Tips for Taking Kids to an Art Museum

Remember last week when I talked about teaching kids to be good critics?

Well now I’m going to tell you how that lesson paid off and share some tips for taking a big bunch of kids (or just one or two) to an Art Museum.

Some of the kids in our group were really excited to go, while others were less enthusiastic. Most of the moms were excited but I know others had concerns about how the little ones would behave.

At the end of the day though everyone had an awesome time and we were all really pleased with how the kids behaved and how much both the kids and the adults learned!

So today I’m sharing with you some tips on how to have a great time taking your kids to an art museum. Whether it’s on a field trip or just an afternoon out these will make your experience a great one.

#1- Think Small– Unless you have seasoned museum visitors you might want to make your visit to a smaller museum. We visited the Butler Institute For American Art it is a local museum that has so much to offer. It is affordable (um Free!!), has an awesome collection, and is big enough to fascinate but small enough that little feet don’t get too tired. There are a lot of smaller art museums around the US and they hold so many treasures.

#2- Be Active- While walking through the museum and looking at pictures is great it’s also a great idea to have something to keep the kids attention. We chose to have a guided tour of the museum and booked it in advance. The great thing about scheduling a tour is that you can let them know that there are kids coming and they can be prepared. Our tour guide was great and really kept the kid’s attention.

She asked a ton of questions, pointed out different styles of art, and even had fun costumes for the kids to dress up like the paintings.

Daniel channeled Honest Abe- this is an enormous Norman Rockwell.

Of course he couldn’t take it too seriously.

And he has a pink stuffed elephant in his hoodie pocket… pretty sure Abe didn’t carry one of those around.

Another idea if you don’t want to go the guided tour route is a scavenger hunt. Make a list of things to look for while at the museum. For younger kids you can have them find a painting that starts with a certain letter, name a sculpture they see, look for a landscape or a painting with other kids in it. For older kids you can go more in depth, looking for a certain style of art, or certain color schemes.

#3- Touch and Interact – While “do not touch” is the theme where most art is concerned most museums have some exhibits where touching and exploring is encouraged. When you get to those points let the kids linger there. Let them get out all the touchy feelys they’ve been holding in through the rest of the museum. If there’s something to explore make sure to take a minute and have a ton of fun with it.

Look for the “DO TOUCH” signs!

Not just kids have fun with the art!

How about a family portrait??

Does this mirror make my butt look big??

#4 Don’t Rush– Our tour was supposed to last about an hour, but we kept exploring long after it was over. There’s so much to see make sure to schedule enough time to really explore it all!

Anthony and Nathan took some time to make a new friend.