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Toddler Time at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
What were the aims of the project?
This is an on-going service, which aims to meet the needs of very young children aged 0-3 and their parents / carers, as part of Kelvingrove Museum’s programme for families.
Toddler Time was started because we noticed a number of parents with babies and toddlers were visiting the museum, in particular the cafe, but that we weren’t providing any activities or sessions for this age group. We decided to develop a service specifically for children aged 0-3 years which would engage them with the museum and its collections. It would also provide a platform for us to signpost these families to other programmes across Glasgow Museums.
What happened?
Toddler Time is an on-going service which lasts around 25 minutes and follows a fairly standard format with the same introduction each week, followed by some rhymes, a story, a song or two and a simple activity. There are approximately 10 different collection-themed sessions covering topics such as Colours, Animals, Dinosaurs, and Bugs and Butterflies. Stories with rhymes, repetition and an opportunity for audience participation always goes down well, as do good illustrations. All activities are kept simple – like making the waves on the sea with material, looking at butterflies mounted in boxes or bouncing coloured balloons in the air. Every session ends with parents being encouraged to go and look for an object or display related to the theme, elsewhere in the museum.
We have regular attendees who are familiar with the staff delivering the sessions, and know some of the popular songs and stories.
Toddler Time has become so successful we are now running it twice every Friday, with an average attendance of around 20 children and 15 adults per session.
What was learned?
Our staff have had the opportunity to increase their knowledge of working with very young children, and the sorts of sessions that appeal to this age group. They have also shadowed pre-5 sessions provided by other organisations in order to share skills and ideas. As a team, we have regular meetings to review things from an operational point of view, and make changes accordingly. Finally, we have established partnerships with organisations who work with young parents, such as Careers Scotland and Rathbone, and have been offering closed Toddler Time sessions to these groups, in order to encourage them to visit the museum with their children.
What is the wider relevance?
This is an age group that not many museums specifically target. There is a growing demand from parents for fun yet educational children’s programmes that start from an early age.
The sessions play an important role for parents too. We have seen some parents come in quite shy at the start, who have made new friendships and become regular visitors.
How was this project promoted?
It is advertised through our ‘What’s On for Families’ leaflet, Preview magazine as well as our website. Other external publications have featured it, such as The List. Word of mouth, both in person and via sites such as Netmums, has been a key factor in visitor numbers.
What type of evaluation was done?
In order to obtain feedback from attendees we held an informal feedback coffee morning in March 2010, where we gave parents tea and scones in return for their feedback. We asked them about the content and operation of the sessions as well as the museum services in general. Many helpful suggestions came out of the session, and are now being considered by the Learning and Access staff.
For Further Information
For further information, please contact the Learning & Access team, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Tel 0141 276 9508, web: www.glasgowmuseums.com
Associated Images
Categories
Evaluation
Learning
Access
Project Start
1st Aug 2009
Project End
Ongoing
Published
22nd Dec 2010