While I was scrolling through Reddit this weekend, I came across a post about a doctor’s office in the San Diego area prescribing visits to the New Children’s Museum for the poster’s 4 year old (New is its proper name, not an adjective. It opened in 1983 and changed its name in 2008)

In addition to advising daily structured and free play time, the prescription serves as a one year membership to the museum and encourages visiting once or twice a month. The program has lead sponsorship from GitHub, but the museum site also lists  Dr. Seuss Foundation, The Parker Foundation, and First 5 San Diego as supporters.

I have posted quite a bit about social prescription programs in various locales around the globe. They typically include everything from passes/vouchers to arts and culture, outdoor activities, rail passes, and book purchases. I was glad to see an examples of one of these programs with pretty generous terms.

Obviously, if people attend twice a month for a year with a 4 year old participation is likely to turn into a habit. I imagine the museum is hoping that translates into paid memberships for at least another 4-5 years of a kid’s youth.