When you visit a famous (or even a not-so-famous) museum, you may imagine a few leisurely hours reading plaques, taking in galleries, or listening to an audio tour. Of course, if you bring along a young child, those hours can quickly turn into a whine-fest of “How much longer?” and repeated instructions to stay behind the guardrails and to not touch the paintings. But just because you have a small sidekick doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy a museum visit with your whole family. Here are a few ways to make it fun for even the youngest child who not only can’t tell a Rembrandt from a da Vinci, but can't even pronounce those names.
© Janssen Bradshaw
Give Them a Map
Most kids love maps. Pick up a brochure as soon as you get to the museum, and let them navigate or ask them to find certain rooms or items on the map. And the good news is that even if they are a terrible navigator, pretty much every room in a museum is going to have interesting or surprising finds in it.
Turn it Into a Game
A classic museum game is to have your child pick one piece in each room that they would rescue if the museum was on fire—and perhaps which item they would toss straight into the inferno as they flee the building. For an imaginative or fantasy-loving child, it’s also fun to ask them to pick which piece of art they’d want to go into if they could magically visit one of the scenes. You might be surprised by what they pick—and why. For younger children, give them something to count, like the number of apples that appear in a painting or how many different animals they can find in an exhibit.
Have a Treasure Hunt
Lots of museums have a guide to their most famous objects or works of art. Pick one up when you come in (or make your own at home beforehand) and let your child go on a scavenger hunt to try and find each one during your visit. You can even let them pick out a prize in the gift shop if they’re able to locate them all. Don’t be surprised if your child begs to stay longer to find the last items on the list.
