To ask if you visit museums?

[Aloezebra]

Slightly shamelessly doing a bit of anecdotal “research” for my degree but also just generally interesting in people’s opinions because it’s a topic I love!

Do you go to museums/galleries? If yes, why and if no why not?

Also do are you more likely to go if there’s some sort of activity for your kids to do?

@Siouxtse1 one of my favourite things is when the activities completely transforms a museum from something which sounds quite boring (like carpets) into something fascinating!

Yes I go with the kids

Definitely like activities for them to do. We aren’t organised enough to do the pop up / one off activities that sometimes run eg in school holidays. But mine love interactive exhibits. Ideally with buttons to press or stuff they can touch and try on or climb into. So eg a replica dungeon they can be shut into or a selection of historical hats to try on or a screen they can try to replicate Marco Polo’s route on.

Yes, I do. I like small museums like the Michael Davitt museum in Ireland. You get to go into the world of the subject and learn in different ways.

In theory I would potentially take my children to an activity at a museum but I never have.

I do take them to museums where the collection relates to their interests e.g. beatrix potter exhibition, or where they can interact with the displays e.g. science museum, transport museum.

So I suppose really I am more interested in exhibitions being accessible and engaging for children, rather than an activity being run.

My godchildren have a grandfather in the heritage sector.

even when they were really little (6&4) going to a castle with them was like having a private guide as they parroted gramphy back at you!

They still do it now but are much older so it is less surprising.

I loved it as my historical interests are mostly Victorians onwards so mediaeval isn’t a period I know a lot about.

oldest godchild now interacts by sending me lots of photos of good 20th century buildings. I’ve trained him well :-)

@Aloezebra

To answer your question: yes and yes! And I think we can talk more.

I blog about culture for families as Museum Mum and visit literally hundreds of museums a year both with and without kids (over 200 in 2022). I share family events from birth to teens on my Instagram (instagram.com/museummum) and on my blog (www.museummum.com) - both listings of upcoming events and reviews, which might give you some ideas. Although mine are older now (I have three between 8-20), I have 15k followers and get lots of feedback on events for under 5s from them.

I also have a masters in museum studies and believe me, my kids don't care about that - if they find somewhere dull they'll let me know about it very quickly! I work part time as a museum curator and the blog is my way of passing on my love of museums to more people.

Feel free to drop me a line via my Instagram if I can be of any more help. Best of luck with the course and the event!

@museummumblog you may be my new favourite mumsnetter!!! Followed on Instagram, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that

Yes and no as children are older and don't need an activity.

We avoid weeks where activities are run as they tend to be a busier and a bit manic!

When we were at the state Modern last year they had a massive space on the floor where children and adults could draw, the drawings were then randomly projected on a screen which was really cool.

Clearly some people children & adults had spent a lot of time on really detailed art, they were beautiful.

Yes we went to Winchester on a really hot day and had the place to ourselves; it was great. We came for the planetarium and hadn't realised how much else was there.

My children are teenagers now and I wish there was more science content aimed at them, as they find most science museums too kiddified now.

My children are teenagers now and I wish there was more science content aimed at them, as they find most science museums too kiddified now.

When I was a sciencey teenager, I actually really enjoyed industrial heritage museums - finding out how exactly water mills, steam engines, spinning jennies, iron foundries and mining operations worked was really interesting. Lots of really interesting physics and chemistry underlying Victorian technology.

The people who worked there obviously weren’t used to a teenage girl who was genuinely interested in the inner workings of a Boulton and Watt beam engine, and they spent ages explaining it all in detail and showing me how everything worked. The Black Country Museum was particularly good, as was Ironbridge.

OP one of the best innovations I’ve seen recently for BM pss as I’d for exhibitions is the QR code enabling you to download all the exhibition commentary onto your phone to read as you go around. I recommend to all my normal sighted friends that they download it too, especially if it’s a busy exhibition with lots of waiting because you can read all the descriptions while waiting to see the exhibit - eg the current hyroglyphs one. I also love a good audio guide. I never understand why the BM doesn’t do these.

It should have said BM partially sighted visitors! Don’t know what happened there!

We do take our children to museums and art galleries. I have to admit I'm quite fussy about kids activities. The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle always has a good variety of activities, there are different trails round the museum and the grounds for preschoolers or primary age kids. They do art sessions and activities organised by the artist in residence during the holidays (believe they have an after school art club as well). Really fabulous.

I've been at a few small museums that have good activities as well, the Pier Arts Centre in Orkney has a trail to find different pictures and draw them yourself which works for all ages, even my (admittedly arty) 14yo was happily doing that.

We love science museums but agree that they tend to be dominated by primary kids with all the interactive displays. My favourites are industrial heritage museums, we had a fabulous day last year at the National Slate Museum in Wales, it's an open air museum with a mix of activities, demonstrations, people to talk to, a good introductory film to watch etc. It was DSs favourite day in Wales.

Yes I love museums and art galleries.
Yes I take my children

Best thing - child friendly exhibits with lots to engage them, that they can physically play with, with exhibits that work and are maintained, a good cafe and play area. Innovative and interesting for adults too.

Examples - Eureka, science museum Manchester, seven stories - newcastle, magna sheffield, emergency services museum Sheffield.

Worst thing - poorly maintained where half the stuff doesn't work anymore - such a waste! Places where you can't touch anything. Museums heavy on local history and little link to the bigger picture - that makes feel bad saying that, but I'm being honest. Places where everything is behind glass.

Yes. Go when the weather is awful so that the kids have something to do out of the house (and usually free) that also grows their knowledge.
Don't go for activities (too much faff as usually fixed times). But definitely choose museums which have lots of interactive exhibits for kids. (Buttons to press, puzzles, q&a type thing).

GL sounds like an interesting study :-)