Have you ever heard of an entire museum dedicated to learning about languages and linguistics?! Planet Word is a unique museum and the only one of its kind in the world! “It is a voice-activated museum with interactive galleries and exhibits that bring words and language to life in all sorts of fun ways!” (Planet Word). Planet Word is one of my favorite museums to visit. I feel like you get a new experience every time you go because, even though the exhibits and interactive galleries stay the same, it is impossible to have the same experience twice. How so, you may ask?! In this article, I will highlight my favorite interactive galleries created to ensure returning visitors have a new, engaging experience every time they enter the museum!
Many adult visitors could feel as if they know everything there is to know about language; however, Planet Word’s focus is on educating the public in ways they are familiar with, replicating classroom and childhood learning activities through their interactive galleries! An interactive gallery that showcases this is Where Do Words Come From? Everyone is probably familiar with the moments in children’s shows where the characters ask the audience a question and then pause for a moment, waiting for the children to respond. After a few moments, the show goes on with the characters saying the answer to the question. Where Do Words Come From? similarly engages their visitors with a 22-foot-tall wall of words that tells stories to visitors about the English language. The interactive starts with the wall asking visitors to shout out a word that they see on the wall. The word that catches the voice activated wall first is the word that the wall then discusses. The wall has many words, including throne, about, and diamond, that visitors can learn more about in the gallery. This interactive gallery is my favorite as it highlights how your experience is never the same every visit. It is impossible to hear about all of the words on the wall during one visit without being in the interactive gallery. On each visit, you can learn about 3 or 4 new words you may not have known before!
Do you enjoy singing Karaoke?! Did you ever think that you would be singing karaoke in a museum?! Think about how karaoke allows people to learn the words that make a song! Unlock the Music is an interactive gallery that allows for visitors to be, “the star of the show by choosing an iconic song to sing karaoke-style and learn the techniques that help songwriters put together lyrics and create a hit” (Planet Word). This is one of the most popular interactive galleries for child visitors, especially girls, as there are a lot of Taylor Swift songs that they can learn not only the lyrics of but also how Taylor Swift’s lyrics work together to create a hit song that audiences enjoy! Now, I have never gone through a visit to this museum without hearing Shake it Off, but that being said, you can sing a different song each time you visit the museum! Doing so helps to keep the interactive gallery engaging and different, no matter how many times you visit the museum!
These are just two of the interactive galleries that are my favorite when visiting the museum and help visitors explore the history of language, how we string words together, and everything else that has to do with linguistics and the written and spoken word! Planet Word location is near a few of the other museums in DC, including the National Portrait Gallery, and a place that your children could engage with for about two-three hours depending on how many visitors are in the museum. However, even on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of the summer, I have never found the museum so busy that you and your children cannot take part in the exhibits and interactive galleries. I cannot say the same for most other more popular museums in DC.
Lindsay Guarnieri
Junior Girl, Curatorial
Girl Museum