Families are often a core audience for cultural institutions but it can be challenging to develop content and offer services that cater for diverse groups and multiple age ranges.
Research conducted by the charity Kids in Museums identified several barriers to families getting involved with museums.
Entry charges, public transport links, socio-economic background, relationships between museums and schools, and curriculum changes all have a baring on engagement levels, according to the review Hurdles to the participation of children, families and young people in museums.
“Poor communication, timetabling demands, budget cuts, a shift in targets, a reduction in time available for visits, less of a focus on arts brought by the change in curriculum, and stopping museum and gallery outreach activities have all contributed to the difficulties and uncertainties now existing,” states the review.
Limited consultation with young people, funding pressures and poor collaboration between museums and community groups were also found to have a negative impact.
“The short-term nature of project funding, and pressures of finding match funding can prevent the achievement of longer term changes and sustainability.
“The pressure to produce positive reports to encourage further funding without time to reflect on learning can be damaging to local needs and relationships,” states the review.
The Kids in Museums manifesto, based on visitor comments, highlights practical steps cultural institutions can take to improve the experience they offer families. These include welcoming visitors, encouraging families to share stories and providing sensory and stimulating environments for babies, which is often the first step in building a long-term family audience.
In her article on how museums can welcome family groups, Caroline Marcus, the project director at Kids in Museums, highlights that families come in all shapes and sizes and it is important that family-ticket prices reflect that.
The National Maritime Museum Cornwall restructured its pricing system, which originally offered family tickets for two adults and three children, to cater for such diversity. Its entry charges are now £12.50 for adults and £5 for under-18s, with under fives getting in free.
“For a single parent family or a family with lots of children [this arrangement] works our much better cost wise,” says Derryth Ridge, the museum's family learning and interpretation officer.
“Our family audience is wide...you can’t define a family," she continues.
An initiative called the Museum Explorer Passport was developed after museums in Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire reported falls in visitor numbers during the summer months and were looking for new ways to attract family audiences.
Participants are awarded stamps and stickers for their passport if they visit museums they haven’t been to before and complete trails and creative challenges.The passport, which is available for a six-week period during the summer, is designed to raise awareness of venues across the three counties and is promoted primarily through social media.
Many institutions take a structured approach to engaging families, putting on themed activities organised to coincide with the school holidays. The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, for instance, develops its themes in accordance to key significant events in the calendar.
“Oxford University Press published a fantastic new Roald Dahl Dictionary in May, so we based our half-term events and trails on wordplay and Dahl’s most literate heroine – Matilda Wormwood,” explains the director Steve Gardam.
“To coincide with the release of Stephen Spielberg’s film The BFG, July and August will be dubbed the 'Big Friendly Summer', when we will offer a series of activities linked to the book and the film. In the run up to Halloween, October half-term activities will be inspired by the book The Witches.”
The National Maritime Museum Cornwall dedicates 116 days each year to programming content and activities for families. This includes trails, arts and craft activities, play sessions, storytelling and re-enactments.
The museum has also offered sleepovers but has found that unless the event sponsored and subsidised tickets could be offered then they weren’t able to offer it at a cost that was affordable for most families.
Another dilemma that museums and heritage sites face is to what extent they interpret challenging and highly sensitive material for family audiences. Family-learning content at London’s National Maritime Museum aims to “explore difficult themes” be “provocative” even for young audiences, says Sacha Coward, the institution’s family programmes producer.
“There is a worrying view in the museum sector that families should be kept away from complex, dark or sensitive topics, which are deemed inappropriate for children. I have programmed activities around so-called adult subjects, including mental illness, the transatlantic slave trade and LGBT History Month for family audiences,” says Coward.
“Being open about such topics helps families to start conversations in their own time that may have been difficult to broach before.”
Meanwhile Salisbury Cathedral faced the challenge engaging family groups during last year's 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta – a seemingly plain and unassuming piece of parchment. This rather underwhelming looking object demanded such high levels of creativity from the exhibitions team that it resulted in many firsts for the cathedral.
