Training Manual
Look inside for:

 Exhibit Goals, Messages and Objects
Component and Activity Description
 Description of Castle Characters
 Intended Audience
The Amazing Castle™
Staff Training
In The Amazing Castle, visitors become inhabitants of a fanciful castle village
where they playfully explore the interconnectedness of individuals in a
community.
Exhibit Goal
To strengthen awareness among museum visitors of the roles and interconnectedness
of individuals in a community through playful, imaginative activities.
Messages
 A community is made up of many different people.
 In a community, people help each other solve problems and get things done.
 Special jobs require special tools.
Objectives
 To transform a gallery into a castle village where a related cast of characters
involves children in concepts of community.
 To communicate and relate what it means to be part of a community through
developmentally appropriate, playful experiences.
 To engage visitors in activities supporting the concept that a community is made up
of many different people.
 To advance the idea that in a community people help each other solve problems
and get things done.
Audience
The Amazing Castle is designed to appeal to children two to twelve years of age. The
primary audience for the exhibit is children four to eight years of age visiting with family
or in other small groups.
Some points that may come in handy:
The Amazing Castle is a fantasy castle of undetermined location and age. It is not
intended to be an historically accurate depiction of a castle.
Each character is meant to represent a very broad group of professions rather than to
depict one job specifically and deeply. For instance, Trim, the tailor, represents all
facets of textile work, from spinning and weaving to designing cloth garments and
working with leather.
The Amazing Castle is designed to travel. The six-month installation at Minnesota
Children's Museum will allow us to make minor changes and adjustments before
sending it on the road. After May 5, 2002, The Amazing Castle will travel to children’s
museums in Hull/Ottawa, Ft. Worth, San Francisco, Houston, Memphis, Brooklyn and
Las Vegas.
The Castle Characters and Their Duties
Lord Ben and Lady Evolent make sure the castle is a safe and healthy place to live,
and that everything runs smoothly.
HiJinx the Jester helps the people of The Amazing Castle enjoy their free time.
Posey the Gardener’s job is to grow the food and animals that become food and
clothing for the people of the castle.
Kipper the Cook’s job is to feed the people of the castle by planning and preparing
meals.
Gable the Carpenter’s job is to build and repair furniture and keep the castle’s
wooden buildings in good repair.
Trim the Tailor’s job is to design, weave and sew clothes for the people of the castle.
Synge the Blacksmith’s job is to make and repair tools and objects made of metal.
Herald the Dragon’s job is to make announcements and spread important news to
the people of the castle.
Brief Component and Activity Descriptions
The Entry and Big Book
Visitors are welcomed to The Amazing Castle at the entry gates by the Lord, Lady and
Jester who appear on a panel that flips between two welcoming gestures, and by the
other characters, who appear in the tower windows.
Using rhythm, repetition and the familiar cumulative structure, the story in the big book
introduces the people of the castle as they contribute—each in his or her own way—to
staging a celebration. As visitors travel from one activity to the next they will come
across snatches of the story throughout the exhibit, sometimes coupled with large
cutouts of the castle characters, or as headers at interactives.
The Keep
Creepers and toddlers sort and stack chunky “stone” blocks, explore devices to push,
pull, spin, and peek into, and play “pretend” with the castle dollhouse. The perimeter
wall provides seating for parents.
Garden Plot and Garden Shed
Plant and harvest vegetables, water the garden, gather eggs from the hens, and play
with the goat and sheep. Props and costumes include Posey costume, harvest bags,
egg bags, watering cans, chicken puppets, plastic eggs, onions, carrots, cabbages,
garlic and celery. Real tools mounted in the area are a wooden yoke for carrying
buckets of water, feed, etc., a wooden rake, and wooden buckets.
Great Hall and Kitchen
Cook a meal in the cauldron, bake bread, prepare and serve the feast, and figure out a
solution for Kipper’s challenge. Props and costumes include Kipper costume, adultsized aprons, cooking and serving dishes, fruit, vegetables, breads and meats. Real
tools mounted in the kitchen are a copper ladle, skimmer (for removing solids from
boiling water), two-tined fork, fire poker, trammel hook (for hanging pots over the fire),
meat pounder and meat hook.
Puppet Theatre
Put on a show using castle puppets, make up their own stories or act out a simple
castle-related story as shown on the simple storyboard scroll. Costumes and props
include HiJinx costume and set of nine castle character puppets.
Blacksmith’s Workshop
Heat the metal and shoe a horse or “repair” a copper pot. Props and costumes include
Synge costume, adult-sized work apron, hammers, and tongs holding horseshoe. Real
tools include anvil, blacksmith’s tub, horseshoe, hammers, tongs and nippers.
Tailor’s Workshop
Try on clothing, layer on fabrics for draping, and have a look in the funny mirror.
Assemble puzzles that show the castle characters in proper or all mixed-up fashion.
Costumes and props include Trim costume, work aprons, strips of fabric, assorted
castle clothing, and puzzle pieces. Real tools and objects include spindles, yarn, cloth,
shears and wool cards.
Carpenter’s Workshop
Use the mortise and tenon pieces and follow the blue prints to put together a chair or
table, or come up with a unique construction. Costumes and props include Gable
costume, work apron, and an assortment of mortise and tenon pieces. Real objects
include chisels, adze head (used for shaping or smoothing a wooden surface), frame
saw, hammer, square nails and framer’s mallet.
Dragon Tower
Complete two levels of an electronic puzzle to wake the sleeping dragon or sound the
trumpets.
Reading Bench
Sit down and read fairy tales set in castles, read stories about people living together
and helping one another or look at books that tell about life in a real castle.