Take your kids to the museum, play mind games!

Trechikovsky Gallery Третьяковская Галерея

When traveling with children, the arrangement of the itinerary is a big concern.
If you want to have a smooth and happy trip, the mother needs to play a little bit of caution.
Going to Europe is basically to see buildings and museums, and even more so in Russia.
This time I arranged a Tretikovskaya Gallery. This is my favorite gallery/art museum!
When I used to live in Moscow, as long as my friends came from Taiwan,
this one-stop must-see~ The Trechikovsky Gallery only collects works by Russian painters, but Even so,
the styles are quite different. Before leaving, I said to the children,
“I want to take you to my mother’s favorite art gallery!”
Maybe the children have a mentality of loving the house and Wu,
and have a good impression of this gallery before leaving.

The first caution: pre-departure notice – a good impression in there heart

Mom’s second trick: make good use of technology tools!

Modern exhibitions all use a lot of technology. In April this year,
when I went to Beijing on a business trip, I took a break to visit the “Great Bell Temple”,
and I enjoyed the help of technology. There are many big bells stored in the Dazhong Temple.
When entering each hall, you can hear the speech through the QR code.
This time at the gallery in Moscow, we also encountered the activity of viewing paintings with VR technology.
We chose a work of an artist in the collection,
and asked my brother to make the first contact with the artist through virtual studio creation,
and wait until we see it inside. when there is more resonance.
Although it’s an extra fee, I think it’s worth it and a fun way.

Seeing VR technology, let’s actually experience it!

My brother chose the work experience of painter Ivan Shishkin.
This artist has painted a lot of Russian nature and animals,
which is a very good entry point for children. Indeed,
when they visit the exhibits later, children will be motivated to find the paintings
that they “seen” in VR at the beginning.
And I chose the experience of Mengke MUNCH
who was doing a special exhibition in another exhibition hall at the same time.
Reality VR is so real… I feel like I’m about to cry when I experience it XD

Finally found the real work of the painting I have seen, happy group photo

The third careful machine: guide machine / commentator

Before I start entering a gallery (or any museum) I rent a tour guide.
If I have a chance, I will even go through it myself with a guided tour machine to learn most of the stories of the exhibits,
and then bring the children to visit and use the storytelling method to make them interested in the works. Of course,
there are not many such opportunities, unless the museums living in the local area or their own city are more able to do this.
In places where you only go once, the guide is a very important tool! how to say?
On the one hand, adults are less likely to just walk around, and can add more knowledge and explain to children;
on the other hand, I personally think that the key to making children willing to walk more patiently is to let them hold it by themselves. When the machine is in our hands, the dominance lies with the parents,
and the children can only follow in the footsteps of the parents completely.
It is easy to feel bored when they lose their autonomy.
But when the navigation machine is in the hands of the children, they will have a sense of mission given to them.
Maybe they have to tell the rest of the family after listening. In this case, they need to listen carefully, think about it,
and then use their own words. This process is enough to train the brain’s diverse work; and most importantly,
because of the dominance, they are more willing to take the initiative to find works of interest and start autonomous learning.
With the motivation of self-learning, the “boring museum” seems to be less boring~

When we went to the Czech Republic last year, we visited the town of Kutna Hora,
which was not only a church but also a church. At first, the children were a little resistant.
Later, in the first church, I rented a tour guide and used a “student-like” attitude” Please” my son explained it to me after listening,
and sure enough! The son who was given the task instantly became a “teacher”,
and every time he listened to a place, he explained it carefully to me and my sister.
I don’t think I need to repeat the historical and cultural content of this church, he has it all in his heart.
If there is a chance, it would be even better to have a live introduction guide!
It’s just that such tour guides are usually mainly adult groups,
and the content and words they say are more difficult for children,
which is easy to make them lose interest and quickly run away…
The ideal state is of course to be able to have a private target. The explanation of the tour by myself,
but such a situation requires special arrangements in advance.

The fourth careful machine: little detective action!

