There are many museums. How do you choose the right one? Let's figure it out.
What kinds of museums are there?
First a bit of theory, then we'll move on to practice. There is a scientific discipline called museology that studies museums. In museology there are different typologies of museums. For example, by level of subordination — federal, regional, municipal, or by form of ownership — state, private, corporate.
What will be useful to us is the typology by profile. A museum's profile tells us what collections it contains and what subject is primary. The most common profiles are historical, art, literary, natural science, and complex. A "complex" museum refers to local history museums, which present the history and nature of a region, information about famous local people, and everyday traditions.
What to consider when choosing a museum?
When choosing a museum, the child's age and how accessible the museum is for the parents are of primary importance. If there are several museums in your city, prefer a local history museum where a variety of exhibits are displayed. Children aged 3–6 are usually interested in household items and stuffed animals (taxidermy). With older kids you can talk about the history of the area.
If an art museum is closer to home, for an introduction you can pick a few paintings with subjects familiar or understandable to the child. For example, landscapes or domestic scenes.
A foolproof option: look together for images of animals, certain colors, or seasons. Focus on what currently interests your child.
5 recommendations for preparing to visit a museum
1. Check the opening hours: museums may have not only weekends but also cleaning or sanitary days. Some museums are open late into the evening.
2. If you plan to bring a stroller/bicycle/scooter, check whether there is a place to leave them. In some museums you can enter with a stroller and move through the exhibition with it.
3. Choose the hall or exhibits around which you'll build the visit.
4. Come up with activities for the museum: what exactly to look at, what to switch to. It could be a search game or drawing — so bring a notebook and pencil.
5. Check whether the museum has handout materials (for example, quests) that you can take for free or buy at the ticket desk.
Which museums are unlikely to be interesting for children aged 3–6
In my experience (my older son is almost 5 now), the most boring will be house/apartment museums, since they usually have strict movement restrictions and nothing can be touched. However, you can visit these museums if the child is already interested in the subject at home and you are ready to discuss how people lived before and what they used in daily life. Or if the museum is connected to a person or literary character the child already knows and has some emotional connection to.
Main tip
Whichever museum you choose, remember that responsibility for the child's impressions and attitude toward museums rests with you. Yes, the attitude of museum staff and how the museum space is arranged matter, but we parents are the ones who bring children to museums, so it's in our hands to make the experience engaging, meaningful, and memorable.
