore feeling and needs that are on our insides. | | | | | | The Tree: Playing with Miniature Life Figures X the Owl and Henrietta Pussycat are as different as neighbors can be. X is boisterous, flies about and loves to learn, while Henrietta is quiet and loves to dress up. In spite of their differences, they’re good friends. What an important message for children – friends can like each other and yet disagree about some things. Playing with doll figures lets children work on the ups and downs of their own relationships. | |  | | | | | |  | | Daniel’s Clock: Time for Peace and Quiet Quiet, shy Daniel Striped Tiger lives in a timeless clock. Of course time doesn’t matter in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Unlike most tigers, Daniel is tame and doesn’t like scary things. He becomes much braver when his friends help him with caring talk and loving support. Sometimes children just need some quiet time. Time to reflect and “do nothing.” Renewed, they can be ready to move on | | | | | |
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Explore more
Learn more about these topics with the following books and websites. Many of the books can be reserved online from the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood- Family Communications
- PBS Mister Roger’s Neighborhood
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Do It Yourself
After you've visited this exhibit be sure you try these activities: Peek-a-Boo.
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