Top 5 Tips for Visiting Museums With Kids!

February 13, 2019

One purpose of a museum or gallery is to heighten visual awareness.  Whether you’re 4 years old or 94 years old, art begins when you stop and look with wonder at what you’ve seen. 

Exposing children to arts and culture is a rather powerful tool that parents and caregivers have at their disposal.  In fact, there’s no shortage of research that speak to the benefits of museum visits for children. Museums can provoke the imagination, provide memorable, immersive learning experiences, introduce unknown worlds and subject matter and allow for quality time with family.

If you’re planning a first trip to a museum or looking for new ways to explore one, here are 5 tips for visiting museums with kids:

1. Check the museum’s website for their recommended family friendly wings and galleries. Oftentimes, you’ll find an interactive display or touch exhibits throughout a museum. Sometimes, a museum will even offer up a self-guided kid-friendly gallery tour.
2. Plan an art treasure or scavenger hunt. A great way to keep them interested, draw (yes, you!) a number of objects that they’re likely to see within the works of art and encourage your explorer to check those off his or her list.  At the end of the visit, reward them with a “Museum Detective Merit Patch” or a pencil or sticker from the museum gift shop.
3. Pack a notepad and colored pencils so your little explorer can sketch their own versions of the works of art throughout the museum.
4. Develop a prompt to encourage conversation about what your explorer sees in the various works of art. It could be something as simple as “What are they thinking?” when talking about the subjects of the art or “How’d they do that?” when talking about the artist who created it.
5. Last, but not least, use free resources at your disposal to enhance your explorer’s (not to mention yours) understanding of the artists and history of the museums they’ll be exploring. Check out a kid-friendly library book about particular artists or more generically first visits to museums to bring context to the adventure you and your explorer are about to embark on.   

No matter how you choose to museum, just remember to be realistic with your expectations.  Do try to see one gallery but don’t try to see all of them!  Usually one gallery and a nibble in the cafeteria is about all a child’s attention span can handle so keep it concise and fun for the win!

Stay Curious!

XOXO

 

P.S. Don’t forget to share and tag #wonderclubexplorers on your next museum visit for a chance to be featured on our social feed.

 

Photo Credit:  @masonlane_art

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