For quite some time now I have been wanting to take my kids to the art museum but have not because I was not sure that it was a "family friendly" environment. Over the weekend we got adventurous and took them to the Dallas World Aquarium and then to the Dallas Museum of Art! They were both firsts for our family (I have been to the DMA many times before just not with a 2 1/2 year old and a 14 month old). Here is my review from the early childhood perspective:
The Aquarium was a really amazing place, I had no idea we had anything like it in Dallas and it exceeded all of my expectations. They even have a Jaguar (I know that sounds weird for an aquarium, but it makes since when you are there)! All of the information about the animals is delivered on large computer touch screens that are interactive so the visitor can learn as much or as little as they like, I particularly loved this feature as did my 2 year old!
The DMA's exhibit "All the World's a Stage" was a hit with my musically inclined little boy and I was really surprised at how much my 14 month old enjoyed finding things in the paintings. She is just learning words, but she was really excited when she recognized things like "doggie." There is a special room for the 4 and under crowd with art toys and books which was a hit with the kids, but I wish it contained actual kid safe art work (either specially commissioned or reproductions of ok to touch sculptures would be fun), it was really just a play room.
I will say I found the Aquarium to be more enjoyable overall, I think it was more "family friendly" but they were both really great experiences.
The Aquarium was a really amazing place, I had no idea we had anything like it in Dallas and it exceeded all of my expectations. They even have a Jaguar (I know that sounds weird for an aquarium, but it makes since when you are there)! All of the information about the animals is delivered on large computer touch screens that are interactive so the visitor can learn as much or as little as they like, I particularly loved this feature as did my 2 year old!
The DMA's exhibit "All the World's a Stage" was a hit with my musically inclined little boy and I was really surprised at how much my 14 month old enjoyed finding things in the paintings. She is just learning words, but she was really excited when she recognized things like "doggie." There is a special room for the 4 and under crowd with art toys and books which was a hit with the kids, but I wish it contained actual kid safe art work (either specially commissioned or reproductions of ok to touch sculptures would be fun), it was really just a play room.
I will say I found the Aquarium to be more enjoyable overall, I think it was more "family friendly" but they were both really great experiences.
Posts
December 14, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Jennifer, you do your family such a favor/service by exposing your young children to the museum. In Museum Education, we learn that people learn to appreciate the arts and become life-long learners through the family's practice of visiting. Small doses are good (for parents and children!) How fortunate they are to have a mom whose love for them and the arts will bring them together. They will grow up thinking it is "normal." You've raised my curiosity about the Aquarium and my hopes to take my adult children for a family outing!
December 14, 2009 at 7:46 PM
I enjoyed the family field trip stories. You were smart to keep the trips short, I',m assuming you did because How else could you go to two places in one afternoon with a toddler and a preschooler! When my kids were small they called the art museum the parents museum ( I suppose because the only other museum they had been to was the Children's Museum! I think that there is a difference to a small child between interesting things to look at that really move, and those that usually don't. So good for you for making the art museum an animated experience for you kids.
December 14, 2009 at 9:32 PM
Thanks Marcia and Liz! It is definitely a lot of fun to take the kids to places like this. I ask myself why I put off the art museum even though we have been to several zoos, the aquarium, a science museum etc and I still think it goes back to that feeling of the art museum not being a "family friendly" environment. I think I will write more on my thoughts about this for our Visual Arts Wednesdays post, and I would love the input of some of the "museum" people out there so start thinking about art museum spaces and early childhood/family learning...
December 18, 2009 at 8:22 AM
I feel that the Dallas World Aquarium is successful because it has something for every age group. I have been there several times with friends and their younger children and they also loved the interactivity and how there is something new around every corner. The parts they loved the most were the giant river otters and the large underwater viewing area. Personally I loved the smaller aquariums representing the sea life from different parts of the world. I have had a salt water aquarium for several years and have visited many aquariums around the world and I must say that nothing comes even close to those country specific tanks. I can go on and on about them but if you haven't been there, you should know that you truly have something unique here in Dallas that you are missing out on.