Visiting museums with children
My husband and I love culture and history, and one of our favourite (weekend) activities is to go to museums. When traveling to new places, but also when we're at home here in Amsterdam, we love to discover the information and inspiration that museums can offer us.
Our love for museums has certainly rubbed off on our children -- when on a Saturday morning we sit at the breakfast table and we're making plans for the weekend, the first thing that all of our children will want to do is to visit a museum!
I think the reason that they have grown to love going to museums as much (or maybe even more) than we do, is that during a museum visit both my husband and I really engage 100% with our kids. We take the time to explain the artefacts, art and content. We read the titles and descriptions of the artwork together, talk about it, look at colours, shapes and subjects, discover the meaning, find the connection between one piece and another, or link them with travels we've made, books we've read, things we've seen, etcetera.
I think that our own enthusiasm, passion and eagerness to learn makes our children as enthusiastic, passionate and eager to learn as we are!
Sometimes, I hear from other parents that they are unsure to visit museums with their children, that they're afraid they will misbehave, will be bored or uninterested. And yes, sometimes it is definitely not a good museum day. But in my experience, most of the time they love it!
Be it a museum of history, art, nature, objects or culture -- there is always something to discover in a museum.I have tried to write down some tips that I think are relevant when taking your children to a museum. Of course these tips stem from my own experience, and some museums are certainly easier to visit with kids than others...
We like to visit museums early in the day if possible. When you have children, chances are big that you're up before other people, and you can make it to the museums when it's still reasonably quiet.
Don't overstay -- make the visit long enough to enjoy it, but not too long as to bore your children. We have a yearly national museum membership, so we don't have to pay the entrance fee for individual visits. This way, we can visit a part of a museum, without having the urge to see everything as to make worth for our money. I'd rather only visit one room of a museum and really take the time to discover a few pieces well, than to end up tired and annoyed, with tired and annoyed children.
Make sure the children are well fed before your museum visit! Unless, of course, you would like to start your visit in the museum restaurant.
Make use of the toilet when entering the museum. I also prefer to hang our coats and put bags away in the cloakroom, so I don't have to schlep them around, making it easier to bend or kneel down next to my children.
I think no props, books or tools are specifically needed for a museum visit -- we love the time we spend with our children and the interaction we have with them. Also, when you discover the museum together, you know what the other one has seen and learned, and can refer to the experience at other times and locations. I'm not always crazy about specific children's museum tours -- we recently went to a museum where the kids were given a 'find the artwork' children's tour, which had our children running through the museum, looking for a few specific pieces to cross of their list, and not even properly looking at those paintings, let alone the rest of the art! Having said that, some museum books or tours are great, and can also be a good tool to prepare your visit at home. (I find that audio tours can be fun and informative for older children, but I don't think they work well for younger ones. Plus -- you will miss out on the special interaction you will have with your children when discovering the museum together.)
Although it's definitely easier to visit the more child-friendly sort of museums, we try to to visit the more 'serious' museums as well. Museums are for everyone! Also, I feel that it's fine to repeat the museum visit. Museums are like books -- our children don't mind reading them over and over again. : )
Adjust your visit to your children's speed and needs. If you would like to see a specific exhibition and for instance have the time to spend 20 minutes in front of a Rothko, then it's best to come back another time without kids. Having said that, I did take all four of my kids to a Rothko exhibition a few weeks ago, and found that they all had an interest in the pieces. Pim especially reacted remarkably to Rothko: he said he felt like the paintings were embracing him, and drawing him in. I'm sure he understood the art better than me.
Let the children be your guide -- you will find they will indicate what pieces they find specifically interesting and start to direct your tour. For instance, my mother-in-law told me that she visited the Rijksmuseum here in Amsterdam recently with Casper and Ava, and that Ava was enthralled by a 17th century painting depicting cows on a ship. She thought that was amazing -- cows on a ship! The rest of the visit they spent searching for paintings with cows. : )
What do you think about visiting museums? Do your kids love it? Do you have any tips to share? And, what are your children's favourite museums?
I asked my children, and Sara's favourite is the Open Air Museum (one of my favourite too!), Pim likes the National Maritime Museum here in Amsterdam, and Ava said she simply loves all the museums in the world.
xxx Esther
PS First two photos were taken in the Egyptian gallery in the British Museum in London, the third foto shows my children in front of Rembrandt's famous painting the Nachtwacht, here in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.