How to Create a Memorable Art Museum Visit for Kids

By Erin McNeill

Taking your children to an art museum doesn’t have to be a dreaded experience! Did you know you can actually make it a fun and engaging learning experience for you and your family? A bit of planning and knowledge ahead of time will allow you to build the best experience possible for your family. It’s important to keep in mind that you are taking children to a museum, and that children, regardless of their setting, have very short attention spans. Take the time to plan out your visit, look for ways to engage your child during your visit and once you’re home continue discussing your experience at the museum.

Prepare – Take the time to plan out your museum visit, or parts of it, as a family. Print a map of the museum you are visiting and allow your children to pick an exhibit or two that they would really like to experience. Talk about what you will see there and check out books from the library on the different types of art you’ll be experiencing at the museum. Check out the museum website for activities that are child specific. Many museums will offer activities and programs geared toward young children. Remind your children of proper museum etiquette, such as looking with their eyes (artwork is generally not for touching), using their walking feet and keeping their voices at an indoor level.

Let your children take lead – Follow their cues and allow them to guide the visit. Stop and look at exhibits that interest them. Give them the map and allow them to lead you from one exhibit to the next. Be prepared to take frequent breaks for the bathroom, to rest and for snacks. The quietest time at museums is generally from 3pm to 5pm, so take advantage of this slower time to enjoy the museum with your children!

Engage them – Ask them questions, both thoughtful and silly. Which sculpture has the biggest eyes? Who used the most amount of orange in their painting? What would you do if you were in the painting? Can you strike a pose? All of these questions will get children thinking about and interacting with the art in a fun and thoughtful way. You can also come up with a theme for the visit; perhaps you’ll visit all of the sculptures today, or maybe you’ll search for all of the paintings that have balls in them. Make it something your child can relate to, so they feel like they are a part of the experience. You can also play games at the museum, such as I Spy, memory (examine a piece of work for one minute, turn around, then have the other person ask questions about the piece to see what you can remember!). Take the time to make sketches of the work that you see; most museums will allow a notebook and pencil to be brought into exhibits. This is a great way to capture what your child is thinking about and seeing during a visit to the museum.

On the

way home – Take the time to stop in the gift shop and pick up something inexpensive to remind your children of their trip to the museum. This can be something as simple as a postcard. Talk about the art that’s on the postcard, or the artist who drew it. Ask about highlights and favorite pieces from the visit. See what they would be interested in seeing on their next visit to the museum. Did they have a favorite area of the museum that they’d like to visit again?

At home – Once you’re home, color in any sketches that you made while at the museum. You can also see if you can recreate any of the work that you saw, or make art for your own museum in your backyard! Discuss what your future visit will look like and be sure to take notes so you remember what you really wanted to see next time.

Letting your children guide their museum experience will ensure that they will have a fun and memorable visit and that they will want to go back in the future! Allow your budding artists to express themselves through the art that they’ve seen, and encourage them to create their own galleries. You never know where you might find their artwork in the future!

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