Kids in Museums

OUR 2010 MANIFESTO IS NOW LIVE!

Museum visitors throughout the land have spoken and we are proud to present their suggestions in our 2010 Manifesto. It’s a practical and powerful tool to encourage and support museums and galleries around the country to make family visits more enjoyable.

Our 2010 Manifesto includes many new demands beyond those of last year, reflecting the ways in which museums are meeting the challenge and increasingly giving families fantastic experiences.

Click here Kids in Museums Manifesto 2010 or see below for the latest version of the Kids in Museums Manifesto - have a read and see what you think. We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions so that we can make sure the Manifesto keeps in touch with what’s going on and what needs to happen next. We believe it’s a really thought-provoking list of practical pointers for the future, and we hope it will spark debate.

Kids in Museums Manifesto

Be welcoming. Cleaners, curators, front of house staff and those in the café should all be involved in making families feel welcome. Consider different families’ needs, with automatic doors, wheelchair-user friendly activities and Braille descriptions.

Have flexible family tickets. Don’t dictate the size of a family. Families come in all shapes and sizes.

Give a hand to parents to help their children enjoy the museum. Sometimes it isn’t the kids who are shy. Parents need your support too.

Don’t say ssshhhush! Museums are places for debate and new ideas.

Answer kids’ questions – not just those asked by adults. Address them directly when you do so. You don’t have to be experts on everything, just enthusiastic and open.

‘Don’t touch’ is never enough. Say why. Use positive remarks like, ‘Isn’t that a great painting! Let’s look at it together from further back.’ Teach respect by explaining why some things shouldn’t be touched. Direct to something nearby which can be.

Reach out to homes and communities. Not everyone can come to you. Sometimes, you need to go to them first.

Use your website to encourage families to visit and give clear information. Be honest about what you can’t provide, so visitors come prepared. No one can do everything.

Don’t assume what kids want. They can appreciate fine art as well as finger painting. Involve kids, not just adults, in deciding what you offer.

Don’t forget toddlers and teenagers. Older and younger children are often left out. Every age brings fresh ideas and insights.

Be height aware. Display objects, art and labels low enough for a child to see.

Watch your language! Use your imagination with signs, symbols and words understood by all ages.

Be interactive and hands on, not only with computer screens and fancy gadgets. Dressing up and getting messy are as important as buttons to push.

Produce guides, trails and activities for all the family together, not just the kids. Encourage families to chat.

Have different sorts of spaces – big open spaces for children to let off steam. Picnic areas for families to bring their own food. Small quiet spaces where children and families can reflect. Provide somewhere to sit down.

Keep an eye on your toilets, and make sure they’re always pleasant places, with baby changing facilities and room for pushchairs. It’s the one place every family will visit.

Provide healthy, good-value food, high chairs and unlimited tap water. Your café should work to the same family friendly values as the rest of the museum.

Provide a place to leave coats, bags and pushchairs. It makes it far easier for families to move around.

Sell items in your shop that aren’t too expensive, and not just junk, but things kids will treasure.

Give a friendly goodbye. Ask families to describe the best bit of their visit, either in words or pictures. Respect these responses and act on them. Invite them back.

SIGN UP

Museums, galleries, historic houses and organisations can show their support for the Kids in Museums Manifesto by adding their name to the growing number of places that aspire to be family friendly. Click here for the current list of Manifesto supporters and to find out more about signing up.

Photo of Falmouth Art Gallery © Linda Nylind

“We are making your manifesto an underlying and underpinning manifesto for the whole site and every department from March 2009.” Beningbrough Hall and Gardens

YOUR VOICE AND YOUR VISIT COUNTS

We always want to hear your comments on how museums and galleries can make family visits more fun, so if you have an idea or experience that you want to tell us about, join the debate on the Manifesto discussion board.

Photo © Simon Steven

ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE MANIFESTO

You can download the 2010 Kids in Museums Manifesto here as a pdf to save or print out.

Or request free print copies from Kids in Museums - just email manifesto@kidsinmuseums.org.uk. Its new, even clearer design makes it perfect to pin up on notice-boards, windows and walls.

Kids in Museums logo and banner illustrations all © Quentin Blake.

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