To think £4 is quite expensive for a museum craft activity?

[Amster5]

I'll get you a picture when I'm home of what it actually looked like, but it's just a small red mask. It isn't anything special and it costed me £4!!! They have a trail thing too that's £2 and you pick a very cheap prize, basically only a plastic ting puzzle. I'll attach a pic of that, it really wasn't worth £2. Is it me or isn't it just hard to find cheap days out? Museums used to be free and now you have to pay to do all the fun bits

[AndNowItsSeven]

My sympathy depends entirely on your political views. The cuts mean there is hardly any council funding for museums any more. They need to find the money from somewhere.

[HallowedMimic]

How do you think they should fund their work?

[MerylPeril]

Is it a local authority museum? They have been cut to the bone by the government cuts. Some education departments literally run on no budgets and even have to make money to keep their departments going.
The cuts are far from over as well.

[ilovesooty]

So the museum is only worth visiting if you can make some tat for a minimal amount? How do you expect it to be funded?

[Oakmaiden]

Actually, museums used to cost money to go into.

And now they don't. but they do still need money, so they put on events and stuff in order to raise cash and get people through their doors. So that they can, you know, pay for staff, maintain the building and exhibits, get different things in....

So, you, YABU. you can visit the museum for free, or you can choose to pay for an activity. Your choice entirely.

[SparklyShinyThings]

YABU, if you want free things for your children then provide them yourself.

Museums have staff, bills etc to pay so of course they need to raise money.

[JammyGem]

Most museums still have free activities for kids, especially during the holidays. But craft activities/trails etc all cost money, and as previous posters have said, funding has been slashed.

I work at a museum and we have to factor in the extra staff costs, stationery costs as well as trying to make some money for the museum - which is ultimately the point of kid's activities: raising funds.

[RhiWrites]

You really don't need toys or activities to enjoy a museum. You make it fun by discovering things together.

[CharminglyGawky]

The 'prize' isn't meant to cost what you paid though, you paid for the activity so in this case the trail. The prize is just a nice little thing to make your child feel like they have achieved something. I did one once and the prize at the end for my cousins was an ice pop, they were thrilled! Did you dc enjoy the trail? If they did you were not ripped off and the toy was just a nice little extra.

Same with the mask, I assume as you said craft your dc made it or decorated it or something? So again you aren't paying for the mask you end up with you are paying for the craft to be run, so for the staff to be there and running it ect.

And obviously the museum will need to cover costs and make a little only as well otherwise they would have to stop running these things.

So sorry, I think you are being unreasonable.

[BestZebbie]

The prize for a £2 trail isn't supposed to be worth £2, you also got the trail for that. The trail will have required staff time to produce, the front of house staff have to be trained in the answers and how it works, and it needs to be physically produced (printing, clipboards, pens etc). The actual museum also has to continue to exist so that you can do the trail in it - lighting, heating, insurance, staff to put on the displays and know the collection well enough to be able to write a trail, staff to do the accreditation and documentation paperwork to keep it going, etc.

[BikeRunSki]

How much did it cost to get into the museum?

[MrsEvadneCake]

My friend runs craft activities at a museum. The charge is for the materials, planning, time that she is there. It makes no profit. She is a professional artist and teacher. She does these classes to bring art experiences to children. I think £4 is more than acceptable for this kind of thing.

[StarlingMurmuration]

Surely you're paying £4 for the actual activity, not for the end product?

[DesolateWaist]

So you want some free entertainment?
Museums get the sum total of bugger all funding these days so I would expect them to charge for an activity really.

[228agreenend]

If you think it's too much, then don't do the activity.

[Ilovetorrentialrain]

Honestly I couldn't begrudge paying that to a museum - it's not really mant to be for the value of the toy, see it as a donation too.

[JemimaMuddledUp]

YABU

You can visit the museum without taking part in the activities, so you can enjoy it for free. Although you will probably notice the donations box at the entrance...

As others have said, the cuts to museum funding in the last few years have been crippling. They rely more and more on donations, memberships of Friends Associations etc.

If your DC enjoyed the trail and craft activity then that was £6 well spent. You paid for the experience rather than the end product, and supported the work of the museum.

[ShtoppenDerFloppen]

I live in Canada. Earlier this month, I took my DCs away for a couple of days. Among our activities was a museum visit.

It cost us a little over $50 for 3 admission tickets, additional to see the special travelling exhibit. We didn't get cheap plastic tat or a decorated mask for that - just the opportunity to learn and appreciate the artifacts.

So I am going to go out on a limb and say that you have probably done pretty well by yourself for your £6

[TheNaze73]

YABU. Obviously cuts were needed & alternative income streams for loss leading public interest places was required. £4 sounds like a good deal to me

[harderandharder2breathe]

Yabu crafts and trails are optional extras and if you don't want to pay then don't do them

[firawla]

I think yabu it's a fair price and not too bad, however if you're paying for several kids it does add up even with these chesp activities so I can sympathise on that!