Enjoy a day filled with activities the next time you visit the museum.
If you're looking for someplace to take your children for a day filled with educational activities, visit a local museum and see if they offer family workshops. These activities allow children and adults to explore and learn together while having fun.
Explorer Backpacks
The National History Museum in London offers a family activity called explorer backpack. Upon request, the museum provides families with children ages seven and under a backpack filled with materials for activities to complete through out your visit based on certain topics. Topics such as birds, primates, monsters, mammals, oceans and wildlife gardens can be chosen. Each backpack contains an activity book, clipboard with recording sheets, clue sheets to follow along your tour, an explorer's hat, binoculars, magnifying glass and materials for drawing. The backpacks are free to borrow and only require identification from one adult.
Drawing Hour
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California offers one-hour family drawing classes. Supplies are provided for families who sign up and the class is geared toward children age seven and up. The class begins with a tour of the art gallery by a professional teacher. The teacher will then present techniques for drawing and sketching certain objects. Programs include learning sketch flowers and fruit, human figures and nature scenes. Programs may take place on location in the garden or outside in a wooded area.
American Indian Culture
The Autry Center located in Los Angeles, California is a combination of The Autry Museum of Western Heritage and the Southwest Museum of the American Indian. The museum features over 500,000 artifacts, making it one of the largest collections in the United States. Families can participate in a full day of American Indian education and activities. The day includes storytelling by a Cherokee Indian, a museum tour, hand-on crafts, live American Indian music, a presentation on American Indian Culture and a game of Plains Bowling. The program runs between the hours of 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. and is free of charge with a paid admission to the museum.
Breakfast and a Tour
Explore the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida with your family. Enter the museum an hour before it opens up to the public for a tour specifically designed for families and enjoy a breakfast after. The museum displays 96 oil paintings, drawings, fine prints, photographs and videos created by Salvador Dali, a famous Spanish painter. The family tour is lead by a tour guide and designed for children. The guide will focus on select pieces of art that appeal to the children. A breakfast buffet is offered after the tour. A variety of hands-on activities are offered after the breakfast.
