Museums - Come on in!

Early years settings are not alone in considering how to build young children’s cultural capital in the light of the new Ofsted framework. Our partnership of eight museums in the North East of England have also been asking: what kinds of visit can provide effective cultural learning experiences for EYFS groups?

We previously adapted our Key Stage 1 workshops for Foundation Stage children, but a rise in visitor numbers from Reception and nurseries prompted us to develop an EYFS visit from scratch as part of our Making a Mark project.

Each museum teamed up with a school or setting to explore ideas, and we had additional input from Redcar and Cleveland’s advisory teacher, who co-ordinates an EYFS network. To inform our planning, we focused on the Characteristics of Effective Learning (CoEL).

PILOT VISITS
‘Can we explore it?’ At the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, nursery children engaged in open-ended experiences to discover more about explorers.

Dinosaur Stomp At Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum, Reception children from Handale Primary tracked dinosaur footprints, hunted for fossils, created dinosaur landscapes and built their own paper dinosaurs.

Amazing animals At the Dorman Museum in Middlesbrough, Reception children from St Edward’s Primary were able to get up close to taxidermy, then explore the museum for fun facts about local creatures.

Train ride At the Head of Steam Museum, Darlington, Reception children from Reid Street Primary checked tickets, went on an imaginary ride to the seaside, recounted their journey and worked in the parcel office.

Takeover!At Kirkleatham Museum, Redcar, Coatham Primary’s Reception and nursery classes took on jobs including welcoming visitors, cleaning, creating a display and leading a tour for their friends.

Critical friends At the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, two- and three-year-olds from Hemlington Hall Primary skipped, rolled and danced their way through the gallery, and stacked boxes to take a closer look at art.

Collecting treasures At Preston Park Museum and Grounds in Stockton-on-Tees, two- and three-year-olds from The Oval Childcare were given the freedom to explore the galleries – handling, choosing and discussing treasures that mirrored what they could see on display.

WHAT WORKED
Generally, the visits were successful, with teachers welcoming:

the open-ended, active learning experiences that allowed children to follow their interests

the way the visit could start in the setting or on the journey

the fact that visits were often new life experiences for their children (and sometimes for the accompanying family adults)

the first-hand encounters with real objects, such as working with clay before looking at Christopher Dresser ceramics.

Parents and carers enjoyed being part of children’s learning and were impressed by the level of engagement and enjoyment. One five-year-old was so inspired by ‘dinosaur footprints’ that he created a story around them. Teachers also talked about benefits to children’s:

language and creative thinking

confidence and resilience, and

cultural capital, as children had spoken enthusiastically about their experiences back in the setting and at home.

Planning with our teachers certainly paid off. Using the CoEL opened up our thinking, and made us feel we had a strong underpinning for our sessions and could talk knowledgeably about children’s learning with practitioners. Overall, the project has shown that:

all our museums can offer effective cultural experiences for children aged five and under

EYFS children are fascinated by our collections and people

we can create visits that give children space and time to play and be curious

EYFS visits are a great way for settings to engage parents in children’s learning and could be part of building cultural capital

we love working with our youngest visitors in this more playful way.

MORE INFORMATION
For details of any of the museums’ EYFS programmes, contact Jo Graham: jo@learning-unlimited.co.uk or here

Jo Graham, from Learning Unlimited, worked as a consultant on the project