Tips for Enjoying Museums and Art Galleries

I took my little one to a planetarium about a 20-minute bike ride away,
and it turned out
to be a free admission day by chance! 😆

After watching the children's planetarium show,
I taught them the
"Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune"
order that matched the content,

and my little one kept
"Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune"
repeating it over and over with a rhythm.

This planetarium
also serves as a local history museum.

Museums
are usually not very interesting
for small children, aren't they?

However,
I think they might take some interest
if a parent talks to them about it.

For example, since traditional local industry
Ise paper stencils were on display,

"Look, K!
All of these holes were punched
by hand!

That's amazing! So detailed!"

When I said that to them,

"Whoa, that's awesome!
I couldn't do that!!"

said my little one with sparkling eyes,
even though they've been using rough language lately 😅

After that, we watched a video
showing how they are carved,

and they were excited,
saying "That's awesome!!"

Yesterday, after ninja training,
we went to the Fire Museum.

My little one was trying to slip through the
display of Edo-period firefighter's
standards, so I said,

"K-kun, look! There are so many.
Which one do you like?"

When I asked that,
he started looking at them very carefully and said,

"Hmm, maybe the 'su' one. How about you, Mom?"

"I think I like this one."

"Hmm, oh, that one is nice too."

"You're right! The design is great.
You see the 'Megumi' one, right?
This one is famous."

It seemed like he found that conversation
interesting,
because he told his dad about it when we got home.

A while ago, a friend of mine said,
"I don't know how to look at art in a gallery.
I just can't seem to find it interesting."

I told her that you can just think about things like
how the person in the painting is pretty,
or how this fashion is lovely,
or that it's a color you like,
or that you like this person because they're handsome but
this one isn't your type,
or that you didn't know they had glasses like that back then,

or even wonder things like
why the museum staff
placed these paintings in this order
and in these positions.

You should just feel free to think about
whatever comes to mind naturally,

and you don't need to think about
trying to be sophisticated,
trying to appreciate the technique,
or making sure to read every single note.
That's what I told her.

I feel the same way when I take
my child to museums or art galleries.

Children don't have the preconceived notion
that museums and galleries are stuffy,

so if you take them,
act like you're having fun yourself,
and engage them with fun comments,
I think their interests will expand.

That's what I believe as I drag him around.
It's quite difficult, though.😅

*I went to too many places over the last three days, so
I'm sleepy.
This article seems terrible,
but I will revise it later.😅