{"id":13559,"date":"2026-04-30T09:50:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/?post_type=campus_story&p=13559"},"modified":"2026-04-30T09:50:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:50:02","slug":"friendship-at-the-museum-how-science-helps-kids-make-friends-through-play","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/friendship-at-the-museum-how-science-helps-kids-make-friends-through-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Friendship at the museum: How science helps kids make friends through play"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Photo:<\/a>
Interactive fish exhibit at the Madison Children’s Museum (picture courtesy of the MCM)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Right by the entrance of the Madison Children\u2019s Museum<\/a> (MCM) is a giant fish you can control with levers. The secret is that it requires more than one person for it to work. One child cannot reach all of its components, so to make the fish look like it\u2019s swimming, kids have to work together. \u201cAnd we know that actions like that \u2013 cooperation, turn taking \u2013 can help children feel closer to one another and build bonds,\u201d says social scientist Kristin Shutts, PhD<\/a>, professor of psychology and Waisman Center investigator. \u201cYou can see within the museum many of examples of research and developmental science at play, guiding exhibit development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These exhibits are intentionally designed, and Shutts, who is also a developmental psychologist, is a key part of the behind-the-scenes process of creating them. \u201cTo me, it\u2019s a great example of the Wisconsin Idea,\u201d Shutts says. The Wisconsin Idea<\/a>, one of the longest and deepest traditions at UW, states that education should extend beyond the classroom and the lab to have a direct impact on the lives of people in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Shutts,
Shutts at a MCM event<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shutts uses what she learns in her research as a social scientist to influence how kids in the community learn through play at the museum. Her area of expertise is how children make sense of their social world, and how to help kids build their social skills. In an attempt to oversimplify her work, you could say she\u2019s an expert in friendships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of time is spent teaching kids about letters and math, \u201cbut social skills are very important in childhood for kids to be able to function in their families, schools and communities \u2013 to build relationships, get along with other people, and learn from them. They\u2019re skills that are important throughout their life,\u201d Shutts says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans use social skills starting very early in development and throughout the life course. Understanding how kids develop these skills, which is a central part of Shutts\u2019 work, is important especially when thinking about kids who may have some challenges in that area. \u201cKnowing more about factors leading to successful social skills and connections in childhood can help us step in and make suggestions when children need help making friends and getting along with others,\u201d Shutts explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kids are naturally curious and many thrive socially on their own, but other kids may need a little extra help. It takes social skills to make a friend, and being in a friendship helps kids practice those social skills like sharing, taking turns, and seeing things from a different perspective. Children who have close friendships experience many benefits. Having close friendships has been linked to better grades in school, a greater sense of belonging, and positive psychological well-being. \u201cWe are such social creatures, and we get so much from interacting with and connecting to one another,\u201d Shutts says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are things parents can do to help their kids foster good friendships, and in her research, there are a few things Shutts does to help too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One common challenge for kids from all ages, but especially starting in preschool, is knowing how to get the conversation started and finding ways to bond with a person \u2013 to move from just knowing someone to becoming friends. Shutts\u2019s Social Kids lab<\/a> tests out different ways of helping kids overcome these challenges<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, they help kids think about good questions to ask another person, practice taking turns, and practice conversations skills that can help them get to know the person better and also have the opportunity to share a little bit about themselves, and discover similar interests. The latter is important, as children and adolescents are drawn to peers with similar behavioral tendencies and hobbies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early on, parents have a great deal of control over their children\u2019s social relationships. This is a good opportunity to help them build these social skills that may help them thrive later on. Shutts has a few suggestions on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first is for parents to model themselves what it looks like to have a friend and be a good friend. As parents or caregivers, this can mean helping a friend when they are in need, modeling good friendships, and talking about how important friendships are. \u201cIt can also mean putting yourself out there to be friends with other parents,\u201d Shutts adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second piece of advice is to be intentional about bringing kids into spaces where they can interact with other children. This is particularly important for kids who aren\u2019t going to formal school yet, or aren\u2019t typically in a space with lots of other kids. \u201cSo, thinking about spaces where you and your child could go and the child could practice some of those friendship skills and other social skills,\u201d Shutts says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spaces like community playgrounds and a children\u2019s museum are good examples of where there are kids of all different ages having fun and playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madison Children\u2019s Museum (MCM) is designed for capacity and skill building through play, including social skills. There is intentional thought behind the creation of each exhibit, and Shutts\u2019 research helps inform this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shutts began a relationship with the MCM in 2011 to help foster research collaborations and knowledge sharing among researchers, museum staff, and visiting families. \u201cServing as a connector, sharing the latest research with museum staff and families, and helping build connections between what\u2019s happening in the museum and the science of children\u2019s development,\u201d Shutts explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Shutts
Shutts responding to questions from an attendee of the Adult Swim event at the MCM<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Her involvement with the MCM has different components. In addition to providing her expertise in the form of insights on social development to inform new exhibits, giving presentations at the museum, and most recently serving as the vice-chair of the board of directors, she also does research on the museum grounds. At the museum, her lab can ask questions like how do kids understand different relationships between people, and what are children curious about when getting to know new people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What she learns by doing research in the community, Shutts explains, \u201cends up impacting your questions and your work, or guiding your next research question in the service of answering something that\u2019s important out in the community or within a particular organization.\u201d For example, an issue that has come up among families in our community is parent loneliness. \u201cI\u2019ve been thinking a lot about, is there something that I could do as a next grant application that tests different ways that we can help parents connect to one another?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though her research focus is on kids, much of what she does can be applied to adults. Adults need friends too. Recently, she served as an expert providing friendship and social skills advice to adults attending the Adult Swim<\/a> night at the MCM, a space for adults to play at the museum, this specific one focused on making friends. Adults came to her with questions about her work, but also about dealing with family members with avoidance issues, and even deeper still, why do people suffer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By taking what she knows about children\u2019s social development and using it to help design areas of play that will encourage the practice of good social skills, Shutts is practicing the Wisconsin Idea. Watching children play at the museum is seeing science in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisconsin Public Radio also interviewed Shutts in response to this article. Check it out! Story Link<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Written by Charlene N. Rivera-Bonet, Waisman Science Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.waisman.wisc.edu\/2026\/04\/01\/friendship-at-the-museum\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right by the entrance of the Madison Children\u2019s Museum (MCM) is a giant fish you can control with levers. The secret is that it requires more than one person for it to work. One child cannot reach all of its components, so to make the fish look like it\u2019s swimming, kids have to work together. \u201cAnd we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[103],"story_category":[147,146],"class_list":["post-13559","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-madison","story_category-community","story_category-research-innovation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/13559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=13559"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=13559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}