Tell me why the Tate Modern is "great for children"...

[Cadelaide]

...please?

erm.....

you can hide behind a sculpture when you want to pretend that they aren't your kids?

Cos there's a great big area on the ground floor that they can either charge about on or look at whatever installation is there at the moment.

Who said that?

It was great for children when they had all those fantastic slides. Can't remember there being a particularly child-friendly exhibition since.

Also it's next to the wobbly bridge.

I was there yesterday (without children) and saw they had various things children could do. DH is always much better than I am at making art galleries and museums really exciting for DS and DD - maybe I could hire him out.

I walked over wobbly bridge (didn't notice it wobbling though)

er cause it's by the thames

Turbine hall - huge space, exciting slope, often has exhibits they can actually get inside notjust look at.
Balconies overlooking the turbine hall, with lots of sofas and IIRC transparent balcony fronts.
Seating areas overlooking the Thames - lots to look at when getting a rest or having a snack.
Areas to run around in and explore outside.
The Millenium Bridge to walk over the Thames.
Plus some of the exhibits are often quite unusual and children can be surprisingly responsive to them. May involve sounds or moving images as well.
I think you can get activity sheets and there are children's activities durnig the hols.
But take a pack lunch - when we used to go the cafe was terribly expensive and not really child friendly.

It doesn't any more Noah but it's hil-AR-ious to tell kids that it does

Mine love it - but they are a) slightly poncy and b) 9 and 14.

It very much depends what the show is - check online firat and don't expect to be able to spend very long in there un;ess it's a particularly interesting show.

Tate Britain is better cos no kids go there and yours (if small enough) will get coo-ed over by old dears on coach trips.

Mine had a BALL there - esp ds (who was nearly 6 at the time) A lovely, lovely man at the family centre or whatever it's called spent 10 mins talking to him about surrealism and how it was all about using wierd things to get your ideas. And then ds had a fab little wooden box and a pamphlet to complete - full of things like doing remote drawing (close eyes, just let your pencil wander ... then decide what it looks like and make it into something); collaging by ripping up bits of coloured paper; rubbing different textures etc etc - and obviously each linked into pictures/sculpture. Honestly, it's the best one of those kids trail things we've done (& we've done a few )

And they both loved lots of the installation stuff (giant table & chairs, huge hanging rope with hundreds of soaps, Anish Kapour stuff etc etc They got a huge amount out of it. We just wandered, and looked at whatever took their interest. There is so much in the way of shapes, colour and general weird - what's not to like?

It's amazing how much of it is firmly labelled not suitable for under 18s (esp lots of the video stuff. We had to do a lot of 'look over there for a minute darling..."

Mine are 3 and 5 and we go to galleries/museums all the time. We pop in, use a map/guide to find something to look at then navigate to find it, choose their favourite picture, or talk about an exhibit, then we go for a drink & cake. As they're free to get in, it doesn't matter if we're only in there an hour.

The Tate Modern has lots of bright colours and shapes, and the Turbine Hall for pegging about in.

How old are your children?

I think it depends on what is on in the Turbine Hall. We went to a fab playground thing that they could run around in which they loved. I missed the slides and the sun!

the last time we popped in it was great for deciding that we probably preferred "old" art! But they were quite fascinated by an installation that had kitchen utensils behind barbed wire and lighting up - I kind of got it as well.

Have fun.

I'd recommend doing your research before you go. I took DD (6) during the summer hols. We both love art and I was really looking forward to it, but tbh I was quite disappointed and the artwork itself on display didn't grab her attention a great deal (i found it all a lot more sombre than I was expecting). There was nothing going on in the turbine hall either which I'd been really looking forward too.

That said they do have good facilities for kids - lots of interactive games and computers and stuff for them to fill in on the way round. Just worth making sure your expectations are realistic that's all.

I'd go again but only of there was a specific exhibition I was interested in.

cause it's free and slightly poncey

Depends on the child really. Mine love it because they like modern art, deciding what a lot of the incomprehensible paintings or sculptures might be, what the artist was thinking of when s/he created the work, etc. Obviously the current sunflower seeds installation is fun for kids. They have great activity packs, it's been a while since we did one, but there was a great one about the Surrealists. The cafe is good, not cheap, but they do have kids meals and possibly (I was there only a week ago but can't remember) a child's meal might be free with an adult one. Disclaimer, I might be confusing that with somewhere else!

It has a good art and education programme for schools (I know as my sister used to work there). If your kids are very little they will react to bright primary colours and there is plenty of space for them to run around in. If your child is older, I'd suggest trying out the Hayward gallery or Tate Britain as possible alternatives.