Kids in Museums has published guidelines and a survey as part of its campaign to encourage museums to offer flexible family tickets.
The survey revealed that two-thirds of families differ from the standard discount format of two adults and two children. The report also found that 80% of museums would like to introduce more flexible discounts, but worried that alternative pricing formats were too complicated.
The guidelines, which Kids in Museums director Dea Birkett called “a very important first step”, offer tips on simplifying pricing and details about how museums can benefit from flexible discounts.
The British Museum, one of three London museums trialling flexible ticketing, is allowing adults buying an exhibition ticket to bring up to six under-16s for free.
Head of learning programmes Susan Raikes said the move offered families “ultimate flexibility”, and added that the pricing format had cut bureaucracy. The guidelines are available to all UK museums.
On 12 November, Kids in Museums staged its first Takeover Day, with young people invited to shadow adults in museum jobs. A nine-year-old girl was appointed director of Falmouth Art Gallery, while a school class took over the front desk of the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.
