Visiting museums with children can sometimes be a stressful experience: do not run, have silence, do not touch and be constantly watching them prevent you from appreciating works of art.
So that visits to a museum do not become a real madness; There are some games and strategies that can be used to make the exhibition hall a pleasant and educational experience.
Before attending an exhibition it is a good idea to prepare the little ones so that they have an idea of what they are going to see there. For example, if you are going to see an exhibition about Ancient Egypt, you can read stories about the Egyptians, see illustrations, place them on a map, etc. Children will have expectations of what they will see in the museum. They will be excited and proud to recognize what they had already learned.
You can also plan the game of the chips. To do this, chips are used (they can be made with cardboard), the child must keep 25 chips in a bag, for inappropriate behavior (running in the room ...) you will lose a chip and you can not earn something from the museum store. We will have to explain in advance what are the inappropriate behaviors in a museum.
Another activity is to play hot / cold. The different nuances are explained to children and how they can give the sensation of temperature. Then they are challenged in front of each painting to find a "hot" paint and a "cold paint".
Playing the spy is a good option, it consists in finding a specific object. They are asked if they can find easy things like an animal, or a fruit or an accessory on their clothes.
For the older ones, while they are walking they can be shown different styles of paintings, impressionist, cubist, folk art ... While they follow the tour of the museum, they are tested ... "find an example of cubism in this room", They will be happy to do it.
Using a notebook and paintings (crayons), they may be asked to make their own version of the famous paintings. They will like it very much if they are in an abstract art exhibition.
After viewing portraits, they may be asked to draw themselves. They are reminded that there is no perfect way to create art, because everyone looks at things differently. For example, there is a big difference in the way people see Picasso or Rembrandt's paintings.
If you are seeing sculptures you can play the frozen statue. You walk around the statue and when you say "frozen", the children stand still in the same position of the sculpture.
If the child has not been scolded by a security person for standing too close to the works, they can be given extra chips to reinforce their good behavior.
These activities will entertain the kids and allow adults to enjoy a bone that cannot be missed when traveling, such as the MOMA or the Vatican Museums.
