The Museum Monday That Wasn't

No museum trip.  This was the day Sint came to Mairtin's school at 10:00 a.m., and we usually try to get the museum while he's fresh.  In the afternoon we had a friend come over for lunch, then we went to a local petting zoo.  Sorry, forgot the camera.

Museum Monday: Rijksmuseum

M and I recently visited the Rijksmuseum.  The museum is in a massive building, but because of a renovation only a small portion of the collection is currently on display.  This worked to our advantage, since M's attention span for museums is about 45 minutes.

The Rijksmuseum has some cool programs for kids.  I thought that M would be a good candidate for the "Family Treasure Trail," but when we inquired we were given "Gordon the Warden."  Gordon is supposed to be for kids 6-9, but with a little help M was able to do most of the activities.  It highlighted about 5 works and asked questions to engage children.

The first work was a model of a 17th century sailing ship.  After that we moved on to a 17th century doll house, then Jan Steen's The Merry Family and finally The Night Watch.  After our visit, and thanks to the booklet, M was able to recall:

1. The boat was powered by wind
2. A long time ago doll houses were for grown ups, not children, 
3. The Night Watch shows a very noisy, active scene

I wish all museums had self-guided tours specially designed for children.  

Museum Monday: The Rub

The only problem with Museum Monday is that many museums are closed on Mondays. Last Monday we attempted to visit the Royal Palace. After a very difficult time convincing M that it was time to leave the house (I actually started to write the blog post in my head about how there was no Museum Monday because Mairtin refused to cooperate...) we finally made it to Dam Square only to find out the Palace was closed. I had checked this specifically online but was foiled by the Euro calendar which has Monday as the first column as opposed to the more familiar Sunday.

So, I took a disappointed boy out for ice cream anyway, we went to the Magna Plaza mall, and we stopped by the library on our way home to read a book and get a video.

Museum Monday: The Diamond Museum

The reviews I read of the Diamond Musueum described it as more of a big exhibit than a museum which I thought could work well with the spirit of Museum Monday (short visits).  But I was a little concerned because we entered into a diamond polishing area, then walked forever (through some small exhibits, a gift shop and the world's lamest cafeteria.  Finally we got to the museum and I realized I had entered through the wrong door.

The museum itself was good, not great, meaning had I paid for entry I would have been disappointed.  We watched a short video on how diamonds are made and mined, M got to sit at a polishing table and  we saw a number of crowns on exhibit.  M learned:

1. Diamonds come from volcanos, and are sometimes washed downstream.
2. Diamonds aren't shiny when they are found
3. They are polished to make them shiny

Not bad for a 30 minute visit.  We also learned that vending machines aren't a good enough snack bar, but luckily the Museumkaart makes it possible to pop into any museum for free, so we decided to return to the Van Gogh museum for lunch since it was right across the street.  We were excited to see a new acquisition in the entry lobby:  Van Gogh's "the Bedroom" painted with characters from Sesamestraat (yes, that's the Dutch version of Sesame Street and the only noticeable difference is that Big Bird is blue).  If that wasn't exciting enough for a 4-year-old, when we entered the museum we saw Ernie, Bert, Elmo and Rolf!  They must have been there for the unveiling, and we must have missed the unveiling by about 5 minutes.  Even though he isn't a huge Sesame fan, M was pretty thrilled. 

Museum Monday: Vincent van Gogh

Last week M and I began our first true "Museum Monday" visit at the Van Gogh museum.  I picked this for our first art museum visit for several reasons:  interesting art, story appealing to children, and close to home.

Sure, M has been to art museums before, but this would be  little different from his infant visits to the Met and his more recent visits to the Cloisters.  The Cloisters has more objects than paintings, plus the cool knight theme going on.  Looking back, I think his many visits to the Cloisters (as well as countless visits to libraries) helped him to understand "museum etiquette":  quiet voices, no touching, etc.  I set some low expectations for the attention span (30-60 minutes of art looking, then on to the cafe and we could quit whenever M indicated he was done).  It actually went pretty well.


We looked at art for about 45 minutes.  A lot of this involved moving among the different galleries, so the actual art gazing was more like 10-15 minutes, and involved M making up a lot of stories, like, "this is a picture of flowers, from when they first invented flowers..."  But, later that day I was really pleased that, when asked some questions about our day M could recollect:

1. We went to the Vincent van Gogh museum
2. Vincent van Gogh was an artist who painted
3. One interesting thing about Vincent van Gogh was that he cut off part of his own ear.

I'm also fairly certain M could recognize Van Gogh's self portrait, since we spent a lot of time looking at both the oversized version by th entrance and the picture on the brochure.  And he thoroughly enjoyed the giant ice cream he got in the cafe.  I think we will go back at some point.  They have an audio tour specifically designed for children (6 and over, but I'd like to try it in a few months with M).

Museum Monday: NEMO

Peter recently took a day off and we went to NEMO, Amsterdam's science museum, as a family.  While there, we bought our Museumkaarts, a card that for 40 Euro provides access into 400 museums in the Netherlands.  Having a card like this changes one's relationship to museums.  Instead of feeling like you have to see everything to get your 12.50 worth, suddenly you can go to a museum for an hour, anytime you want.  This was a relationship that I also enjoyed living in Washington, D.C., where most of the museums are free of charge.

I have decided to get the most out of our Museumkaarts, taking M to a different museum every Monday since he doesn't go to school on Mondays.  It's a tall order, taking a 4-year-old to a museum, but I figure we'll start slow, spending a half hour at the museum and then hitting the cafe.  M gets introduced to museums and a new feature on My 'dam Adventure is born:  Museum Monday.

So, our trip to NEMO was exhausting.  It's a long-ish tram ride from our Neighborhood and a long-ish walk from the tram stop.  Once we got there M was so stimulated he bounced from exhibit to exhibit like a pinball.  The museum itself was interesting, if aimed at a bit of an older audience than the preschool set.

There were a couple of really interesting exhibits, including a hands-on one about water that M loved.  We also spent some time in the Wonder Lab, first doing an experiment about color, which kind of bored M, then experimenting on the absorbancy of kitty litter, which was VERY difficult to clean up.  There's a great cafe on the ground floor, and a really crap one, albeit with an amazing view, on the top floor.  In short, the day was exhausting, but M loved it, and I'm sure he'd want to go back.