How to Teach Your Kids to Love Museums

As someone who works at Getty by day and spends the rest of the time chasing around a 14-month-old daughter, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about when I can take Hazel to the Getty Center or Villa for her first proper museum visit.

Aside from a walk around the California Science Center when she was six months old (she spent most of the time sleeping in her stroller), Hazel has never been to a museum, and I’m a little unsure what I should do to help her have the best experience possible. Kids sometimes claim museums are “boring,” but I want her to grow up loving them. I want museums to be spaces where she knows she will see cool new things; learn something about art, history, or science; get to look at beautiful buildings and objects; and be encouraged to ask questions and express her opinions.

I consulted Lilit Sadoyan, a gallery educator at Getty for 18 years, and Stephanie Horn, a docent at the Villa for seven years, about how to foster a love of museums in kids. I also asked other Getty parents for their tips to help a trip to a museum go smoothly. I now feel a lot more confident about planning a museum day that Hazel and I will both enjoy...and want to do again.

Here’s what I learned.

1. It’s never too early.

There isn’t a magic age at which children suddenly become “ready” for a museum. Actually, Sadoyan says, starting early is key to helping them feel at ease in museums.

“We want them not just gaining exposure to museums at an early age but also growing up feeling like the museum space is theirs—like there’s a level of comfort and a welcoming environment waiting for them,” Sadoyan says. “We want to normalize museums as regular common spaces, not just places reserved for special occasions.”

2. Prepare for the visit.

Talking to children about what’s going to happen during your visit can help set expectations about what museums are and how kids should behave (asking questions is good, touching the art is not). Horn points out that you could even practice looking at objects closely in your own home like you would in a museum. Sadoyan also suggests showing kids books about going to a museum or listening to a podcast like If Objects Could Talk, a new children’s series from Getty in which museum objects like sculptures and jewelry tell their own stories.

“I think the podcast really sets kids up for success in the way it reframes how we approach museums and objects,” Sadoyan says. “It’s not information that they’re passively receiving, but rather it’s asking, ‘What if the object could talk?’ And then you can take that as an activity into the galleries too.”

And on the day of the visit, help your child remain as comfortable as possible—choose good shoes and bring snacks.

3. Let children lead with their own curiosity.

Your goal isn’t to look at every object in every gallery. “I think anybody would be exhausted by that approach,” Horn admits.

The better approach is asking the child, “What do you want to do in the museum today?” So let children lead. What are they drawn to? Go there! They’re bored of this gallery? Move on to the next (or go outside)!

“My number one guiding principle is always to follow their curiosity,” Sadoyan says. “If something catches their attention or is resonating with them, you want to stay with that. You want to linger and spend time there, rather than feeling like you have to move along or try to cover more ground.”

Any question could be an opportunity to engage the child in the museum and its offerings.

“I had a really great group of kindergartners come through the Villa, and this girl gazed at me and asked, ‘Why are we looking at all this old broken stuff?’” Horn remembers. “I said: ‘You are exactly right. Why do we have all this old broken stuff here? Why would you want to look at it? What’s the point?’ It was so profound.”

4. You don’t have to be an expert.

If an object has caught your child’s attention, you don’t need to start whipping out facts and delivering a lecture. You don’t even have to look at the wall label. Instead, ask your child questions. “If you could step inside this painting, what would that feel like?” “What does this painting look like from far away and close up?” “What do you think the lady in this drawing is thinking about?” “Why don’t you like this artwork?” “Why do you think someone would want to save this piece of jewelry for thousands of years?”

Share what the works remind you of—a place you’ve visited, a tree in your backyard—to help make art created centuries ago in faraway places relevant for your child. Then ask, “What does this remind you of?”

“Kids get so interested in stories from their parents or caregivers’ lives,” Sadoyan says.

