Written by Meg Davis, Explorable Places

I get to help lots of families and schools discover great museums in their cities. Parents often ask about places with specific children’s programs or areas. They are hesitant to visit an institution on their own without the support of a museum educator or children’s program. In part, they worry that without a child specific focus, children will be bored, restless or disruptive.

Nothing can be further from the truth.

An art museum is a wonderful place for children. Bringing children to museums at a young age increases tolerance, empathy and critical thinking. A visit to a museum also gives kids countless opportunities to reinforce the skills they are learning at home. Young children can practice identifying shapes, colors and feelings, while practicing expressing their opinions. Older children are able to discuss ideas, feelings and opinions, while getting practice expressing themselves and defending their thinking.

There are a number of tools you can provide to parents to help them feel welcome and prepared; here are 5 tips and strategies for museums:

1. Add a Family Visit Section to Your Website  

On the ‘visit us’ section of your website, create a ‘for families’ section. List details about your museum that would be helpful for families to know including the location of family friendly bathrooms, eating facilities (for families looking to purchase or bring lunch), nursing spaces and near by parks or open spaces. If you’ve created any family resources (like guides, scavenger hunts or interactive exhibits) have highlight them on this page.

To see a great example, check out the Carnegie Museum of Art’s family visitors page. Everything a parent needs to know, and all the resources the museum provides are listed right on the family visitors page.

2. Create a Family Guide

Create a guide especially for families visiting your museum, and encourage staff to give it to families when they visit. A guide gives you a wonderful opportunity to direct families towards galleries and pieces that are popular with children of different ages, and helps parents take full advantage of your space. It can also help families who feel like they ‘don’t know how to talk about art’ by providing questions and prompts to get the conversation going.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston’s Guide to Family Fun is a great example. It includes games and questions to engage young ones in the art, highlights engaging exhibits, and gives a rundown of family friendly resources available.

3. Offer a Children’s Map

A family friendly map is another great way to engage kids in your museum. A map of this type lets children take over navigating the museum, engages them in planning their trip and expressing what they are interested in discovering, all while helping students develop valuable navigation skills.

The MET’s Family Map is a great example. In this map, places that are particularly interesting to children are highlighted. The map is simplified showing under a dozen galleries, and the text is larger and more simple.

4. Supply Family Friendly Activities

Parents may be hesitant to visit an art museum with children because they are not ‘experts’. There are a ton different activities that you can supply to help parents enjoy the museum with their children. There are a number of activities that are inexpensive to make and are a big hit with families. Provide activity options to families as they enter the museum.

One easy activity to implement is a scavenger hunt. Challenge children to find items around a particular theme or to find a specific item in each gallery. Similarly, you could offer laminated activity cards. Activity cards can contain a simple game or set of questions for a family to try with a specific piece of art. On an activity card, you can provide a list of guiding questions for thinking about art. Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) provide a great jumping off point for family art conversations, and could be the perfect activity to supply.  

Many institutions have a lot of success with activity bags or backpacks. Fill a bag with a set of activities for a given gallery or theme. Include instructions and the supplies needed to complete each activity. The Denver Art Museum has a wonderful example of an activity bag for inspiration.

5. Build Ongoing Supports

After a trip to a museum families might feel like they are ‘done’ with the museum for a while. A family club or program can encourage families to return to the museum many times and can help children feel like it is really their place, and help attendance grow.

The Philbrook Museum MyMuseum program is a great example. In this program Philbrook visitors ages 4-18 register for this free program and receive an art supply case, sketchpad, and pencil. Each month MyMuseum participants return to Philbrook and receive an art card, which features an explanation of an art object from the Philbrook’s collection as well as a new art supply for their kit.

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There is so much for families in art museums. Children are naturally curious, and art provides great opportunities for kids to question what they see. By providing a few supports, families can see their local art museum as an exciting part of their local community.

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Header Image: Miller Family Free Day at Portland Art Museum (Portland, Oregon). Photo by Cody Maxwell.

About the Author

MEG DAVIS: Founder of Explorable Places (www.explorableplaces.com), an online platform that helps museums connect to parents and teachers around curriculum aligned field trips and learning opportunities. Before starting Explorable Places, Meg worked as an elementary educator in both formal and informal settings. Meg has her BA in American Cultural Studies and Education from Bates College and an MS in Childhood Education from Hunter College.