My mother was a visual artist who started taking me to art museums before I could talk, so it’s always felt perfectly natural to visit art museums with my own children. Tommy’s first visit to an art museum was when he was about two months old and we showed him the N.C. Wyeth illustrations for stories like Treasure Island at the Brandywine River Museum – Matt had him in a front-facing carrier, an I’ll never forget how he kicked his legs excitedly when we showed him the bright colors on those large canvases.
But if you didn’t grow up going to art museums, it can be intimidating or frustrating to take children to them. We’d all like to believe that our children will show a native interest in art, but the fact is that most of them need encouragement and help to enjoy it. You may worry that your kids will be bored or won’t behave well. But you can make visiting an art museum educational and fun for your entire family. Here are my top tips for making a trip to an art museum fun for you and the kids:
Don’t try to see everything. It’s great to have an ambitious agenda when you visit an art museum, especially a large one that’s far from your home and holds many classic works of art you think you “ought” to see. But the fact is that you’re better off choosing a limited portion of the museum to visit especially when you are there with children who won’t enjoy running from one piece of art to the next just because they are “supposed” to see them. I usually plan to limit art museum visits to two hours. It’s great if the visit lasts longer, but being realistic is one way to make sure your kids stay engaged.
Often the best way to see an art museum with children is to visit special exhibitions. These usually have a specific theme – either a certain style of art or the work of a specific artist or group of artists – that make them perfect opportunities for focused learning (We recently really enjoyed the exhibit Paris Through the Window: Marc Chagall and His Circle at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; it’s on view through July 10, 2011). It’s also great to visit smaller art museums with a more limited collection.
Do your research. Before you visit an art museum, take a look at the website to see what they have that’s of interest to you and your kids. You might mix up the types of art you look at, making sure to include something you know will interest the younger members of your family. Of course, it’s also OK if serendipity leads you into some parts of the museum you never expected to visit, but by having a plan you can make sure that you maximize your time. You can also use this as an opportunity to brush up on some facts about the art and artists that you can share with your children. And when you’re at the museum, read the panels near the art, and share aloud what you learn or think is interesting.
Make connections. Talk about what is familiar in the art you are exploring. Are there places or things the children have seen before? Are there children in the paintings? What are they reading or playing? How are their clothes different or the same? If it’s a family portrait, how are the family members interacting with each other? For example, the boys both really liked this painting by Marc Chagall because it showcases the Eiffel Tower, one of their favorite travel memories.
And at the National Gallery in Washington, DC Teddy especially loved this painting because the mother is nuzzling the nose of one of her children, just as he likes to do with me.
Talk about color and shape. If the paintings or sculpture you are exploring are more abstract, a great place to start a discussion is with the colors, shapes, and textures you see in the painting. You might ask children to choose their favorite color or shape and explain why they like it. Or maybe you want to ask why they think an artist used a certain color or if they notice similar colors in different works by a specific artist.
Play “I Spy.” Younger children love to look for hidden treasures in art museums (in fact, many museums now offer printed scavenger hunts for younger visitors). This can be a fun way to get children to notice smaller details.
Take it outside. Many museums have outdoor sculpture gardens where children can look at art and get their wiggles out at the same time.
Look at multiple works by a single artist. At the Chagall exhibit, Tommy and I had a great time picking out both the paintings and sculptures by Modigliani. He loved looking for the signature long faces and would crow with delight when he found them. We talked about what was the same (shapes) and what was different (colors) in the paintings. This can be a great exercise when a museum show work that a given artist did over a long period of time – ask children to think about how the art changes as the artist ages.
Share opinions. A game that can work especially well with abstract art that can be more challenging to discuss is to play a game developed by the staff at the Delaware Art Museum. Give everyone in your family four cards – one with a heart, one with a dollar sign, one with a house, and one that says “yuck”. Find a room that’s not too crowded and ask each person to put a card in front of the work of art that he or she loves the most, likes the least, would take home, and would buy. Once everyone has placed their cards, each person can explain the choices he or she made.
Take advantage of educational programs. Many art museums offer family-friendly tours with docents who are trained to teach children about art. Others offer art activities that invite children to look at art and then create their own based upon what they saw. On our visit to the Philadelphia Art Museum, we took advantage of both. On the tour, the docent chose specific paintings and spent a long time asking the children to pick out just what colors and shapes they saw in them.
Then when we were finished with the tour, the boys loved making paintings and collages that mirrored what they saw.
You can usually find family programs listed on the museum website, or call the museum before your visit.
Know when to head for home. Most important of all: If the visit isn’t going well, and no one is having a good time, remember that it’s OK to leave. Visiting art museums with kids can be a valuable and enriching experience for everyone in your family, but sometimes children just aren’t in the mood to focus.
