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Comment by wilwade | Hacker News Reader

As someone who has also gone through all three stages, I think the key for children is choosing the museums and exhibits that they or you like and enjoying them instead of analyzing them.

For example, my 6 year old daughter enjoys the local art museum, but I don't think she has looked at any one painting more than 5 seconds. As a parent you have to be OK with missing out on a part of the experience for you and work on the experience for your children. The specific experience I suggest focusing on for young children is just enjoying it, or a specific part. Mostly that means letting them go quickly by that masterpiece and asking what they like about whatever they do stop to see.

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That sounds sensible.

Kids - even bright kids - aren't going to be able to understand or appreciate art the way adults do.

So I mostly agree with the article. Dragging kids around museums they're visibly bored by to "improve" or "educate" them is a waste of time for everyone.

I used to love the Science Museum in London as a kid, because there were buttons to push and levers to play with and giant aeroplanes and spaceships. And sometimes, computers.

As an adult I really enjoy art galleries (and science museums.) But I can't imagine six year old me getting anything out of gallery visits at all. Art is too abstract and emotionally complex for pre-teens, and the history to give it a context is too distant from their experience.

You are free to correct me if I'm wrong, but in reading this I can't imagine you have kids.

As someone who does, let me affirm that children absolutely get as much out of gallery visits as adults do. It isn't a perfect overlay in subject matter, but they learn as much as you or I. At pre-adult ages, exposure is as critical as understanding, which will evolve only via experience.

I don't know exactly what I got out of it, but six or seven year old me heard about Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting, and pestered my parents to take me to see it.

This was a long trip for us, halfway across England, but we went. No doubt we saw it, but what I actually remember is buying a small print in the gallery shop, and the train home.

The Science Museum (London) has an excellent permanent exhibition on computing[1]. I haven't seen the new Ada Lovelace exhibition.

[1] http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/Plan_your_visit/...

Art doesn't have to be abstract and emotionally complex with historical context. It can just be pretty pictures and interesting shapes and such.

Children can absolutely enjoy art. But they're going to enjoy it on their own terms. They're not going to understand it or appreciate it the way adults do, yes. But that doesn't mean they can't appreciate it.

Obviously if you take your children to an art museum and insist that they spend five minutes staring at each piece trying to understand the context, they're going to hate it. And obviously, you should only do this if you want to teach your children that art is terrible and museums are places to avoid. But if you just let them do their thing, and answer their questions, and try to point out interesting features, they can enjoy it a lot.

If your child is young, referring to it as the "fart museum" is a good way to maintain interest, too. This is also a good barometer of the adult's attitude: if you can't stand calling it the "fart museum" because it's disrespectful or too crude or whatever, then you don't have the right attitude to take a small child to the fart museum!

> For example, my 6 year old daughter enjoys the local art museum, but I don't think she has looked at any one painting more than 5 seconds.

Funny, what you say reminds me of my (Dutch) driving lessons. When I started learning how to drive, what was most peculiar to me was getting used to looking in the rear view mirrors. I was looking at them, but I didn't really see what was going on.

At first I just had to make the routine a habit: "inside mirror, outside mirror, look over your shoulder, turn if safe". I think it took me at least ten lessons before I actually saw what was going on behind me, and incorporate that into my driving habits.

Maybe this applies to what you say in the above quote too... maybe it just takes some time.

this is exactly right. when i took piano lessons as a child my parents would chide me if i tried to learn music that interested me (blues, pops, rock). they would literally prevent me from learning what i wanted, which would just manifest in resentment and reluctance in learning what they wanted me to learn (basically nothing but classical). lose-lose.

good intentions, shockingly terrible execution. i still give them grief for that today, and they admit it was ill-conceived. it's a great example of smart people doing stupid, stupid things.

and as far as museums go, perhaps it isn't a great idea to spend 4 hours straight in a single place walking in circles with a young child. the next time you want to go to a museum, what are they going to remember? the beautiful art, or the forced march?

it's all these little things are what build resentment in children, not the big ideas. it's sabotaging your own good intentions. maybe i just don't know anything about parenting (i have no kids myself) but it just seems patently obvious to me that you shouldn't ruin good things like this by projecting adult-levels of discipline on little kids!

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