Children's Museum

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A children's museum is a “world research place” that is tailored to the needs of children . Children's museums have been increasingly founded in many countries since the 1990s and are specially tailored to the target group of children and young people from a museum-pedagogical point of view . Most children's museums are dedicated to certain topics and offer guided tours for different age groups. Concepts such as learning by doing and hands on , in German: learning by trying out and understanding , are used. Unlike in most other museums , touching is not only allowed, but expressly encouraged.

The aim is to arouse children's curiosity and creativity , but also interest in technology , history , society and much more.

In some cases, conventional museums also have their own departments for children. In contrast to normal museums, children's museums are used exclusively for imparting knowledge and not for archiving and cataloging . “Children's museums for adults” (and children) are the so-called Science Centers .

history

These museums, specially created for children, began in 1899. On December 16, William Henry Goodyear, director of the Central Museum's art collection, opened the doors to the world's first children's museum, the Brooklyn Children's Museum in Brooklyn, New York. From the very beginning it was important to him to give the children of Brooklyn and Queens a place where they should feel that it was created especially for them and where their interests, inclinations, needs and desires should be heard and promoted.

The Brooklyn Children's Museum did not remain the only children's museum in the USA for long. The second children's museum, the “Boston Children's Museum”, was founded as early as 1913, and the “Detroit Children's Museum” was established just four years later in the US state of Michigan.

Similar projects and examples

In 1980, Germany 's first mobile children's museum was founded in Nuremberg : The Museum in a Suitcase , which has also been operating the Nuremberg Children's and Youth Museum as a permanent establishment since 2001.

The children's university model was developed at universities and technical colleges in order to convey science to children in a simple and understandable manner.

The Young Palace belongs to the Württemberg State Museum (Stuttgart) . The children's museum in Stuttgart , which has been under construction since October 2009 in the former administration rooms on the third floor. It is intended to become a place of cultural experience for four to ten year old children and their families. An exhibition area of ​​around 300 m² is being created, supplemented by workshop rooms and a kitchen and offering a journey through the history of Baden-Württemberg. The focus of the opening exhibition Mysterious Chamber of Wonder. Treasure hunt in the Junge Schloss is a ducal cabinet of curiosities from the Renaissance . Hands-on elements, original objects and other interactive communication levels invite you to participate and try out. The playful implementation of history and culture lets the past come to life and makes visiting the museum fun.

Part of the Children's Museum is the Children's Advisory Board, a group of children aged eight and over who bring in their ideas for a museum for children every two months. Important topics are discussed with the children's council, and the results are taken into account when planning the children's museum.

The Schönbrunn Children's Museum was established in Schönbrunn Palace in 2002 under the name "Experience Schönbrunn Palace". The aim of this facility is to show children the importance of the UNESCO World Heritage Site , which has included Schönbrunn Palace since 1996, in a playful and simplified manner. With the help of an extensive range of special tours, workshops and other activities, children in Schönbrunn are  familiarized with the everyday life of a baroque imperial court from the  18th century  and the life of Empress  Maria Theresa .

In Bern , the orthopedist and implant developer Maurice Edmond Müller donated the Creaviva children's museum as part of the monographic museum Zentrum Paul Klee . The purpose of the museum is to give children, young people and adults access to art and culture through practical art mediation. The focus of the activities and offers of the children's museum Creaviva, which opened in 2005, is therefore not the collection or exhibition of art, but rather the mediation in workshops, studios and interactive tours. In the design of its offers, Creaviva refers to the works, techniques and ideas of Paul Klee .

literature

  • Gabriele König: Children's and youth museums - genesis and development of a museum genre. Impulses for visitor-oriented museum concepts. (= Berlin writings on museum studies, Volume 16). Leske and Budrich, Opladen 2002, ISBN 978-3-8100-3299-7 .

Web links

Commons : Children's Museum  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files