Nature education for children and adults
The Natural History Museum is paying special attention to young visitors.
Children are the largest visitor group to the Natural History Museum which is why special efforts have been spent in order to find subjects and presentation methods that are appealing to children. In addition to its displays, the museum also contains plenty to try out and even touch.
The museum exhibitions were totally renovated during the two-year refurbishment project. More than half of the animals on display are new, and the aim to provide interactive experiences has been topical right from the beginning. The visitor’s own active approach, keen eyes and curiosity will be rewarded.
The renovated museum has relatively few traditional displays; the animals and plants have been arranged into groups that are presented through narratives. Further information is usually available nearby, for example in drawers, behind hatches or through peeping-holes. The visitors can study various plants, animals and stones using a microscope.
At the museum, the visitor can feel the fur of different animals, fit enlarged bird identification rings into his/her own wrists, smell the aroma of marsh tea and listen to the noises made by the ringed seal under water. The smallest visitors even have an opportunity to crawl in a tunnel of snow that crunches like real snow at sub-zero temperatures.
Young visitors can collect stamps on a special passport from the History of Life exhibition. Seeing the museum on your own is easier with the Top10 brochure that guides the visitor to ten different spots of interest inside the museum. The brochure also provides hints and tasks for each spot. From the beginning of June, the museum organises guided tours daily at no extra cost.
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Text : Jenni Heikkinen
Translation: AAC Noodi oy
Photo: Laura Hiisivuori
Ateneum art museum (380 308)
