Going to the Museum – A Guide to Preparing New Visitors for a Museum Experience

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

Let's Get Ready to Visit the Museum! A multi-media, illustrated, family-friendly preparatory guide to a new museum experience The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs created "Going to the Museum," a free tri-lingual online resource, printed guide and classroom poster, to help prepare young audiences for a first time museum experience. The guide uses Universal Design principals and teaches children with and without disabilities, including children with Sensory Processing Disorders and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), what to expect when "Going to the Museum." Parents, guardians, teachers and other caregivers are able to familiarize their children and students with the sequence of events of going to an art, history, science or children’s museum by reading the guide together in preparation for a visit to the museum. This lends some predictability to this new encounter, which, in turn, decreases the child’s apprehension about this novel situation, and contributes to a happier, more satisfying cultural experience for everyone.