Have Fun With Your Children - Take Them To The Museum!

Museums have so much to offer kids and parents nowadays, for some of you this article covers what you may already know. Yet, if you're not experienced with entertaining your children [or your nieces and nephews you may not realise that taking them to a museum is lots of fun!

First off, museum activities are mainly going to interest 3 and 4 year olds up to say, 9 to 10 years. Younger than three and the child will be happy with just about anything that can be safely "destroyed" and makes noise. Older than 10 and they're entering the pre-adolescent phase of being far to grown up to do anything so childish. Check the age rating and, if in doubt, contact the organisation as activities are often aimed at younger children and the older ones may get bored.

So, you live in an area saturated with museums, which should you choose from?

- Bus, train and tram museums are great if the kids can climb all over the vehicles. Go for ones that offer rides and have some green space for a picnic lunch.

- Don't restrict yourself to wheeled vehicles though, if you're near water, there may be a maritime museum. Near an air field? You may not be able to take the kids on an aeroplane ride, but there's usually an old plane that can be explored and an opportunity to pretend.

- Pick a museum that has an exhibition either aimed directly at kids or is featuring an area that really interests your kids. Vikings or Pirates, Forensic investigation, Egyptian mummies and, of course, dinosaurs, are all likely to capture the imagination of your young ones. There are plenty of exhibitions out there. Be flexible and prepared to think "outside the box".

- Kids love ice creams, cakes, and sweets. It's a fact of life. Check to see which museum offers "kid-friendly" eateries. By kid-friendly, I mean food and drink that's not too expensive, service that is near instant and space to spread out a little.

- Activities for kids can be as varied as making jewellery, interactive demonstrations and tracking down clues to solve a puzzle. They are nearly always related to the musuem's featured exhibition and are designed to hold childrens' interest for at least 30 minutes. Pick an activity you'll think your children might like or simply ask them which they prefer. Some museum's will have supervised groups where you can leave the children while you check out the exhibitions by yourself. This is ideal if you have an older child with you.

- Make getting there part of the adventure. If you would normally drive, consider riding the bus or train. If public transport isn't an option then come up with a drive that goes through areas of interest. Either mode of transport can also be tailored to allow a walk through a park or similar.

- Which brings us to the last point, are there parks near the museum? Botanical Gardens, interesting buildings, anything touristy at all? Allow time for a relaxing stroll either before or after your museum visit. Green space to run around in and a sculpture or rocks to climb over will release any pent-up energy before you go home and add to the whole experience.

Source : ezinearticles