Things To Do When Visiting an Art Museum

Our summers are full of trips out of the house. In the last year my girls have grown to love going to the art museum. This is something that I thought they would have to be much older to really enjoy. I was wrong about that line of thought. You never know how they are going to enjoy something until you do it.

The real joy about going to the art museum is that they are introduced to many different types of art from different ages. They even have seen a few people that saw in books or children’s programs.

One of our favorite book about museums is The Museum. It gives you ideas about exploring and something to do after wards.

1. Have your kids pick out in advance what they want to see.
This simple steps lets them know what we are going to see and be excited about it. Often times we got tot he Art Museum web site and see what exhibits are currently showing. I keep a map of from our visits so they can show me on the map what area of art they want to see. Each of the girls likes to pick a different area to see. This will change from each visit.

2. Let them learn the map and guide you through the museum.
This is a fun idea if they have been there a few times or even just once. They will learn the path ways and find new things. Plus with a map they are learning navigation skills and might find new rooms to see along their way.

3. Take notepad and paper to draw and write about the visit while you are there.
My girls love to take time to stop and draw while they are at the museum. They might see something they like. We have notepads now they take with each time. We date the work so they know when it was that they did the drawing. Yes even my 4 year old has a coloring book for her. You never know what they will find interesting on the visit.

4. Use the materials the museums provide for kids.
You can check in advance to see what programs that they have or check when you get there. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston provides scavenger hunts in the museum and activities to do with some of the exhibits. I would encourage you to see what your local art museum has.

5. Do a color search on your visit.
We look for one color each visit. They are always looking out for that color in the art that we see. We started with the colors of the rainbow. This is a flexible idea that can change as you go. I have taken the color wall cards with to help us with the color hunt. I print it on card stock and then we mark on the back how many time we see that color. It can be divided up by section or just the whole trip. It gives us something fun to count when we get back home.

6. Don’t try and see everything in one visit and Explore at their pace.
No matter how much time you have don’t try, because you rush and it does not feel fun. There is always more to see than you can do in a visit. If you rush to see things you might miss something that your kids want to see. Plus it gives you time to slow down and maybe act out a few things.

Check out some of our art museum trips:

• Ancient Egypt Learning at the MFA
• Exploring Greek Mythology
• Museum of Fine Arts Boston Trip Review

Cassie – 3Dinosaurs.com