Does this bore children.

[Wondering42]

Sorry if this is a stupid question or offends anyone . But I was just wondering. Do children and teenagers actually enjoy family days out at places like stately Gardens ,markets and museums. It just shouts boring to me . Maybe I'm just a dick.

DDs ae 5 and 1. They've had brilliant days out at the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, National Maritime Museum, Young V&A Museum, London Transport Museum, Museum of London at Docklands, Museum of the Home, British Museum, Horniman Museum, Bank of England Museum, Wallace Collection. All of them have some interactive bits and/or hands-on event and they basically treat it as an indoor playground. Often we just do they play area and just whizz through the information displays.

How much interaction was a 1yr old having?

Stately homes, markets and museums don’t really appeal to any of us as a whole family.
Dh and I would enjoy a food market, dd1 would visit an art gallery. I went to a torture museum in Bruges which was fascinating but most museums have no interest for me.
Dc went to the road Dahl museum when they were younger and said it was okay but they weren’t that interested really.
We all like different things.

Depends on the child / family surely? Each to their own.

I'm very jealous, we do Belton once every couple of years when we're driving south and DC love it. Our nearest NT places are ok and we go to them regularly but Belton playground is brilliant.

Mine like going to museums but in short doses. They end up bored after about an hour of walking round and the younger ones end up whining, rolling round on the floor.

This. My DS has to fit into his parents' life some of the time.

Mine love museums and enjoy stately gardens but I've never tried to take them into the houses (although I loved stately homes/castles as a child).

Markets - I've never really thought of this as a day out, do you mean like Christmas markets? Mine would only enjoy if they had lots of money to spend I think!

My 3 children all have different interests. One loves museums, galleries, libraries, lego club but really dislikes things like the beach or splash parks (where there is "nothing" for him read / learn / create - sandcastles or jumping in water sprays don't cut it and never have done for him) whereas the other two adore beach days or plopping around in our local water fountains but get bored rigid walking around exhibitions.

There isn't much they all like to do but they all like canal walks, the local nature reserve, bike rides, our nearest woods and swimming. They all also like some of the bigger museums (NHM, RAF museum) and they all like a visit to the Thames.

I did take all 3 to the Tate Modern recently and the were all unanimously bored there. I guess at least they all agreed 😂

I hated museums as a child. I remember a feeling of being absolutely drained in my legs and brain as we went from one exhibit to the next. Was never sure what I was supposed to be making of any of it either - just looked like a load of musty old stuff. We rarely went to stately homes as my parents wouldn't pay for anything but they were almost as draining as museums when we did go.

I find them as boring as an adult as I did as a child.
I wouldn't have inflicted them on my kids.

I asked about the children. Not the adults.

@frippu - most of those museums have things for a 1 year old. Lots of lights and noises, many have water play, play areas, bubble exhibit, climbing, can wander around and see things, slides, floor interactions.

Oh at last found someone who feels the same😅

Depends on the kid. My daughter loves those kind of days out, my son doesnt.

Out of interest which museums did you go to as a child?

Mine (now older teens) have never enjoyed these sort of days out

We live in London so we'll go to the museums and galleries to look at one main thing and then just potter around a bit with no pressure.
Last year, it was for dc3 to look at mummies.
A few yrs ago, it was to look at the slavery exhibition. Other times it was to learn about ww2 or Van Gogh and so on. Because I try to relate it to what they're doing at school, they become really engaged with it.

My DC are 10 and 13 and happy to do museums and stately homes from time to time, especially if there is a trail or similar and a cake or ice-cream from the cafe.

I had to forcibly evict my DSs (7 and 10) from the Maritime Museum in Greenwich a few months ago. DS1 also loves an art gallery (we went to Paris when he was about 6 and he dragged me to the Pompidou Centre…the lady queuing behind us clearly viewed him as an odd specimen so maybe that was unusual). DS2 is more selective but the right museum and he’s in heaven.

We do also spend a lot of time doing woodland walks etc so the two are not mutually exclusive!

I agree that some of it depends how you were brought up as it never occurs to DH to take them to a museum in the long summer holidays when he’s in charge. But his family don’t seem to do the as much whereas I spent many happy days as a child in museums around the world.

@Caspianberg I have been to them. I just don't think my 1 yr old got any additional
excitement out of them vs the local playground & soft play.

DS enjoyed certain museums just as I do and DH. On holiday they would go to a science museum and I would toddle off to an art gallery. We had some cross overs of museums such as military ones.

This is a bit odd really as museums are so varied and many are really geared towards children now. The same with stately homes, which often have trails. Mine loved both when small but now, at 16 & 14, ds1 is still very keen if the museum is related to one of his interests. He wouldn't want to go to any old museum though but anything historical (not natural history) or military/royalty related gets his vote. He goes very slowly, reads everything, downloads additional info to his phone, sometimes goes back to check on things and if an older gentleman is doing a guided tour he will be right there (I'm sure he's be fine with any guide but it has always seemed to be older gentlemen!).

DS2 used to enjoy the interactive elements and then could be jollied along up until a couple of years ago. Now he is there on his phone, with earbuds completely ignoring everything. As a single-parent family, when we are on holiday somewhere and out for the day sometimes he has to suck it up but I have totally relented on the phone/earbuds this year. I noted several families like us this year, which made me feel better. There were lots of benches in Stockholm's museums filled with teens on their phones so it wasn't just ds!

Neither would want to go in a market and never have, but they accommodate me where needed and obviously like picking out snacks and drinks when they are available.

People saying that children are led by their parents are correct, but this influence wears off in the teen years with some dc in my experience.

Depends on the child , both of mine loved a good museum as a child but neither of them would have been happy with a walk in the woods or more than about 2 hours on a beach . Zoos , theme parks , museums all perfectly ok .

I did when I was a kid. I had a sibling and most things can be fun if you're being silly together!

Stately homes in particular - we both liked history/fantasy and had vivid imaginations so the old houses were fun with that in mind, and the rest is basically playing outside and getting an ice cream. Why not?

Mine are happy to go to museums, stately homes and other history places because they're interested in history, especially if we interact with them, talk with them about what we're looking at and make it interesting. They're even happier at the café and tat shop at the end!

I hate flea markets and Sunday markets and 2nd hand markets because I remember being dragged around them as a kid myself and promised myself that when I grew up I would never, ever, ever go to them. I have more or less kept that promise. We do go to farmers' markets and food festivals though because of all the delicious free food on offer. My dc like them too.