Going with a baby to a museum is crazy? The debate about whether or not the museums are a place for the little ones has been encouraged again after a four -year -old girl damaged a Rothko valued at 50 million euros at the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam (Netherlands). A point in favor of those who defend the sacredness of these cultural spaces that, however, in many countries, with the United Kingdom and France at the head, are increasingly accessible to families with children, also for children from 0 to 2 years.
A reflection of this is the recent opening in Paris de la Cité Des Bébés, within the Cité des Sciences et de l’en industr, a reference for the cultural centers of France and other countries in Europe, such as Germany, which aspire to welcome the smallest – and, therefore, their families – in good condition.
“Our peculiarity is that we focus exclusively on children under 0 to 2 years, and we make concessions with children who have growth delays. We have proven that children under 2 years of age do not behave the same if there were older children,” explains Raphaël Chanay, director of exhibitions at the Cité des Sciences et de l’en industry. This institution, which has an exclusive space for children for decades, opened in December 2024 a room of 250 square meters for babies. It was inaugurated after about five years of experimentation with the public. Next to the Mille Forms Center, in the French town of Clermont-Ferrand-an initiation center for children from 0 to 6 years, as described-are pioneers in France.
“30 years ago we worked focusing on the stage of 2 to 12 years. Over the years we saw that children used to be accompanied by the little brothers, which we did not take into account in the equation. Neither their needs nor the way in which parents interact with them,” says Chanay. The idea was to create a virgin space focused on the ground, since for babies that begin to crawl or are starting to walk it is the main point of interaction, creating elements, different places, more sensory, he explains. Conceived only with recycled materials, the cité des Bébés also proposes meetings with professionals who respond to consultations of companions or animators who make stories readings, dance and theater shows.
At the entrance, parents are invited to keep their mobiles at a box office since they let their children explore, intervening only if there is a risk. Chanay comments that her will is to invite adults to put themselves at the level of their children and learn with them, see how babies interact with the environment and objects in a quiet and safe space outside the day -to -day hastening.
Professor Franco -Spanish Jessica Cendoya Lafleur investigates the early stimulation of children in Museums in France and has begun to study cultural policies towards babies in the museums of Spain. As he explains, the turning point in the awareness of this new audience by the French museums became more evident after 2018, following the publication of a report made by the child psychotherapist Sophie Marinopoulos at the request of the Ministry of Gallic Culture. In the document, the specialist warned of a “cultural malnutrition” in children due to deterioration in relationships between parents and children.
“It means that if you do not give minors, culture have been put in the mother’s womb, you have a civilization that is being lost. It is essential that they can have access to cultures: music, theater, the people of the town, the traditions … a time when they are sharing something with their parents,” says Cendoya Lafleur. For her, museums have understood that you have to welcome the child as one more visitor. “Our public service role is to serve as a transmitter of knowledge, and welcoming children brings us closer to our institutional mission,” says Chanay, which clarifies that despite its defense that museums must be places of life a city of science is not the same as an art gallery. “Here we have the right to run and touch,” he recalls.
Fundamental in the understanding of a world in constant transformation
England has also been a pioneer in the reception of babies in cultural centers thanks to the accompaniment of organizations such as Kids in Museumwhich since 2003 works with national museums to make them more welcoming families and children. “Museums play a key role in promoting well -being and help people understand a world that changes rapidly in an era of misinformation and polarized in line,” says its executive director, Alison Bowyer. In their experience, the adaptation of museums also helps adults to socialize, reducing the isolation that many first -time parents experience.
The British organization, which confirms that children aged 0 to 3 are also beginning to be seen as a specific audience, has recently collaborated with the Baby Lab of the University of Sussex to create a document about their reception in museums and galleries. “For example, depending on whether they are in arms, in stroller or crawling, they will have a very different vision of space,” Bowyer synthesizes. The report of this university concludes that babies are able to participate in cultural and aesthetic experiences and that “the rich sensory and mental experience that involves visiting a museum or gallery provides an excellent opportunity to favor the perceptual, cognitive and linguistic development of the children.”
“Anglo -Saxon museums are an example of good practices, especially museums such as the Tate Modern and the National Gallery of London, or the MoMA of New York,” says Susana Cortés, responsible for the design of workshops and experiences placed in museums and co -founder of Art Stories, a project of dissemination of art history through multidisciplinary experimentation. Cortés, who works with national museums, considers that Spain is far behind in this area, with the exception of science or new technologies centers. “The Thyssen Museum is possibly one of the ones that has best tried to adapt with its educational team, leading a change of look at these institutions. The 0-3 year range is the great forgotten of all museums, although in Reina Sofia they have tried to get some activity that has had great reception,” he says.
In his opinion, visits to museums with children under 3 are not “especially relevant to them.” “It is phenomenal for adults who love art to have adequate facilities to go with kids (rest rooms, cafeteria with affordable and healthy things, adapted to children, games of games inspired by the museum’s collections …), and not give up visits for years just for having been parents,” adds the art historian. For her, children of this age can even suffer within a museum where they cannot run or explore or be a child for the danger of damaging the works. “This is a reasonable fear that the managers have. Life is very long and minors can visit museums later,” says Cortés, “but you have to make an effort, without hesitation, in adapting museums to primary minors who are at the top of their innate curiosity, with the ability to stop, look, deduce, understand explanations and behave not to damage the works.” Cortés acknowledges that Spain is very delayed in the reception of the family public in general, “and light years of hosting the 0-3 range in particular.”
