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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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dee - and others! - i found this research paper really provocative.  while
researching some art activities for early childhood, i was interested in
what research was saying about young kids in museums.

here's the link and overview....

http://eab.ed.qut.edu.au/activities/projects/museum/papers/paper.doc

Overview

	Research into young children’s museum experiences is extremely limited and
hence, there is currently limited understanding and appreciation of children
’s perspectives of such settings. This is quite surprising given that
children constitute a significant part of museum visitorship by virtue of
their inclusion as part of the family visitor demographic, yet accounts of
their experiences are largely ignored.  This article reports on children’s
perspectives and past experiences of museums .  Seventy-seven children, from
Brisbane, Australia, were surveyed individually using a combination of
methods including semi-structured interviews, guided questionnaire, and a
free-choice drawing activity.  Analysis and interpretation of the children’s
responses indicated that they had extensive experience of museums and very
positive perspectives about the settings they had visited. The children’s
responses, categorised by the types of museums experiences they encountered,
lead us to conclude that their salient recollections centre on experiences
which appeared to be non-interactive in nature, and directed towards
large-scale exhibits in a natural and social history museum.  Furthermore,
the data suggest that the children’s positive perspectives of museums were
correlated with encounters with exhibits with which they could make ready
connections with their pre-existing knowledge and understandings.  Thus,
there is evidence that exhibitions that provide readily accessible links
with children’s past experiences result in more positive affect than
exhibitions that are hands-on, engaging and/or multi-sensory in nature.

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