Visiting the Museum With Your Kids

Here are my tips for a successful visit to DC’s art museums with your kids!

Summer is coming to end and you’ve been meaning to take the kids downtown to see some of the art museums and haven’t. You have a to-do list a mile long and the last thing you have time to do is prepare an educational visit to an art museum, especially for your 4-7 year old. So how can you make the trip fun for the family and easy for you?

Follow these easy steps and you will have a great afternoon.

1. Which museum to visit?

Choose the museum that interests you, if you aren’t interested its going to be hard to get your kids interested. DC offers a wide variety of art museums, for our purposes we’ll stick to what is on the Mall:

• African Art
• Freer and Sackler Galleries (Asian and American art)
• National Gallery of Art
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (modern and contemporary)
• Ripley Center’s International Gallery

2. What part of the museum?

Many of us feel compelled to see a whole museum in one afternoon, DON’T! Choose a part and when I say a part, I mean one, maybe two galleries. How do you choose?

Again, stick with what interests you. If you are organized, look at a museum’s website prior to visiting. These days, you can most definitely get a map and are likely to find some information on the objects. Most art museums have a separate section on their site’s featuring their collections. You can even think about giving the tour scheduler/ education department a call and asking what they might suggest.

When you consider the galleries, think about the size and location of the objects. Basically it helps to choose something big and exciting or an object your children can see well from their vantage point. In the case of our little ones, you will probably have more luck choosing objects that are big and breathtaking, some of my favs are:

• Tomb Guardian at the Sackler
• Giacomo Balla’s Sculptural Construction of Noise and Speed at the Hirshhorn
• Rubens’ Daniel in the Lion’s Den at the National Gallery

3. Time your visit.

You are obviously not going to have a good afternoon if your little ones are tired. If you’re like me and live in the burbs, getting to the museum is going to take some time, so let this be the day’s event. Take that travel time to talk about where you are going and an art museum is. I am still looking for the perfect children’s book on museums, but the one I like most is Babar’s Museum of Art. Generally, kids learn better when they are prepared for an experience

4. What to do in the galleries?

Talk about what you see.
So, now you have got your little one in the museum and you are standing in front of a Buddhist sculpture. Are you going to give your child a brief history of Buddhism – NO!!!!!!!! You will lose them if you do.

Remember, part of your objective is art appreciation. Give them time to look at on object and talk about what they see. As they tell you what they talk, you can gently insert factual information that corresponds with their observations. For example, if they bring up that the Buddha has really long ears you can say that is because the Buddha used to wear heavy earrings, but took them off when he decided to give up all his “things.” Now, his ears are stretched out. Depending on the age of your children, it might be okay to just stop there. For older kids you can always go further and talk about the importance of the Buddha giving up his worldly goods. Make it age appropriate!

Say “I don’t know.”
It is also okay to say “I don’t know.” Museums are places where we explore and learn. If you don’t know why the Buddha’s ears are elongated, ask someone, read a label, pick up a brochure or do some web research at home with your little one. That way, you are learning together.

Activities
Don’t fight your kids instinct to move around. Ask them to find their favorite object and have them tell you why its their favorite. Spend some time with one object and ask them to find another object that looks similar. Once they found it, ask them what makes that object look similar to the other one. You would be surprised at their observations!

Read
Choose a book about the artist or the subject matter, sit down and read it in front of the work of art. Sitting is permitted and as long as you are not blocking entry ways or other visitors, you should feel comfortable taking a moment to relax with your child.

Sketch
Most museums allow pencils in the galleries. Pack a pencil, paper and a clip board your kids not only get a lesson on art appreciation, but get an art class! Plus their drawing help them remember their trip.

5. How long?

After about 45 minutes, consider ending the trip or at least taking a break. The Mall offers a wonderful area to picnic (bring your own food, feeding a family of four can be expensive!), run around and a carousel to boot. Chances are your kids won’t even realize that you just gave them an art history lesson and will want to come back for more!

For more information about museum-based programs for early childhood audiences, visit our Museum Tours page.

Tags: Art Museums, DC, Hirshorn Museum, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington