Fusing Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass!

I was at the Corning Museum of Glass with my 3 kids today and I though that of all the educational activities you can plan for kids, the Museum of Glass should definitely be on your list!

First of all, Corning is one of those old historic cities in Upstate New York that give you a sense of peace just by driving or walking through there. The streets are lined with blossoming flowers, the people are friendly and the store buildings are reminiscent of perfectly intact 1930’s row houses.

The Museum of Glass was a gift that was donated by Corning Glass Works in 1951 to the city of Corning. The company was celebrating their 100 years of being the leader in glass technology and opened the Museum to showcase the evolution of glass since it’s origin. Today, the museum is home to a wide collection of glass objects from innovators, architects and artists from around the world that have made their impact in the glass industry.

My kids were instantly captivated by the green blown glass sculpture upon entering the building and their excitement continued throughout their entire visit. Inside the museum, my kids enjoyed the glass-making demos conducted by staff at the museum; they played interactive games to engage them about glass and the Museum also had a glass making class for kids aged 4 and up!

At the glass making class, my kids were given tools where they learned to cut and break glass (Safely). After the glass was cut into small pellets, beads and other glass fragments; the kids used glue to attach the small glass fragments onto four long glass strips. Once the fragments were assembled and glued on the strips, the strips were placed into a smelting oven to fuse the glass fragments together to form a wind chime. The staff at the museum will smelt and cool their wind chimes overnight and have it ready for the kids the following day.

Museum goers can choose to go to the museum the next day (at no extra charge) to pick up glass ornaments that were made, or you can pay $18 to have it shipped out to you (In the United States).

My kids are super excited about their glass making adventure and if any of you get the opportunity to take your kids to the Corning Museum of Glass, I think it would be an excellent educational/creativity adventure for them. We opted to have our wind chimes shipped, so I will update you in about two days when they arrive.