Family Gallery Tours at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT are designed to provide families (with children aged six and up) with an interactive museum experience. Tours are discussion-based and led heavily with open-ended questions. The tours are held almost every Sunday, run about 45 minutes, are free with Museum admission, and require no advanced […]
Toddler Time at the New Britain Museum of American Art
The New Britain Museum of American Art hosts a program for toddlers and their caregivers which features art-making, and a self-guided scavenger hunt. Serving children ages 24-36 months, ‘Museum & Me, Too’ includes story time, singing, and dancing for toddlers and adults to enjoy together. Children explore a variety of art materials in the art […]
Best Practices in Cultivating Family Audiences
This booklet lays out the lessons that the Crocker Art Museum learned through their “All About Families” initiative. The staff at the Crocker traveled to several art museums around the country to explore how those museums successfully engage families. The Crocker staff found that fostering creativity is a key component of engagement and learning, and […]
Next Practices in Art Museum Education
Members of the Association of Art Museum Directors from across the country, Mexico, and Canada sent in examples of the best educational programs at their museums. This collection of 100 submissions highlights programs designed for a variety of audiences ranging from young children through older adults. Also included are programs for teens, college students, teachers […]
Families & Art Museums: Denver Art Museum
This two-part report details the Denver Art Museum’s commitment to making the Museum a creative and fun destination for families. With a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Museum developed several programs geared toward families with children age six to twelve. The report explains the Museum’s perspective on a family-friendly art museum which emphasizes […]
Changing the Rules: Making Space for Interactive Learning in the Galleries of the Detroit Institute of Arts
Abstract: “Three years after the Detroit Institute of Arts opened with all new, ‘visitor-centered’ galleries, the museum’s executive director of learning and interpretation shares the processes, successes, and lessons learned at an institution that embraced an array of hands-on learning models.
Evaluation Can Be Fun
Marianna Adams of Audience Focus Inc., reflects on some of the problems with traditional evaluation and suggests more imaginative options. Surveys and written questionnaires are the most common but not always the best instrument for capturing the nuances of the visitor experience. Surveys can interrupt the experience for visitors, so Adams walks us through some […]
