For Families and Children

In The Galleries.

Tell me, I forget
Show me, I remember
Involve me, I understand
- Chinese proverb

When you visit the Museum, you will discover many different resources available to help you navigate your way through the galleries. These educational resources are designed to provide visitors a number of different ways to learn about the exhibitions. We invite you to visit, and then visit again. There are so many different ways to explore!

Choose Your “Port of Entry”
The Museum offers a variety of self-guided tour packets to assist in your exploration of the galleries. Each tour is built around a specific theme, and includes artwork from all three collections. You will also find self-guided tours specially designed for visitors with young children. These tours will highlight “kid-friendly” artwork and provide a number of questions and simple activities to help you engage your young companions.

Discovery Docks
No, you can’t touch the original artwork on display, but you can “pull up” to the Museum’s Discovery Docks found throughout the galleries. These multi-sensory exploration stations are designed for visitors of all ages and are created to help you learn more about specific artwork on display. At one dock, take time to learn about the process of sculpting from wood as you touch artwork in various stages of the artistic process. At another, manipulate geometric blocks to recreate the shapes found in the artwork. As you navigate your way through the exhibitions, “pull up” to any of the many docks that catch your interest.

Navigation Stations
While each artwork on display has a descriptive label next to it, a select number of artworks have several “labels” from which you can choose. Are you interested in what the curator had to say about the artwork? Then choose the “From the Curator” card. Want to know about what the artist was thinking? There is a card with the artist’s point of view as well. Visiting with young children? Then pull out a card with questions and ideas specifically written with young visitors in mind. These and other topics will be available to help visitors connect with individual artwork in a way that most interests them. There are so many ways to explore!

Family Reading Area

Pause. Reflect. Read. Share. These are some of the things you can do with young children in the Museum’s Family Reading Area. Here you will find comfortable seating and a large selection of family friendly books about art, creativity, the sea, museums, boats and more to help children think about the art in different ways. This area also features books with Braille text and titles in foreign languages.

 

Family and Children’s Programs

Family and Children’s programming is specifically designed with young visitors in mind.

Family Folk Festival

This morning of fun and activity will be a “come and go” as you please event – informal and full of adventure! Learn more about the folk arts through presentations by local artists, folk music performances, folk stories told in front of artworks, and fun folk art projects for the kids.

Family Storytelling

See artworks in a whole new way as Museum staff and volunteers tell family-friendly stories in front of original artworks. Then stop in the Museum’s atrium to make an artwork of your own to take home! All participants will also receive a Family Storytelling bookmark. All ages welcome but stories are geared to ages 10 and under.

Get the Picture?

Work with photographers and curators to explore some of the photos in the Henry Peter Bosse collection. Then learn a few tips about taking your own great shots! Using a digital camera, set up shots and then review them on screen and print out and mat your favorite one! Geared to ages 10-15. 

A Tour for Toddlers!

Attention all Toddlers (not yet in kindergarten)! Grab your favorite grownup(s) and head over to the Museum for a kid-friendly stroll through the galleries! Expect to do some looking, moving, music games, and more! This active tour will engage you in a variety of ways, and even give you and your grown up something fun to think about the next time you visit!

In the Key of “SEE”

Just whistle while you tour….have you ever thought of music as being a great way to explore artworks? Join music and museum educators for a musically artistic adventure that will have you humming all the way home!