Contemporary art, an interactive game and even flower arrangements all played a role in illustrating the significance of a document that formed the cornerstone of British law.
Research conducted by the charity Kids in Museums identified several barriers to families getting involved with museums.
Entry charges, public transport links, socio-economic background, relationships between museums and schools, and curriculum changes all have a baring on engagement levels, according to the review Hurdles to the participation of children, families and young people in museums.
“Poor communication, timetabling demands, budget cuts, a shift in targets, a reduction in time available for visits, less of a focus on arts brought by the change in curriculum, and stopping museum and gallery outreach activities have all contributed to the difficulties and uncertainties now existing,” states the review.
Limited consultation with young people, funding pressures and poor collaboration between museums and community groups were also found to have a negative impact.
“The short-term nature of project funding, and pressures of finding match funding can prevent the achievement of longer term changes and sustainability.
“The pressure to produce positive reports to encourage further funding without time to reflect on learning can be damaging to local needs and relationships,” states the review.
The Kids in Museums manifesto, based on visitor comments, highlights practical steps cultural institutions can take to improve the experience they offer families. These include welcoming visitors, encouraging families to share stories and providing sensory and stimulating environments for babies, which is often the first step in building a long-term family audience.
In her article on how museums can welcome family groups, Caroline Marcus, the project director at Kids in Museums, highlights that families come in all shapes and sizes and it is important that family-ticket prices reflect that.
The National Maritime Museum Cornwall restructured its pricing system, which originally offered family tickets for two adults and three children, to cater for such diversity. Its entry charges are now £12.50 for adults and £5 for under-18s, with under fives getting in free.
“For a single parent family or a family with lots of children [this arrangement] works our much better cost wise,” says Derryth Ridge, the museum's family learning and interpretation officer.
“Our family audience is wide...you can’t define a family," she continues.
An initiative called the Museum Explorer Passport was developed after museums in Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire reported falls in visitor numbers during the summer months and were looking for new ways to attract family audiences.
Participants are awarded stamps and stickers for their passport if they visit museums they haven’t been to before and complete trails and creative challenges.The passport, which is available for a six-week period during the summer, is designed to raise awareness of venues across the three counties and is promoted primarily through social media.
Many institutions take a structured approach to engaging families, putting on themed activities organised to coincide with the school holidays. The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, for instance, develops its themes in accordance to key significant events in the calendar.
“Oxford University Press published a fantastic new Roald Dahl Dictionary in May, so we based our half-term events and trails on wordplay and Dahl’s most literate heroine – Matilda Wormwood,” explains the director Steve Gardam.
“To coincide with the release of Stephen Spielberg’s film The BFG, July and August will be dubbed the 'Big Friendly Summer', when we will offer a series of activities linked to the book and the film. In the run up to Halloween, October half-term activities will be inspired by the book The Witches.”
The National Maritime Museum Cornwall dedicates 116 days each year to programming content and activities for families. This includes trails, arts and craft activities, play sessions, storytelling and re-enactments.
The museum has also offered sleepovers but has found that unless the event sponsored and subsidised tickets could be offered then they weren’t able to offer it at a cost that was affordable for most families.
Another dilemma that museums and heritage sites face is to what extent they interpret challenging and highly sensitive material for family audiences. Family-learning content at London’s National Maritime Museum aims to “explore difficult themes” be “provocative” even for young audiences, says Sacha Coward, the institution’s family programmes producer.
“There is a worrying view in the museum sector that families should be kept away from complex, dark or sensitive topics, which are deemed inappropriate for children. I have programmed activities around so-called adult subjects, including mental illness, the transatlantic slave trade and LGBT History Month for family audiences,” says Coward.
“Being open about such topics helps families to start conversations in their own time that may have been difficult to broach before.”
Meanwhile Salisbury Cathedral faced the challenge engaging family groups during last year's 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta – a seemingly plain and unassuming piece of parchment. This rather underwhelming looking object demanded such high levels of creativity from the exhibitions team that it resulted in many firsts for the cathedral.
Contemporary art, an interactive game and even flower arrangements all played a role in illustrating the significance of a document that formed the cornerstone of British law.