Art Museums and Kids: How?

How do you make art museums palatable to children?

Oh, not the ones who can hardly wait to get there.

I’m talking about the children who look at you incredulously and want to bring their footballs.

(Experience).

How do you prompt an interest in them?

You turn it into a game, of course.

Art museums scavenger hunt

Here’s the deal, boys.

Take this piece of paper.

You’re on a scavenger hunt.

As soon as you’ve answered all the questions, or an hour has gone by, you’re done.

You can then go outside and play football on the lawn with your father.”

It worked.

My father-in-law was with us at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and he asked how I knew the museum owned a Madonna and child painting.

I laughed. “They all do!”

Even preschoolers can enjoy art museums

I hauled preschoolers to Europe twice in an effort to catch up with their father.

(When you’re two years old and your father deploys for five months, that’s nearly a quarter of your life. They needed to see their dad.)

Before we left for Italy, a friend gave my four-year-old a small packet of colored pencils and a notebook. “Draw me a picture of what you saw,” she told him.

Upon our return from the Vatican Museum (where a kind guard gave my children candy!), he immediately rummaged through his backpack.

“I have to draw my picture for Mrs. Springer,” he explained.

He drew a lady dressed in blue holding a baby.

See?

There’s a madonna and child in every art museum.

During that same visit, we paused before several large paintings depicting Bible stories they knew.

One, in particular, was the story from Acts about Peter being freed from prison.

“Do you remember this story?” I asked.

They weren’t sure until I began to tell it. Then, they easily picked up pertinent details.

(We also got in trouble at that painting because the children sat on the floor. It’s important to mind the rules).

The four-year-old enjoyed himself.

The toddler loved riding on Daddy’s shoulders.

Bring enthusiasm!

Our daughter was five when we visited the Art Institute of Chicago.

The much older boys got through their scavenger hunt very quickly and decamped to the lawn with my husband.

But our daughter was more interested, so we took our time.

I put gusto into my voice as we walked between the galleys and in her enthusiasm, she rushed ahead.

“What do you see?” I called.

“A lady with purple hair!”

In the Impressionists?

She pointed at another visitor, who turned to look at her.

I pulled my daughter aside for a whispered discussion of etiquette.

She enjoyed the museum.

Teenagers and art museums

A friend and I took our teenage daughters to New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art one year.

One of the girls was less than enthusiastic, so I suggested we do a run through the museum.

“What does that mean?” my friend asked.

“We’ll go really fast and I’ll point out the important paintings in the galleries.”

The girl shrugged. “Sure.”

And we were off.

“How will you know what’s most important?” the other mom whispered.

“I’ll know when I get there.”

As we scurried from gallery to gallery, I paused inside the doorway to scan the room. I then pointed to the “most important painting”–often the one that caught the girls’ attention.

We approached and I quickly explained its significance.

It didn’t matter what I said. They nodded sagely and we hurried to the next room.

(I wasn’t exactly cheating. I’ve visited art museums all over the world and took several classes in art history in college.)

How I would have liked to spend more time really looking and thinking about the paintings.

But the point was to introduce the girls to great art. If they found it interesting, it was interesting.

Asking them questions helped engage their interest.

Laughing at paintings helped, too.

We decided that if the artist couldn’t title their own painting, they must not be able to explain it, so we didn’t bother.

Like Rick Steves always suggests, I assumed I would return to the museum someday and I could appreciate the paintings at my leisure.

That has proven to be true at all the art museums I’ve visited with my children.

What about the scavenger hunt items?

If you like art, you may already know what’s in the art museum you’re visiting.

(You can also visit the museum’s website before you go and make a list of what they think is important in the galleries).

Or, make up a list of the type of paintings you would prefer to see!

If you need help, check out a list here:

But, no matter what, make sure you enjoy visiting art museums, or there’s no hope for your children!

Does visiting an art museum as a child increase enthusiasm for art?

I’d like to think so.

When my son called to describe one of his first dates with the woman he married, he took her to an art museum.

That’s my boy!

Tweetables

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