There's a lot of activity at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh this month, some of it involving listening, looking and learning, much of it hands-on and, in one case, a lot of stomping of little feet.

Along with a new ToonSeum Gallery dedicated to the art of cartoons and animation, "Tough Art" and "Circus for Social Change" opened last week and "Fairy Tales of the World" opens later this month. Two are designed to connect with children and have a deep social conscience, while the third is designed to withstand pummeling by the roughest of museum visitors.

'Tough Art' (through Jan. 6)

"Tough Art" is an apt title for this collection of four interactive installation pieces, which are designed to spark imaginations and teach, and at the same time are constructed in a way that kids can't damage them. Instead of the usual "hands-off" policy of most galleries, the "Tough Art" pieces are strictly hands-on.

They were designed and built this summer by four Carnegie Mellon University art students and graduates.

Matt Barton, who has a master's in fine arts from CMU and now teaches at the University of Colorado, spent time hanging around the Children's Museum watching kids, and he noticed they liked to stomp on things, especially the lights embedded in the lobby floor.

That was part of the inspiration for his assembly of drums, cymbals and a washboard mounted on boards. Kids can step on wooden pedals in the floor, triggering drum sticks that strike the drums. The exhibit is made from found materials: used drums from Drum World in Castle Shannon, scrap wood and box springs.

Eileen Maxson, a third-year fine arts graduate student, created a podium with fake microphones, where kids can stage their own press conferences, which will be broadcast on a closed circuit onto a TV screen in the gallery. There are also costumes they can wear to get into character. For Maxson, the interesting part is seeing what kinds of role-playing they do and what they choose to talk about during their speeches.

A piece by second-year graduate student Joey Hays uses hand cranks to create wind flow that moves windmills and lights up the landscape.

Gregory Witt, another second-year grad student, created a robotic table that lets kids program its movements.

These four pieces are the first in an ongoing three-year program in which artists will be selected to create new "Tough Art" pieces.

'Circus for Social Change' (through Jan. 21)

"Instead of running away and joining the circus, I wanted to stay at home," jokes Ben Sota. That's why he established Zany Umbrella Circus in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

But in the past three years, his circus outreach projects have taken him to distant places where life has been disrupted by forces of war and nature.

For nine years, Sota has taught in California at a nonprofit circus school for inner-city youth. Five months after Hurricane Katrina, he went to New Orleans to perform for children in schools and at relief kitchens.

Someone in Afghanistan read about his work in New Orleans and invited him to be a resident artist at a small circus school in Kabul.

The July 2006 trip to Afghanistan led to an invitation to come to Amman, Jordan, for a month, which he did last July.

Sota's travels through New Orleans and the Middle East are the basis of "Circus for Social Change," which lets kids see how their counterparts in war- and storm-ravaged areas live and how their lives are different, as well as what they have in common. Photographer Renee Rosensteel documented the trips, and her photos and videos are shown in the exhibit.

Ultimately, Sota says, the exhibit "honors the joy of circus. It's not a depressing exhibit. It's about being able to work with people who have gone through a lot."

Children who go through the exhibit will also learn how to do some basic circus tricks, such as spinning plates and tight-rope walking. A tightrope suspended several inches above the floor tests their balance skills.

'Fairy Tales of the World' (Oct. 20-Nov. 26)

"Fairy Tales of the World" introduces American children to folk tales from war-torn areas. Four panels contain a colorful illustration and a story, written in the native language and accompanied by English translations.

The panels come from Iraqi Kurdistan ("Gurnatalla and the Giant With No Name" in Kurdish), Cambodia ("Who Is the Strongest" in Khmer), Sierra Leone ("Rooster and Spider" in Krio) and Afghanistan ("The Enchanted Tree" in Dari).

The exhibit is presented by Emergency, an organization that provides free medical care for civilians in war zones. Emergency was founded in 1994 by Italian surgeon Gino Strada and has established medical centers in Rwanda, Iraqi Kurdistan, Cambodia, Sierra Leone and Sudan.

Alberto Colombi is corporate medical director at PPG Industries and president and a volunteer for Emergency USA. Colombi had gone to medical school in Milan with Strada and wanted to help, and the American chapter of Emergency was born.

"Fairy Tales of the World" are folk tales that children in the Emergency medical centers told to volunteers. They were collected into a book as a way to open a transcultural dialogue about the work Emergency does and the places it serves. Colombi approached the Children's Museum with the idea of creating an exhibit based on the stories.

He hopes that kids will come away from the exhibit with two things: "There are other children like themselves in faraway countries. These children have the same aspirations as our children. They have a name. They want to have fun.

"Adults may have thousands of reasons for conflicts. We're not going to discuss that. Those that pay the highest price are those who have nothing to do with those reasons. They find themselves in the middle of things they don't even understand, in the middle of disaster that's not their fault."

On Oct. 27 at 6 p.m., there will be a reading of each of the four tales. Native speakers will read the originals, and children will follow with the English translations.

For more information on Emergency, go to emergencyusa.org.