Museum Bags

I'm gearing up for our Museum Year with small people. We've got snacks and water bottles, phone and camera and power bank, rain jackets and sunscreen... all the usual suspects. 

But these aren't just day trips, they're museum trips. The kids already have their favorites that we've learned about, but we're not going to take the train to Amsterdam or The Hague just to see two paintings -- and then immediately head home. Then again, they're kids, and I don't expect them to progress calmly and intellectually past 2000+ works of art while making grad school level notes.

So what's in between? What would make a museum trip memorable without being too fact heavy or too shallow?

I looked up museum activities for kids. The Rijksmuseum has an art bag (pencils, notebooks, and prompt items), as well as audio tours (including one with stuffed animals). Mauritshuis has art workshops for different age groups, with actual art lessons or DIY crafts that tie into works of art there. 

 I also looked up 'museum bags' and 'museum backpacks' and found that they're popular at museums in the UK.  Bath Abbey offers backpacks for children with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities). The British Museum has various bags, including ones about mummies, African adventures, or Roman Britain. And even Greece has options, since the Acropolis Museum backpacks for different ages can include a map, stickers, a booklet, or mineral paints and puzzles.

As cool as those activities and bags are, they're almost all location specific. Fantastic, but exclusive. So I'm working on our own museum bags. Since some museums have strict rules about backpacks, we may use our small string bags, and then check our actual backpacks in the coatrooms. Which is another point -- backpacks get heavy after a while, so the kits need to be fairly light and easy to use.

1. We're starting with these sketch art sets from Action. Normal sketchbooks were sold out, but these are small enough to carry easily but large enough to hold pencils, sketchbook, and erasers. 

2. Maps. Part of the fun of visiting a new place is picking up a shiny colored map. Also, we often print off a map of the area we visit, so the kids learn to navigate to our destination. Even if it's just the fifteen minute walk from the train station to a museum or park. (Our printed out map of Leiden with little pencil marks is still hanging in one of the kids' rooms). 

3. Headphones for audio tours (some are hosted on the free museum apps, like at the Rijksmuseum). 

4. Notes on what we want to see. If the kids can each choose 2-3 main pieces and then find them at the museum, everything else is just a bonus after that. So far favorites are 'The Night Watch', 'The Girl with the Pearl Earring', and 'Starry Night'. I'm looking forward to seeing the library at the Rijksmuseum as well. 

5. (Laminated) printouts for artworks or scavenger hunts. Smartcookieprintables has a 'Free and Playful Art Museum Kids Scavenger Hunt' that would work well for younger ages. 

  Tara Young has two fantastic resources: "A grownup’s guide to exploring museums with a kid" and "A kid’s guide to exploring museums with a grownup". The kids version includes basic museum etiquette ("Touching objects that are old or fragile can damage them... [so look for] a sign or special symbol so you know when you're allowed") as well as great open-ended questions ("If this painting could make a noise, what would it sound like?").

I'd enjoy hearing any more ideas for what to include in a museum bag for kids!