5. Explore the art through games and moving your bodies.

Getty docents are trained to focus less on art history and more on strategies for engaging kids with art. Parents can take that same approach. Sadoyan and a few colleagues coauthored a book called Activity-Based Teaching in the Art Museum: Movement, Embodiment, Emotion, which sums up Getty’s methodology: utilize the museum as a place to have fun, play, and explore, and use bodies to engage with the art.

“We’re inviting kids to mimic poses, trace the shapes with their hands, or find the rhythm in a sculpture or painting,” Sadoyan explains. “There’s a lot of emphasis on sensory exploration, so get them to tap into their own lived experience to imagine what it would feel like if they were to touch a particular object.”

Horn also shared a few other activities that she and fellow docents lead during student tours.

• Look closely at an artwork in silence. Then share what you observe about the piece. For example: imagine yourself walking into a landscape painting and noticing the temperature on your skin or sounds in your environment. Or imagine reaching into a still life and picking out an item or two—some fruit to eat or a flower to smell. Or act out how you might use an object, like a chair, cup, or chandelier.
• Imagine the story happening inside the artwork. For example, if you’re looking at the painting below, think about what these girls might have been doing before they received this letter. How did they each respond to the letter? What happens next?

• Experiment with ekphrasis, the practice of responding to art by making new art. Write a poem or draw a response (but check with a security officer first to confirm if sketching is allowed in the museum you’re visiting—at Getty, you may sketch with pencils and colored pencils, though pens and markers are not permitted in the galleries).

6. Release the pressure on yourself.

No one will test children on what they learned at the museum, and in the end, it doesn’t really matter if they can remember who Vincent van Gogh was or what years the Impressionists were active. To foster a love of museums in a child, all you have to do during your visit is enjoy yourselves and your time together.

“A museum visit has the potential to be an opportunity for mindful relationship building with a child. Because you’re slowing down, you’re codiscovering, you’re cocreating, you’re playing together,” Sadoyan says. “I think you foster more long-term appreciation if you’re able to model that behavior, slow down with a work of art, give it your time and attention, and connect not just with a piece but with another person.”

And what tricks do Getty parents keep in their back pocket for minimal whines and maximum fun?

• “Be okay with kids’ priorities, even if that means their favorite exhibition is the elevator (and stairs). My toddler LOVES a museum stair, and I love that for her—I want her to love being in these spaces, whatever that means for her right now. Also, toddlers love Cheerios; museums DO NOT love Cheerios. Identify exits to safe snack spaces when needed.”—Judith Barr, curatorial assistant, Antiquities

• “For young teen girls, I found that scandalous stories about women artists or interesting female characters (Artemisia Gentileschi, Medusa) make them perk up.”—Lyra Kilston, senior editor, Communications and Public Affairs

• “You can bring a picnic to Getty, and there are so many lovely outdoor spaces to take a little break. If you’re at the Center, the hill in the Central Garden is perfect for rolling down. At the Villa, the amphitheater stairs are great for racing up. Pro snack tip: the Getty cafes have a pretty delicious PB&J if you forget a snack and have a picky kid...or if you just want a PB&J.”—Zoe Goldman, digital media producer

• “A phrase that always proved successful was, ‘Let’s admire with our eyes, not our hands.’”—Jennifer Roberts, head of Editorial

• “When I first started going to museums with my kids, it mostly felt like failure. They had short attention spans, were loud, often complaining, and would rarely even do the so-called family activities museums offered. I have several memories of being in a gallery holding my kids’ hands, trying to keep it together while looking longingly at another parent who was standing in front of a painting with an impeccably dressed and well-mannered five-year-old. But things are turning out okay after all. My kids are 19 and 13, and while they still aren’t museum lovers by any stretch of the imagination, we’ve had some lovely experiences in museums and with art over the years. My advice is to allow for small wins; a pleasant five minutes in a single gallery is more valuable than a stressed 50 minutes dragged across many galleries. Trust that making the experience enjoyable now (however that looks) will serve kids well later, even if much later.” —Greg Albers, digital publications manager, Getty Publications