What Can You Learn From Visiting Museums?

Museums are community centers designed to inform and teach the public. When we enquire what is the educational do good of a museum, the immediate response is bookish learning. Arresting academic information, however, is scratching the surface of what museums offer families and specifically children.

Information technology can be challenging to bring young children to a museum when they tin can have short attention spans, inability to read, and no prior noesis of the field of study. Past introducing bite size trips to your children, it is actually doing more than just teaching them information on a subject.

ten Educational Benefits for Bringing Children

to a Museum

Encourages a Love of History

Museums are the caretakers of history as much as they offer connections to history that tin hands be overlooked in traditional classrooms. Whether yous bring your kid to a children'due south museum, art gallery, or science museum, history has fabricated a huge impact on the innovation they are witnessing. As parents we don't take to exist experts on subject matters, however reading out the plaques in the exhibit and motivating your child to ask questions will encourage a love of history.

Listening to Stories

While interning at the National Museum of the American Indian (NAMI), I had the opportunity to visit dozens of museums the summertime I graduated from college. From the Museum of Modern Art to the Whitney to the Air and Infinite Museum to Holocaust Memorial Museum, I was able to walk through hundreds of exhibits and learn the importance of storytelling. Museums are full of stories, and it is critical for our children to hear those stories. Stories told at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. not just teach our children history but besides encourage empathy.

Compare and Contrast

Museums offering opportunities for children to compare and contrast what is important for them which leads to higher critical thinking skills. An fine art museum volition incorporate various types of artwork and as they stroll through an exhibit there will be differences in the fashion, subject matter, and techniques demonstrated in the artwork which can foster interesting conversations.

Equally the kids looked at this piece we asked them to identify unlike objects and colors.

Encourages Questions

Visiting a museum opens the door for your child'south curiosity in the form of questions. Some of these will be questions that have answers, questions that should be encouraged, questions that brand you recall, and questions that may not accept answers. All of these questions should be encouraged, and don't worry if you don't know the answers. Ask your child what they believe the answer is and mind to their reasoning.

The eye sculptures on the forepart lawn of the Williams College Museum of Art sparked many questions and discussions.

Boosts Language Development

At Mommy University, nosotros always look for opportunities to heave language evolution and information technology is no surprise that visiting a museum will assist in this process for non only your child only you as well. Visiting the Rubik's Cube exhibit at Liberty Science Center last twelvemonth, I was exposed to videos almost non-linear problem solving which has now weaved itself into my vocabulary. For young children, boosting language development revolves effectually identifying words while for older children the exposure to new concepts and ideas volition bear college level vocabulary.

Encourages New Ideas

An interesting challenge we endeavour each twelvemonth is to visit a museum or showroom that doesn't immediately obsess our interest. We actually volition walk through an exhibit that we lack prior knowledge. The purpose behind this is to betrayal ourselves as well equally our children to new ideas and concepts. My married man and I will make a point to discuss what we run into, how we interpret it, and enquire our children questions. Nosotros are modeling for them how we interact with the showroom and information but more importantly that we are open to new things whether we are familiar with it or not.

Museums Inspire

When you walk into a museum that contains the skeleton of an animal that is taller than your house and has non walked this planet in millions of years, your heed begins to wonder. When you walk into a museum that has a planetarium that provides calorie-free shows about the solar system, your mind begins to dream of the night sky. Museums inspire us to wonder, imagine and dream of possibilities that are beyond what nosotros know.

The dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History will awe many young minds.

Sparks Creativity

When visiting museums, we ever stop off at the data desk for a list of activities that are taking place that day and attempt to structure our visit to include some of the scheduled programs. At Liberty Scientific discipline Middle, we have been lucky to see animals upward close and interacted in programs on math in football. The Morris Museum incorporates stations at some of their special mean solar day events, such as Dino Twenty-four hour period, where children can make their ain fossils. The Philadelphia Museum of Art hosts Fine art Splash in the summer where children tin larn nearly what has inspired artists and through activities can have a deeper appreciation of fine art. Through museum programs and activities, children are exposed to opportunities that spark artistic moments.

Fosters Family Bonding

In addition to exhibits that might appeal to your family, some museums like Montclair Art Museum have specific activities and days defended to families. Museums don't just want to entreatment to the more mature visitor because they know that children who enjoy museums will go adults who volition want to return. Visiting a museum as a family besides gives anybody on opportunity to get to know each other meliorate and engage in meaningful conversations.

When the Morris Museum had an exhibit on Lego sculptures, they had i room with an interactive play experience.

Creates Lifelong Learners

By encouraging your children to play and visit museums, information technology is creating lifelong learners. While most careers require a specific type of education, the reality in our changing world is that we need to exist lifelong learners to continue to grow as the demands alter. Museums encourage curiosity which is necessary for children to become lifelong learners. Museums seek out unique links and relationships that are not always readily present which offers united states of america, the viewer, something new each time we visit. There is always the possibility for an "ah ha" moment to occur.