In which I consider children in the museum

We spent a lot of time today in museology class discussing children's museums. These museums have been around for a hundred years, and are popping up all over the United States (and Canada). Children's museums are categorized by their high level of interactivity, and exhibits that appeal strictly to children. They are like science centres (which I would argue are pretty much children's museums in everything but name - a discovery I made a few summers ago at the Ontario Science Centre) where children are encouraged to run wild, while being stimulated by lights, computers, sound, buttons, cranks etc.

Unfortunately, our discussion relied on a strict dichotomy between children's museums and "traditional" museums, one for kids and the other strictly for adults. It seemed that these traditional "no-touch" museums could not possibly hold any interest for children. This seemed a bit silly to me, since I was an avid museum visitor from a young age and have never stepped foot inside a Children's Museum.

I feel that the vast majority of museums appeal to both adults and kids. They have to - these non-profit institutions could not survive without appealing to families, or anyone under the age of 40. We have discussed in different classes the level of education most museums must assume their audience holds. In the interest of having a wide audience, and not alienating those who may not have university degrees (for instance), museums generally write text panels anywhere from a grade 3-9 level. Besides, as a child in a museum I would have most likely been accompanied by an adult, who could explain a concept I didn't understand. Topics in history museums have always appealed to children, classics such as mummies, dinosaurs, and large machines.

We also discussed in class the nostalgic feeling people have for their local museums, and the sadness when renovations erase this public space people have grown to love. Surely many people began to feel a connection to their museums when they were children?

I definitely did. I have fond memories of visiting various Ottawa museums as a child with my sister and father. The Museum of Nature held dinosaurs, gems and stuffed animals ( I did enjoy these as a child...). The Aviation Museum had large planes - always fun. The Museum of Civilization was always impressive, with its collection of Native artifacts and models of early Canadian life. I visited the National Gallery quite a few times, but usually enjoyed the architecture more than the art. The Museum of Science and Tech was a favourite, though this falls more closely in the category of science centre, since I enjoyed looking at the chicks, climbing in the trains, seeing the model of the Titanic, walking through the Crazy Kitchen and watching the video of space ships blowing up.

I liked museum manager Mary Warner's article, "The Rumble of Little Feet" (Museum News, Sept/Oct 2006), because it argued that children could learn, and, gasp!, have fun in a traditional museum. As she says, children's brains have not changed to the extent we think in the past few generations: they are still curious about the world around them. They don't need overstimulation to get a valuable learning experience.

In which I get nostalgic for the dark

So, museums are still on my mind. I am well aware that there are many other options for public history students, and we have begun to learn about a few of them in class, but it's museums to which I keep going back. I am learning about some of the issues that can come about discussing digital history, but I'm still pondering and forming my opinions on the subject. So for now: museums.

I was remembering one of my first memories involving museums. I began to remember what the museum looked, and felt like, and began to compare that image to the new ideas that have recently been transforming galleries across Ontario. And I admit, I was a bit torn over whether these changes were for the better.

Let me start - one of my most memorable childhood experiences in a museum happened while I was a Brownie, circa age 7. We had the fantastic opportunity to have a sleep-over in the dinosaur gallery at the Canadian Museum of Nature. This was a favourite Ottawa museum of my sister and I, and the night didn't disappoint. Looking back, it strikes me as such a wonderful way for young children to experience public history. The gallery, as I remember, was the perfect spot. It was similar to a lot of older museum galleries: dark, softly lit, very atmospheric. The perfect setting for dinosaur fossils to be displayed against the wall, as if they had just been discovered in some Alberta desert.

Newly renovated dinosaur galleries have been envisioned very differently. The entire feel has changed, and not only because of ubiquitous interactive digital stations (I have no qualms with these). The ROM recently opened their new dinosaur gallery in the Libeskind crystal, a gallery which followed closely their new philosophy on the design of museums. Even before the opening of the added crystal, the ROM had realized they needed a change - from the dark and gloomy to the bright and airy. In late 2005 they unveiled their new Asian galleries, which featured a sea of glass shelves and large, newly-uncovered windows. The dinosaur gallery follows the same idea: housed in the crystal itself, it features large windows and lots of natural light to show off the hanging models of dinosaurs. The Museum of Nature in Ottawa has also recently redone their dinosaur galleries with similar results.

I do applaud this new philosophy, as I believe it may attract visitors who may have thought museums were dank, gloomy and full of old, dusty, dead things. Museum galleries are becoming more modern, more hip, more cutting-edge and hopefully some visitors will decide they are more fun and interesting places than they once were. They're moving towards the future, not stuck in the past. I can't help but remember, however, that wow feeling an atmospheric, dimly lit gallery full of dinosaur bones could give to a young child. It didn't turn me off the idea of history - it was interesting and mysterious, and a little spooky. I just hope these new galleries will be able to keep delivering that wow factor to children and adults alike.