Museums offer a cultural experience, which sometimes becomes a deferred manifestation. What we mean by "deferred manifestation" is that the experience your kids complain about as a kid, becomes something they fondly remember later in life. This deferment might even spark a passion or stimulate a talent, you would have never seen without the visit.
You can show kids artifacts or paintings of what they are about to see on the visit, to motivate them and get them excited. You can even show them an artifact and simply ask, "What questions do you have?" (aligning yourself with John Dewey's inquiry model of teaching). Children can record their questions on a clipboard or pad and during the visit try to find the answers (or research) those questions. People naturally want to share what they have learned, so maybe they can create a digital product or blog about their experience.
The E-gifted team encourages you to look at your local museum's upcoming exhibits this summer. Plan a play-date around the newest topic. Another idea is to even recruit a local teacher (teachers typically have the summers off) and ask them to design a few lessons for your child and a group of friends for the week!
If time and cash is an issue this summer, virtual museums are becoming more advanced. Virtual trips offer high definition views of the art and you can avoid the major crowds. More learning might happen on a virtual trip to a museum!
A Short List of E-gifted Approved Virtual Museum Tours
1. Paris,France: The Louvre
We love how The Louvre offers a variety of thematic trails: Explore the The da Vinci Code Trail, or Ancient Goddess, or even Alexander The Great trail.
http://www.louvre.fr/en/parcours
2. Rome, Italy: The Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel is a wonderful tour, because it is better than real-life. In real-life you are crowded into the chapel and cannot really see all the Frescos. You can even zoom in to see them in detail. We also really enjoy the touch of adding authentic music to the tour; it really feels like you are in Italy!
http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/index_sistina_en.htm
3. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian National History of Natural History
E-gifted loves this museum tour, because it looks like a real museum; you can go through the halls and click on pictures and videos.
http://www.mnh.si.edu/vtp/1-desktop/
4. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rijksmuseum
E-gifted loves how you can purchase a multimedia tour which guides you through the exhibits. From their website,"Six different routes lead visitors past the highlights, the Golden Age and through the building. The ‘magic window’ lets you look at the objects through different eyes."
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en
Direct link to the multimedia tours: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/guided-tours/multimediatour
Rijksmuseum also has a free iPad or iphone app.
E-gifted encourages you to schedule some museum tours this summer, or make a list of virtual tours you want your kids to hit up next week. The visits might even spark an independent study!
Other Amazing Resources:
Here are some other resources we enjoy showing to our students that involve museums or art.
1. Google Art Project. Art lovers can digitally roam the halls of the Met.
http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project?hl=en
2. The Louvre iPad or iphone App. You can pick a painting and scroll down to reveal more details about the art and artist.
3. E-gifted Museology or Renaissance Period Online Class. We will probably offer this class again in October 2013. E-gifted is hosting the Renaissance Period online class July 8th, where we will explore the sistine chapel virtual tour and many more resources that could inspire your gifted student! If you want to go at your own pace, we have our Fine Arts Montage Class On-the-Go all summer long.
If you have visited an amazing museum, please comment or leave the link below. We are always collecting valuable museums to recommend to our parents!
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