If you?re thinking of bypassing the museums on your next vacation because they?d bore your children or prevent them from enjoying themselves, think again: museums can be a unique experience for children, allowing them to see and experience things they never have before, discovering scientific and historical artifacts and art and other aspects of culture. You shouldn?t cancel out the possibility of visiting museums if you have children, especially if you?d like to go; instead, research and planning beforehand can help you find the most kid friendly methods of touring museums.
Before you go the museum, look around the website and decide what areas of the museum you and your children will explore. There may even be suggestions from the museum staff about what aspects of the museum kids typically like best. Talk to your children about the upcoming visit and get them excited about what they have to look forward to! If they?ll be checking out dinosaur exhibits or retro cars, tell them so? you may even look around the website together and ask them if there are any exhibits that they?d like to make sure you fit in to your trip. Planning ahead will prevent children with short attention spans from becoming impatient and losing interest in the museum visit.
While touring the museum with children in tow, be interactive, asking questions and encouraging children to express their opinions and appreciation for the museum exhibits. Don?t forget that many museums have certain rules about touching artwork, architecture, and other specimens, so make sure you brief your children ahead of time and remind them during the visit that they?re expected to behave in a certain way.
Finally, be careful about overwhelming children by staying too long at the museum. A good rule of thumb is to stay 5 minutes for every year of a child?s age. A first grader will probably breeze right through the artwork and be ready for snacktime, while a teenager will likely stay engaged enough for an hour or two to enjoy the visit. Take cues from your children, and when you start noticing them disengaging, begin tapering off your visit; respecting your children?s gradual ascent into artistic and cultural appreciation will help encourage curious, enthusiastic children who will rally the next time a museum visit is mentioned, not run.