Whether you spend 30 minutes or an entire day at the museum, there’s always value in looking at art with your kids. I guarantee that you’ll be amazed at how much your children notice and how their experiences and way of seeing are different from your own.
More information
The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Delaware Art Museum both offer excellent free family programming that my children have enjoyed. I’m sure you’ll find similar programs at many art museums near you.
Becoming a member of your local art museum not only lends support to a nearby cultural institution, it can save you money on family programs. Many museums have reciprocal relationships as well; we are members of the Delaware Art Museum but can visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art for free using our membership.
If you’d like to see more photos of recent visits to both the National Gallery in Washington, DC and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I’ve shared some on The Mother of All Trips Facebook page. While you’re there, be sure to “like” The Mother of All Trips and stay up to date on discounts, special offers, and all our doings!
That picture with me and Matt in it is courtesy of Mark Gavin – could we look any prouder?
Andrea says
June 29, 2011 at 12:04 amLove these tips! I would never think to take kids to an art museum (unless it was, well, “for” kids), but you make it sound not only possible, but fun!
Andy Austin says
June 29, 2011 at 10:51 amGreat article, as a kid I was taken to a few art mueseums. And while I don’t think I was able to fully appreciate the paintings, I used to love the sculptures, especially abstract metal sculptures.
These are some great tips!
Roni says
June 29, 2011 at 3:00 pmGreat tips – exposing kids to “grown up” museum is challenging but can be a lot of fun. We keep our kids engaged through imagination games where the art plays center part.
Kids are open to new ideas – the challenge is a result of people without kids that often frown at seeing kids in such museums.
Mara says
June 29, 2011 at 10:34 pmRoni – that’s exactly why I wrote this post! My hope is that by showing parents how to engage with their kids in art museums will help show everyone else that kids belong there. Certainly, when we participated in that family tour there were a whole bunch of kids who listened respectfully and responded to the art (you can see it in the picture). And the exhibit was quite crowded that day too.
I’ve started a discussion about this here and on my Facebook page, because I think it is an interesting issue.
Genice says
July 5, 2011 at 7:16 pmOne of my favorite museum memories as a child was viewing a sculpture, the Pearl Diver at the Museum of Art in Portland ME. Open air art shows would be a good venue to start with children too, if you are intimidated by the idea of a museum.
Lou says
July 6, 2011 at 5:05 pmWhen our kids were five and younger, first thing would visit the gift shop and buy 3 or 4 postcards of works at the museum. We would spend some time talking about the works of art shown on the cards. We would then head off to “find” these works of art at the museum. Much like your experience, we often looked for the works of Chagall and Modigliani, because they are so distinctive.
Lila says
July 14, 2011 at 7:21 amHi, we are annual members of the Art Museum in Philadelphia. We live in DE, so it is only 45 min away. I have three kids (2, 6, and 8). To become members of this museum was one of the smartest thing we ever did. My kids don’t like the extra activities (kids room and family activities offered from the museum). The things they like the most is the Art after 5 every Friday where they can experience very different styles of music (opera, jazz, modern, international, etc.). Also, they LOVED Roberto Capucci’s high fashion exhibit. And all the special exhibits. At the Chagall exhibit we could talk about Paris, world wars, and different religions. They read that Chagall was Jewish, so they wanted to know what is the difference between Jewish and Christians. They ask hundreds of questions after every section of the museum we visit. It is much better when these art works inspire our kids to think and ask questions then the media.
Sorry for the long comment 🙂
Amandah says
April 4, 2012 at 12:56 pmI love art!
My nephew is creative like me and would like to visit art museums. He’s a teenager now so it shouldn’t be a problem. However, I’ll make sure we create a ‘plan’ to see the works of art that are important to us. This way he won’t become overwhelmed and think we have to see all of the pieces of art.
wanderingeducators says
October 24, 2013 at 8:51 pmas always, your tips are spot-on. Love the advice on following a single artist!
Luke Smith says
November 21, 2016 at 11:21 pmI can imagine how difficult it might be to teach kids about art, but you have some really good tips here! I especially loved your idea to play “I Spy” to get them engaged in the artwork. I would imagine that going to a cultural art center could be a good idea as well, since you would be able to tell stories about culture at the same time.
Tomaz Kavcic says
March 7, 2018 at 5:50 amI wonder if kids visiting an art museum or gallery together with their classmates and teacher, or simply by themselves together with their parents, do ever have to take notes on what they saw. Let’s say from the point of view of the elements of art. I’m curious about how kids read an artwork. What note taking techniques do kids use in a gallery, for example ?