Written by Denise Stegmann on August 29th 2019.
museum visit with your child
When it's not a Children's Museum
There are children's museums, you most likely have been to one if you live in the US. They are meant to be explored, with hands, feet, and sometimes the mouth. And more often than not they are also very entertaining for the adults. And then there are museums that are designed with grown ups in mind. Grown ups who want to learn about a certain subject, or maybe want to enlighten their senses with art, or maybe both. So keep in mind the curators who planned these museums and exhibits did not consider your children's needs. So it's up to you to make this an acceptable experience for your children, yourself, and other visitors.
So what can you expect?
Today I was at the zoo with my children. That's a kind of museum, right? I've been to this "museum" with my children probably about 60 times. But today was the first time ever that I actually took some moments to read some of the animal information provided on the signs. My oldest son is now almost five, and my youngest is going to turn two in a couple months. So this should give you an idea how long it might take for you to get anything substantial out of you museum visit with children.
I'm certainly not trying to deter you, I just want you to have realistic expectations.
What's in it for your child?
Experiencing museums is a wonderful learning opportunity, even for the youngest. A young baby can just be carried, and the interesting exhibit can give parents a invigorating break from the mundane task of parenting. A young toddler might not get a lot out of the actual exhibit, but just the new and unusual architecture and design of the space can expand a child's cultural horizon. A museum is most certainly going to be a new experience that will make an impression on your child. The older your child is the more of a learning experience it is going to be.
Help your child make this a fun and positive experience:
There are children's museums, you most likely have been to one if you live in the US. They are meant to be explored, with hands, feet, and sometimes the mouth. And more often than not they are also very entertaining for the adults. And then there are museums that are designed with grown ups in mind. Grown ups who want to learn about a certain subject, or maybe want to enlighten their senses with art, or maybe both. So keep in mind the curators who planned these museums and exhibits did not consider your children's needs. So it's up to you to make this an acceptable experience for your children, yourself, and other visitors.
So what can you expect?
Today I was at the zoo with my children. That's a kind of museum, right? I've been to this "museum" with my children probably about 60 times. But today was the first time ever that I actually took some moments to read some of the animal information provided on the signs. My oldest son is now almost five, and my youngest is going to turn two in a couple months. So this should give you an idea how long it might take for you to get anything substantial out of you museum visit with children.
I'm certainly not trying to deter you, I just want you to have realistic expectations.
What's in it for your child?
Experiencing museums is a wonderful learning opportunity, even for the youngest. A young baby can just be carried, and the interesting exhibit can give parents a invigorating break from the mundane task of parenting. A young toddler might not get a lot out of the actual exhibit, but just the new and unusual architecture and design of the space can expand a child's cultural horizon. A museum is most certainly going to be a new experience that will make an impression on your child. The older your child is the more of a learning experience it is going to be.
Help your child make this a fun and positive experience:
- Consider your child's age
- Consider your child's interests.
- Go at a time of day when your child is most likely to endure a potentially boring outing
- Be prepared to keep it short
Museum activities
I tried to organize the activities from youngest to oldest, top to bottom. But there is obviously some overlap, and there is plenty of room to modify the activities for your child.
- Hit the museum store first, and let them choose a postcard, then you can do a scavenger hunt in the museum for the image on their postcard
- Do a digital scavenger hunt where you let your children take digital images (if that's allowed in the museum) according to a a list that you came up with on the car ride to the museum (find something red, find something that's smaller than your hand, find an image of a child...). This will also give you a starting point to talk about the exhibit pieces
- Have children make up stories about what they see in the museum
- Bring paper and pens, let them recreate something they see (be aware of the dangers of pens in a toddler's hands in a museum)
- The older your children are the more you can let them contribute to the planning of the museum visit