Project collects snapshots into how kids live today

Emily Shields plays in the greenhouse at the Madison Children's Museum, caring for some recently potted flowers during Day in a Kid's Life, an event aimed at documenting first-person perspectives of childhood (Kait Vosswinkel/Madison Commons)

Madison children and parents used the hashtag #DayInAKidsLife May 7 to participate in the Madison Children's Museum's effort to record children's daily experiences as they happen.

The Children's Museum aggregated the content on dayinakidslifecom. The site showcases children's experiences that range from music lessons to yoga to playing in the park.

The Day in A Kid's Life project ties into KidShare, the museum's ongoing effort to document and exhibit Madison children's experience firsthand rather than retrospectively.

"I think when we've read adult recollections of childhood, they tend to be viewed through this lens of nostalgia," Children's Museum education director Kia Karlen said. "When you're 60 years old what you might tell people about being eight might be completely different than an actual 8-year-old."

Yarecsy plays with window paint at the Madison Children's Museum during Day in a Kid's Life (Kait Vosswinkel/Madison Commons).According to Karlen, KidShare aims to use children's firsthand account of their daily experience as a way to record of the "kid culture" in Madison in this day and age.

"We look at culture as not just being about where your ancestors came from or what kind of art you like, but what is your day-to-day experience: What do you like to eat? What do you do after school? How do you even get to school?" Karlen said. "We're interested in the way that kids interact with the spaces that they occupy."

Karlen expects the museum to use the hashtag #DayInAKidsLife again to generate additional records of kid culture. 

Oliver plays with a sponge on a paint window at the Madison Children's Museum during Day in a Kid's Life, an event aimed at documenting first-person perspectives of childhood (Kait Vosswinkel/Madison Commons)

A kid plays with blocks and the Madison Childrens' Museum as part of Day in a Kids Life (Kait Vosswinkel/Madison Commons)