Island Parent Magazine Winter 2023

PLAY
Make the Most of a
Trip to the Museum
The sun isn’t up yet when my threeyear-old
runs into my room. He
hands me Little Bear and Marshall to
give me the false hope that this morning
he might actually fall asleep then climbs
up into the bed and takes over my pillow
before bouncing up and down.
“What we doing today Mommy?”
I look up at him and admit defeat. “I
was thinking we could go to the museum.”
“Yay!” He hops back off the bed and
b-lines for the door. “Ready!” he calls as
he bounds down the stairs.
When I first had a child, I was pretty
nervous about taking him to art galleries
or museums or anything that involved
walking around the halls and staring at
exhibits. But I loved museum and gallery
visits and didn’t want to give that up.
Now that I’m three kids and countless
museum and art gallery trips in, I thought
I’d share what I’ve learned to make the
experience enjoyable for everyone.
Be prepared. My son is usually pretty
happy to run out the door in his pajamas,
but I like to take some time to get ready
so we can set ourselves up for a good day.
For starters, I pack a lot of snacks. My
kids are hungry after running or crawling
through the exhibits. Food isn’t allowed
in most exhibits, so we find somewhere
outside the exhibit area where they can
eat their snacks. We like to eat food
twice: once right when we arrive, and
then again after we’ve had a chance to
explore.
We also take some time to go over the
ground rules. Like no yelling, being careful
with the exhibits they’re allowed to
touch, and sticking together as a group.
Finally, I take a few moments to plan
our route when we get there. Like I said,
when we get to the museum, we usually
have a snack, then we tour the museum
before sitting down for our second snack,
and then we finish off any of the other
exhibits we’ve missed.
Go when it’s quieter. It’s not always
possible, but if you can, try to go when
it’s a bit quieter. It’s easier to keep track
of roaming children when there are less
people milling about. You also won’t
have to worry about feeling like your
children are being disruptive and ruining
someone else’s enjoyment of the museum,
Junior Paleontology
We believe that hands-on, curiosity
led experience is the best way to
cultivate a lifelong love of science!
Our Junior Paleontology programs
give your child the opportunity to
explore natural sciences in a whole
new way, with learning, exploration
and play mixed together.
Upcoming programs include multi-day
camps for 8–10 and 11–14 year olds
running March 21, 22 and 23 from 5–7pm.
For our younger scientists in training,
Prehistoric Preschool welcomes 3–5
year olds and their parent or guardian
for 45 minutes adventuring in a
prehistoric wonderland. Prehistoric
Preschool runs the third Sunday o
each month from 9–9:45am.
Details and registration available on our website:
dinolabinc.ca
28 Island Parent Magazine IslandParent.ca