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Playing up to a smaller audience
Physically, children may be one of the smaller audiences but they often figure large in museum planning. In fact, they're special guests at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney, with Museum staff providing creative programs for their entertainment throughout the year.
The museum recently opened Oceans of Stories-Illustrations from Australian Children's Books, a major exhibition on a youthful theme that will appeal to the child in everyone.
The exhibition presents around 100 original artworks by contemporary illustrators and shows how these pictures lend a touch of magic to the printed page. It includes interactive elements that encourage children to read and appreciate books, and has information for grown-ups on how to encourage kids to read, where to buy good books and how to look after them.
Young visitors also find a lot to interest them in the museum's mainstay attractions. They clamber through the submarine HMAS Onslow and get involved in the 'Action Stations' sound and light play on the destroyer HMAS Vampire.
'We started to focus more directly on families and kids in the early days when it became clear the public wasn't sure what a maritime museum contained,' says Director, Mary-Louise Williams.
'If anything, they thought it was simply about ships and polished bells and things like that. In fact, we're a social history museum. We have wide-ranging exhibitions that show how the sea has helped shape the lives of Australians-through exploration, trade, defence, immigration and leisure.'
So the museum increased and promoted activities with family appeal. Kids Deck came into being, with fun and creative activities for kids 2-10 years old every Saturday and Sunday and every day in school holidays. The dedicated Kids Deck space moves around the museum, but mostly it's located inside or close to the current major exhibition.
During the recent popular Antarctic Heroes exhibition, for example, the adjacent Kids Deck mimicked explorer Shackleton's heroic small boat James Caird-the star attraction in the main arena.
Kids climbed on their Caird, figured out how it sailed, tried on some explorers' gear to gauge its weight and warmth and snuggled down in an Antarctic explorer's tent. Younger kids made a host of craft items including paper penguins and colourful snowflakes.
More recently, the museum has introduced a Mini Mariners program every Friday, except in school holidays, for children five years and under.
Run by qualified staff for tots and their parents or carers, it includes maritime story telling, poems and simple craft projects.
Besides these set programs, the museum offers special theatre shows for kids, hands-on activities, music, dance and special events-all designed to bring its exhibitions to life.
'There's another side to all this,' says Ms Williams. 'Museums are developing beyond the stage where they were simply collections of objects on display.
'They are coming to reflect the communities they serve. People are coming to museums to find out about people and their environment and we're hoping young people feel comfortable here. We'd like to think they find it a lot of fun, and that they'll want to continue to support it and keep coming back.'
The programs are showing good results. More than 300 000 have attended the museum over the year 2002-03. Some 22 per cent of them will have been visitors aged 15 and under.
Oceans of Stories-Illustrations from Australian Children's Books is at the National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour until 2 November. For more information call 02 9298 3777 or check out the website www.anmm.gov.au.