Children and families

Elements that particularly appeal to family groups include:

opportunities for physical exploration and discovery; activities that stimulate intellectual reasoning and development; opportunities for problem solving; activities that engage/involve all members of the family; activities that encourage family/group interaction; interpretation based on a range of sensory experiences; a variety of colour, texture and movement; and opportunities for individual reflection.

Families spend longer at exhibits where there is something to do, particularly if this requires interaction between group members. If possible, interpretation should encourage conversation, discussion and play.

Suggestions for older children include:

problem solving (quizzes, puzzles, computer simulations); stories and life histories; games; role plays and simulations; activities requiring physical skills and coordination; art and craft work; and applying ideas/knowledge to new situations.

For younger children, exhibits should stimulate play but also enhance learning. For example, children's areas could include:

model replicas of the exhibit topic that can be climbed and explored; building activities (eg. blocks, lego); story telling and plays; and props for dressing up and role playing.

Whatever their age, the important thing is to design experiences that will not only interest children but also link to or 'bring alive' the topic under scrutiny. They do not have to be large and expensive to achieve this aim.

Some examples include:

Topic/Title	Props	Activities
Be a pirate for a day	Pirate ship Pirate dress-up clothes Hammocks	Hoisting the sails Walking the gangplank Steering with the ship's wheel Loading and 'firing' canons
What did dinosaurs look like?	Replica archaeological dig with hidden 'bones' and fossils	Brushing and chipping away rock to reveal 'fossils' and 'bones' Classifying dinosaurs according to size/colour (younger children) or eating habits (older children)
What do birds eat?	Plastic worms and bugs	Digging through piles of leaves to find plastic worms and bugs

Incorporating children's needs into regular displays

Many displays are too high and too complex for children, and parents soon tire of lifting them to view displays that in some cases are too difficult to explain!

Design elements that combat access problems include:

• displaying items at 'child-friendly' heights;
• providing a viewing platform for children to stand on;
• cutting 'peep' holes into the front of exhibits at various levels to allow viewing by children of different heights;
• creating 'discovery holes' for children to crawl into;
• placing labels and text at a child-friendly height; and
• incorporating display boxes in the floor (this is particularly good for displaying models of ground-dwelling creatures, relief maps, archaeological ruins etc).

Design elements that enhance children's enjoyment and stimulate learning include:

• tactile displays at child height;
• models/exhibits with exaggerated elements (eg. giant insects; rabbit warrens that children can crawl into);
• models of display objects for children to handle (ensure these are robust and safe for small children);
• information hidden behind flaps/sliding panels;
• numbers/letters that children have to search for to answer questions or puzzles;
• quizzes, riddles, games;
• 'hidden' objects within displays;
• 
• audio visual displays;
• exhibits with elements that respond to children's actions (eg. noises when buttons are pressed; figures that 'pop up' when children stand on a particular spot);
• humour, satire and cartoons;
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• displays that portray popular television/film/book characters; and
• formats that 'tap into' the mindset of younger visitors (eg. traditional TV game shows).

Outdoor settings

The ideas and principles above can also be used in outdoor settings.

For example:

• agility, balance and co-ordination activities can be incorporated into trails by building low level balance beams, swinging bridges, climbing frames and flying foxes.
• you could hide some 'treasures' such as carvings, numbers, animal statues, fake jewels (whatever fits within your theme) along the route for children to search for. Ensure these are clearly pictured at the beginning of the trail so that adults as well as children know what they are looking for!