{"id":677101,"date":"2026-05-18T08:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/677101\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T08:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:23:08","slug":"after-dinosaurs-its-spot-the-dog-but-can-a-child-really-learn-anything-in-a-gallery-art-and-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/677101\/","title":{"rendered":"After dinosaurs, it\u2019s spot the dog! But can a child really learn anything in a gallery? | Art and design"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neil Osborne and his three-year-old daughter Daisy are peering at a small, shimmering painting by JMW Turner of foaming waves crashing against a cliff. It\u2019s their second visit to the National Museum Cardiff<\/a> (NMC). Daisy loves the dinosaurs in the prehistoric galleries downstairs, which Neil believes are more kid-friendly; the upstairs art galleries are quieter, with fewer children charging about. \u201cShe actually started whispering when we got up here,\u201d he says, \u201cbut she likes seeing the paintings and saying what they look like.\u201d He asks her what she makes of the Turner, and she replies: \u201cA fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

For us, today is a nursery day, so I\u2019m without my cub reporter. Instead, I\u2019m here solo in Cardiff to figure out whether getting under-fives into galleries is more about entertainment or education, and to gauge the feelings of fellow parents. I can\u2019t be the only one who thinks my almost-two-year-old might be capable of learning something from looking at art, can I?<\/p>\n

Catrin Rowlands was a school teacher for 24 years before becoming head of learning at NMC. One of seven national museums that make up Museum Wales<\/a>, the largest provider of learning outside the classroom in the country, it\u2019s dedicated to welcoming families, with a permanent collection that features everything from gnarled fossils to dazzling impressionist canvases. There\u2019s a large learning centre \u2013 \u201cto the left of the mammoth,\u201d says Rowlands \u2013 with a play area at one end and a casual classroom set-up at the other. So, I ask, how do you keep children entertained without detracting from the educational activity? \u201cEvery engagement with the museum is a learning engagement,\u201d she tells me.<\/p>\n

\u2018We start with natural history, then he likes to see the paintings to finish\u2019 \u2026 The National Museum Cardiff. Photograph: \u00a9Sophie Baxter Photography<\/p>\n

It\u2019s in the learning centre that Mini Wonders takes place. NMC is one of 15 museums across the UK partnering with Art Fund and Nesta on the fully funded programme, which looks at how accessing art and culture can support child development and increase readiness for school. Families from disadvantaged backgrounds with children aged between two and four are invited to take part in a free eight-week course that seeks to make parents and kids feel more comfortable in the museum, and return repeatedly, just like they might do with their local library.<\/p>\n

\u201cIntroducing art for under-fives is as much about capturing their imagination as it is about learning \u2013 a space where wonder, surroundings and play spark curiosity before the formal structure of a traditional school setting,\u201d says Rowlands. Each child in Mini Wonders is given a digital camera, and by the end of the programme has a scrapbook of photos. Once they\u2019re happy in the learning centre, they are encouraged to venture out into the museum. Art, says Rowlands, \u201cinvites children to explore and discover a vibrant and colourful world which is both entertaining and a foundation for early and lifelong learning\u201d.<\/p>\n

I bump into former NMC employee Emma Kempster and her son, Sebby, on the grand stone staircase overlooking the cafe, which is now busy serving lunch. \u201cWe come here all the time,\u201d she tells me. \u201cHe knows where he wants to go. We start with the dinosaurs and natural history, then he likes to see the paintings to finish.\u201d Like Daisy, Sebby appears to notice the shift in atmosphere. \u201cI think he finds it a bit spooky upstairs because it\u2019s quieter than the other spaces, but he also seems to like the change of scene. We look out for dogs in the paintings, things like that.\u201d I ask whether they\u2019re here to have fun or to learn, and Kempster says it\u2019s more about fun right now. She smiles. \u201cThough, I mean, he is a brilliant artist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucky for Sebby, then, that scattered across the galleries are creative carts packed with paper and pencils, as well as bilingual books and soft toys. \u201cWe\u2019re not policing these little trolleys, and we just replenish them if something ends up going home,\u201d says Rowlands. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the memory, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Her eyes widen. \u201cNot that we\u2019d encourage that!\u201d<\/p>\n

double quotation markI want him to choose what interests him. If that\u2019s not learning, what is?<\/p>\n

Throughout the year there are events targeted at tots, including free sketching classes in the galleries. In April, an early evening of music and storytelling beneath a sculpture of the moon<\/a> in the main hall encouraged language learning in both English and Welsh. At the end of May there will be a paint-along inspired by Gwen John\u2019s love of cats.<\/p>\n

I want my son to have fun with art because otherwise he won\u2019t want to go to a gallery with me. I want us both to look, and to talk about, what we see and how it makes us feel. I know he gets emotion \u2013 he doesn\u2019t enjoy Peter Rabbit being chased down by Old Brown (\u201cNo, no, no!\u201d) \u2013 and I\u2019m hopeful that art can make him react as strongly as a book or TV show. I want him to move around and express himself. To take his time, if and when he has the patience (safe to say we\u2019re not there yet). To choose what interests him. If that\u2019s not learning, what is?<\/p>\n

Rhian Evans first brought her two-year-old daughter, Cari, to NMC when she was a baby. \u201cI was worried about coming before, but now I know it\u2019s well set up for kids, with stuff like this,\u201d she says, pointing to one of the art carts, fully stocked. \u201cI\u2019d like her to start saying certain words: animals, colours. We come and point out things in the paintings in the same way we do at home with books.\u201d<\/p>\n

We talk about how helpful it can be to get out of the house with a small child, and she mentions play cafes, another type of place to visit, another way to fill the day. But not all play cafes are free to enter. Plus, Evans says, \u201cIf we come here I think there\u2019s a chance she\u2019ll learn something as opposed to just throwing balls around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three sure bets for inquisitive youngsters<\/p>\n

Young V&A, London<\/a><\/p>\n

Hepworth Wakefield<\/a><\/p>\n

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Neil Osborne and his three-year-old daughter Daisy are peering at a small, shimmering painting by JMW Turner of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":["post-677101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}