Intergenerational Interaction: Kids in Museums Workshop

Working with museums, heritage sites and cultural organisations nationwide to make them more welcoming for children, young people and families.

Every visitor to a museum or heritage site should feel welcomed and included — from the very youngest tiny tots to the oldest (and wisest?!) visitors. This is the ambition of Kids in Museums, a charity organisation dedicated to promoting cross-generational engagement. They provide training sessions and resources, and support initiatives that ensure all visitors, regardless of age, enjoy their experience at a museum or heritage site.

But the idea of welcoming visitors of all ages and ensuring that their experiences are equally enjoyable is only the first (albeit important) step. The question then arises on how to support conversations between generations.

This ‘intergenerational interaction’ was the subject of a recent Kids in Museum workshop, which explored intergenerational best practice and offered practical tools and case-study examples on how to bring visitors together across generations.

A key take-away message from the workshop was the importance of art, and the artistic imagination, as a tool for promoting intergenerational engagement.

Using an object, a story, or a piece of art can be the ‘way in’ to start conversations that cut across generational experiences and emotions. Igniting the artistic imagination can allow visitors of all ages to find creative ways to communicate with each other, sharing ideas and experiences.

Here at Tandem, we will take this creative ideal on board and consider how artistic interventions can be the spark for interaction between all visitors, big and small.