Rocky’s House Media Kit
Journalists can find information about the Rocky’s House, download photos, press releases, and more below!
PRESS AND MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Mississippi Children’s Museum:
Clara Draughn
Director of Marketing
clara@mcm.ms
601.709.8978
ABOUT ROCKY’S HOUSE
Rocky’s House: The Traveling Exhibit will be on a statewide tour around Mississippi from January – Summer 2025!
Rocky’s House, an extension of the Talk From the Start advocacy campaign, is designed to raise awareness that talking to and with children from birth is essential to literary success.
Rocky’s House introduces caregivers and children to a cast of characters representing the diverse population of Mississippi. These characters, known as Rocky’s friends, as well as Rocky himself, guide guests through three primary methods of language and literacy development — playing, talking, and reading. Not only will visitors have an opportunity to learn about these methods, but they will also have a chance to play them into practice!
The centerpiece of the Rocky’s House traveling exhibit is Rocky’s home, a place both familiar to our own homes, yet distinctly canine and colorful. Visitors can read a book, ask questions, and put their own stories into motion through puppets. Step out the backdoor of Rocky’s home and you will find yourself in Rocky’s big backyard, filled with books small enough to read in your hands and large enough to literally step into their stories.
The four featured books in Rocky’s big backyard are Play with Me, Talk with Me, Read with Me, and Grow with Me. Each book is designed to foster the form of language and literacy development mentioned in its title. In Play with Me, guests can join Rocky’s friends, Cody and Mateo, as they practice one of the most fun methods of talking from the start — playing pretend! With a set of costumes and boundless imagination, caregivers and children can live out their stories, real and imagined, with prompts encouraging dialogue.
Within the other three larger-than-life books, guests can experience conversation and literacy games exclusive to the Rocky’s House traveling exhibit. In Talk with Me, Mei and Ella welcome visitors to play with blocks, images, and American Sign Language to engage with the world in new ways. In Read with Me, Rocky’s best friend, Kareem, will invite guests to cast a line and catch fish, which will ask engaging questions about stories they have read. Grow with Me is a great way for guests to interact with others. Rocky’s youngest friend, Mateo, invites them to explore his garden by playing with age-appropriate toys, exploring the touch wall, and playing with others.
Each of these experiences are filled with practical tips and wisdom, which caregivers can easily apply at home to give children in all stages of development the support needed for literary success.
Talk from the Start, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is a tremendous step forward in empowering Mississippians to talk to and with their children to promote and strengthen literary success in our state for generations to come.
MISSISSIPPI CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
The mission of MCM is to create unparalleled experiences to inspire excellence and a lifelong joy of learning.
The museum accomplishes this mission through hands-on and engaging exhibits and programs focusing on literacy, the arts, science, health and nutrition–the keys to helping our children mature into healthy and productive adult learners.
DOWNLOAD LOGOS AND PHOTOS
Photos Courtesy of: Mississippi Children’s Museum