I have a good friend who teaches art and will give the child a magnifying glass or telescope to watch the play
when he takes the child to see the painting, because sometimes the work is too large or too crowded,
and it is difficult to see. Just like in the classroom, once people can’t see or hear clearly,
they basically lose focus. I think this is a great way! However,
tools like binoculars may not necessarily be with you, and that’s okay!
Choose a bigger picture! Just let the kids (and adults) see clearly!
For example, for this huge painting, I would exclaim from a distance:
“Wow~ how can there be such a big painting~ I don’t know what it is? Can you see it?”
I would first use words to seduce curiosity, and then we With a vague understanding began to analyze the painting.
The whole process is a guide, rather than focusing on painting style skills.
For preschool or lower grades, I use simpler questions like: How many? face? their expressions?
And children over 10 can explore in more detail, the identity of the person in the painting?
Where might the scene be? what are they doing?
The correct answer is optional, the most important thing is that during the guidance process,
the children have opened their eyes to see and their brains have started to think.
Most important paintings have drafts made by the artist displayed alongside them. At this time,
you can play a game and let the children find them. What is the difference between a draft and a final draft?
Everyone loves to play the “find the difference” game, which is more fun than seeing who finds the difference.

In the past two years, Taiwan’s educational circles have begun to gradually attach importance to students’ “thinking ability”.
And I myself often remind myself of this in the process of talking with my children.
A few years ago, when I saw a painting, I might have said directly to my child:
Who painted it and what event it is about.
Because I seem to be very accustomed to accepting a simple sentence or fact since I was a child.
However, due to the influence of European education methods in the past few years,
I will pay more attention to try not to give a concluding answer sentence, but an open discussion.
For example, I would try to start by asking the child what he saw and how did he feel?
If we don’t know or aren’t sure, we can try to guess together and then come to a conclusion together.
This process is actually a speculative exercise that Europeans do
when they educate their children in daily life.

From observation -> feeling -> thinking -> asking questions -> discussing -> conclusion.

The fifth caution: find resonance

places need to be pondered more, and some places can be walked through, so that it will not be too tiring.
The collection this time includes both classical and modern.
Almost all museums or art galleries in Europe will see full of portraits at the beginning.
For example, our family is not very interested in these portraits of royal nobles, so they directly travel through the past.
However, when there is a chance to resonate, you can leave a little more time.

For example, in the picture below on the right, there are three children pulling a car.
Because they are both children, it is easy to resonate.
This picture was taken by our elder brother who took the initiative to stand in front and looked at it for a long time.
After I found out, I walked to the side and asked him,
“How do you think these children are in the mood”?
At the time he answered me, I thought they seemed very tired…
So I followed the trend and asked: “Then what do you think they are doing?
Are you about the same age as you?” Starting from this angle can lead to discussion.
Although it is simple, it will have a lot of ripples in the children’s hearts.
Maybe they don’t say it, but they have already started thinking in their minds.

The top left picture and the two pictures below are a well-known Russian war painter (Vasily Vershchagin),
who followed the army of the Russian-Persian war all the year round and painted the cruelty of the war.
Through this, I also talked to the children about the horror of war.
The wars that modern children are exposed to are all from cartoon movies or toys.
Not only do they not feel the actual cruelty, but they have a cool illusion.
This is a question worth pondering for all parents.

I specially put these two paintings up, and I also told the children about these two paintings at the scene.
Let them know how Mom is feeling. Everyone has different preferences and sensitivities to paintings.
Innocent children may not have the same feelings as adults.
It is also very important to let them know their joys, sorrows and joys in a timely manner!

The sixth and last chance to play mind gamesl : give a good reward after the end

After a hard walk through the whole gallery/museum, even adults will want to sit down and have a coffee break.
When the weather is good, you might as well let the children eat ice cream or juice. ‘s prize.
Although I am not in favor of using “bait” to get children to do anything,
but some small means of reward during the trip can still make this careful 😉 Happy ending,
let the children have a beautiful connection to the visit, next When I said which museum to go to again,
I should have a happy scene in my mind. afterall, we all deserve something nice !