Every year on May 18th, we celebrate International Museum Day!
These are places that can spark great enthusiasm, boredom, or simple curiosity in us adults.
But have you ever wondered what children think about them? For them, the world is all new, a continuous discovery. It's important, therefore, that museums – cradles of knowledge – also represent a fantastic adventure for them, one that will open their minds to new and fascinating "unexplored territories"!
What can a museum visit inspire in a child?
The more exciting and unforgettable the experience, the more it can shape the way children approach the world and everyday life. An archaeological artifact, a painting, a photograph, a fabric, a fossil, a video: from a simple object and its story, unexpected magic can spring forth!
Museum visits allow us to educate to beauty. What does this mean? Certainly not imposing a taste or an idea – quite the opposite! It means teaching children to observe by catching a detail, to form an opinion and to distinguish between what they like and what they don't. In short, educating to beauty means allowing self-awareness to emerge from the discovery of something new.
By stimulating children's curiosity and imagination, we'll also help them develop a different and positive relationship with knowledge itself. This can only have positive consequences in their relationship with reading, school and activities carried out in their free time and daily life.
Finally, but certainly no less important, coming into contact with the history, objects and works of other people helps to gradually build awareness of the existence of the outside world, to interact with others and therefore to develop empathy.
A positive museum experience with family, friends or during a school trip can generate happiness and enthusiasm. It will help children remember more easily what they've learned and spark in them the curiosity and desire to visit other museums, to learn and discover in every possible way and field.
How can you make a museum visit unforgettable?
The visual impact and atmosphere of a place is essential to make children feel comfortable, even in moments of discovery and learning. First of all, therefore, the museum must be designed to be a welcoming place for children, starting with the layout of the spaces, colors and displays.
To capture the attention of young ones, direct involvement is also necessary. We cannot expect that simply entering a place full of interesting objects will automatically spark a person's interest. The museum visit must therefore be experiential, exciting and interactive: direct participation in the guided tour, games and workshops will help capture children's attention and make everything lighter, more fun and more exciting.
We are human beings and we are governed, even before the mind, by the heart, feelings and emotions. When you're a child, all of this is amplified to the nth degree.
Museums exist precisely to spark something inside us: curiosity and sensitivity, even before knowledge. The museum is and must be, first and foremost, emotion.
