In the museum with children!
Why and how to watch art with them
If you think that getting children interested in the treasures of art is an important task, and if you want to be involved in it at least as much as school and cartoons, then the simplest solution is taking them to a museum. However, just by picking a time, presenting a ticket at the entrance and then going for it, won’t be enough for a truly valuable interaction with art. Veterans of family leisure activities very well know that there are hardly any problems with children in science and technology museums: dinosaurs and rockets easily occupy both toddlers and teenagers, but antique statues and old paintings in art museums? Though I cannot fully deny the existence of a few kids who fell in love with Giotto’s frescoes at first sight, they’re definitely a rarity. Understanding art takes efforts. So before we get into how to watch art with children, let’s briefly outline why we should do it. Culture in a broad sense shapes our perception of the world. And visual art is one of the best tools for learning and interacting with culture and its codes. Any active engagement with art – looking at it, discussing it, creating it – is a shift from passive acceptance of reality to critical thinking and towards a holistic view of the world. This falls equally true for children and adults. It is simply that the levels of understanding and the depth of engagement vary. Children’s creative activities are primary and undeniably self-valuable. It does not matter whether it is drawing, beadwork or picking with a stick …. quite like in Breugel’s painting ‘Children’s Games’ (see in the corner on the right). Familiarity with the works of artists repeatedly enhances the child’s creative potential, giving them non-basic examples of how to see the world around them and, even more importantly, how to encode this world in images. For instance, to recreate it, to make it understandable and comfortable for him or her. Of all the ways to get acquainted with art, books and cartoons are the most democratic way of primary art education. The images created by great artists capture our senses even in reproductions, and talented authors explain the content of the works in an accessible and fun way for all ages. In a museum, however, there is direct contact with a work of art. And this is a special experience. We live the impression through all perception systems, so the real scale of the painting, the texture of the colours, even the climb up a marble staircase in the museum or the creaking of the parquet – all of this sharpens our senses many times over. In modern Europe this is considered so obvious that in many countries there is even a so-called ‘right to museum’, providing children with free access to all the treasures of world culture. Simplifying greatly, we can say that books form knowledge, one’s own creativity is a way to self-expression and discovery of one’s own potential, and the museum is a place of integral experience of interaction with art. Even if one has never been to a museum, one will sooner or later become familiar with key images of high culture – such as Michelangelo’s ‘David’ or Munch’s ‘The Scream’ – just not by witnessing the original, but in watching quotations, memes, and other reworkings of various kinds. Knowing the source of a visual quote demonstrates a certain level of erudition, which is of course important, but it is the experience of getting in contact with the original works that seems many times more valuable to me. Museum exhibitions offer the purest and most direct approach to all the extraordinary ideas in visual embodiment. In the museums, you’ll find the essence of what has been filtered over the centuries and which has survived wars, propaganda, change of beliefs and morals and that still retains the ability to inspire us, capture our feelings and speak to us about important things. And it’s definitely worth a little effort for children to find their own way of handling this source of ideas and emotions. It is also important to give children a chance to establish a relationship with particularly famous works before that inevitable moment when these undoubted masterpieces begin to be perceived only through the prism of tourist psychosis. There is a certain threshold after which it becomes difficult to look at Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ or Leonardo’s ‘Mona Lisa’ with your own eyes, without the preconceptions and expectations built up over years of correspondence. Therefore, it seems to me that it is better not to wait until children ‘grow up’ to art, but to take them to a museum as early as possible. From anyone. Most European museums not only have changing tables, but also programmes for children aged 0-12. It is worth remembering that children’s perception of art (as well as adults’) is determined by their level of cognitive development, so it is worth setting realistic goals. Memorising the names of artists and the subjects of paintings is a relatively easy task for children from 4 years old, but its value is rather questionable if it remains only a way of impressing familiar parents. Remember that only objects that the child can see (the drawings in the galleries hang at the eye level of the average adult) and only knowledge that the child can tie to existing experiences will be able to stay with them for a long time. Therefore, trips to museums with children under the age of three are less of an educational experience and more of a joint leisure activity, which is desirable for everyone. The most important thing that children at this age can learn is that a museum is a normal and even interesting place to visit, just like a zoo, a café or a playground. With very young children, it is most productive to view paintings as large colour illustrations. Look for still lifes or multi-figure compositions with lots of detail. By drawing children’s attention to animals, insects, and other living things, you can see details through children’s eyes that you would never look at yourself. The same pictures look different at different ages and sharing the experience of seeing is valuable for both child and adult. Children are interested in other children. Looking at portraits of children, their clothes, facial expressions, attributes children learn to feel and understand themselves. And images of the Madonna and Christ Child have a calming effect not only on children, but also on parents. If you have infants available, check it out for yourself! The easiest thing to teach a child in a museum is to use artefacts and works of art as visual aids, deepening the knowledge they already have. The focus of interest for princesses? Check out the real crowns in the Treasury and make new jewellery together, inspired by the museum exhibits. Is your child interested in Harry Potter? Find historical bezoars and Horcrux analogues in the museum! This is an accessible and exciting way to teach your child how to build their picture of the world using different sources and explore the boundaries between fantasy and reality. Without much preparation, you can always make use of the illustrations of ancient myths available in every museum. The adventures of Hercules and Perseus have inspired us mortals for centuries, and they can well still be presented today as examples of the use of unorthodox solutions and the importance of believing in oneself. Female role models in ancient myths are a bit more complicated with female role models, but the deeds of Dido, Ariadne, and Medea are worthy of study. Just think ahead to the fact that you will have to explain the time-space differences between morality and role models. Slightly more difficult, as some training may be required of the parent or tour guide, is to view selected works of art as messages from extraordinary individuals. This way of looking at art requires a little more enthusiasm from parents and teachers. You can use the example of any work to explain to your child how to look at art in such a way as to decipher the pictures and through them better understand the world around us. That is, it is possible to teach the child the language of symbols by the example of works and this knowledge children will begin to apply more consciously in everyday life. After all, for example, the language of colour, formed in the Middle Ages still regulates the official dress code, and the language of patterns design of interiors of our homes. This is a more complex task and it is better to combine explanations with practical tasks and examples from modern life. Whichever way you choose, the most important thing is that it suits you and your children. Then the museum will really become a place where it will be easy to turn to in any situation for inspiration and a sense of comfort, for self-reflection and explaining to yourself what is happening in the world. For both children and you 🙂Art = Boring?
Why children need art ‘in the first place’
Why it is important for children to both create and learn about art
More than just erudition
At what age should you take your children to museums?
How to see art in museums to make you want to come back for more
Look at the pictures as giant illustrations (from 5 months)
Consider portraits of families with children (from 5 months onwards)
Use museum exhibits to check facts (ages 4 and up)
Tell stories about the heroes of Greek myths (ages 5 and up)
Guess the encrypted messages (ages 7 and up)
For example, Leonardo da Vinci and Benvenuto Cellini did create works of art, but their biographies would be fascinating reading even if Leonardo had not created a single painting and Cellini had not created a single sculpture. Through works of art, you can approach these individuals who lived incredibly colourful lives and try to understand what was most important to them. Look at Dan Brown, his attempt to interpret the works of Leonardo da Vinci has brought him millions of dollars in addition to the fun.Learn universal cultural codes (ages 8 and up)
