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The Kids in Museums Manifesto
produced and published by The Guardian
05/12/2003
 

The Guardian's campaign to make museums more child friendly resulted in a manifesto produced in the paper in July 2003.

The manifesto gives a list of 20 ways of making museums better places for children - which will be useful for other arts venues too. 

To read the manifesto on line follow this link

For a summary of the manifesto read on.....

.....summary of The Guardian's Kids in Museum's Manifesto

 

1. Be welcoming

2. Be interactive and hands on

3. Be pushchair accessible

4. Give a hand to parents to help their children enjoy the museum

5. Consult with children

6. Be height aware

7. Have lots of different things to do

8. Produce guides aimed at children, but also ones that children and adults can use together

9. Provide proper, good-value food, highchairs, and unlimited tap water.

10. Provide dedicated baby changing and breast-feeding facilities, and good toilets where you can take a pushchair

11. Teach respect

12. Sell items in the shops that are not too expensive and not just junk, but things that children will want to treasure

13. Have free entry where possible, or have family tickets and children's discounts

14. Provide some open space - inside and outside - where children can run about and let off steam.

15. Provide some quiet space, where children can reflect.

16. Make it clear to child-free visitors that the museum is family friendly

17. Have dedicated family-friendly days

18. Provide a crèche for young children at major museums.

19. Attract all ages, from toddlers to teenagers, without offering separate facilities for each

20. Don't make presumptions about what children do and don't like

 

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003

 

For more information and full details of the manifesto see the guardian website here
 
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