On December 16th the research team and I had made our way over to the Square one Dr. Seuss exhibit in Mississauga. My initial impressions of the exhibit were from the vast amount of advertising that was posted all over social media and the internet. Blogging sites were strongly advocating of the exhibit's Instagram worthiness, drawing similarities to the Happy Place and This is Eye Candy. Toronto has been getting pop-up spaces that are designed and created for the Instagram experience and social media feeds. As far as Instagram's worthiness is concerned, the Dr. Seuss exhibit did have lines and a waiting period so that personal photos were not overcrowded with people. The experience was undoubtedly set up as a ploy for picture-taking, but it did offer some fun and interacting activities for children. There was a maze of fixed colored spheres to look like balloons that would navigate the large space, and direct the spectators through the various rooms. The exhibit had different spaces that related to Seuss’s stories, like The Cat in the Hat, The Sneetches, The Lorax, and How the Grinch stole Christmas.
The rooms had toys, games, carousels, and swings for kids (and adults) to play with. This included air pipes that allowed for objects and balls to circulated and be launched into the air. The Grinch room did offer the fun activity of fishing for presents with magnetic rods, with a festive ambiance from the strings of Christmas lights. One of my biggest criticism of the exhibit was that the writing from the books was often out of sight for the kids, and books were not a part of the rooms. I think that the exhibit would have benefited by integrating more of Seuss’s writing. The Lorax room did have pips that had an audio recording of some of the verses from the book that kids could listen too, which I thought was a fun way to incorporate some of the poetry. Despite the non-educational scope of the exhibit, I did find it to be fun, entertaining, and very Instagramable.
