Why did your organisation choose to be part of the cohort?

To access the tools, experience, resources, contacts and mentoring that the Family Friendly Programme offered.

As a free museum with an existing range of child friendly interactives, we felt that our offer was not always well communicated. The original information boards were text heavy and written for adults.

A COVID-19 recovery grant for new interpretation panels gave us the perfect opportunity to implement layered information suitable for families of all ages within our exhibition hall.

We wanted advice on how best to use our museum mascot, Charlie the Crane, to attract younger visitors to engage with our museum.

What was your organisation’s approach to family provision before the cohort?

Before the cohort, we had already signed the Kids in Museums Manifesto and offered a range of things for families:

  • Free entry and free parking
  • Wheelchair and buggy/ pram accessible
  • Picnic tables and benches in the courtyard and small, resonably-priced refreshment area inside, with families are welcome to bring their own food and drink
  • Large, adapted toilet
  • Gift shop with a range of toys and souvenirs from 26p
  • A museum mascot, Charlie Crane, featured in tweets about the site and included in website activities during lockdown
  • Laminated Charlie Crane information sheets in exhibition hall as a low-cost solution to engage families
  • Charlie Crane stickers offered to children

Play mat, pull back planes, colouring in/activity table and dressing up had been stored over lockdown and not displayed again.

Front of house staff and volunteers’ approach to engaging with families was varied.

What did you achieve as a result of the cohort?

  • Exhibition Hall: family friendly improvements to gallery, including seating, play mats and signage
  • Staff Training: training for team with helpful tips to make families feel welcome and comfortable
  • Breastfeeding Welcome: introduced clear labels at entrance and on website
  • Charlie the Crane ‘lift the flap’ panels: introduced interactives that invite families to ponder a question and then reveal the answer
  • Under 5s sessions: planned under 5s play, activity and story time sessions during our closed days so that families can relax and socialise as a group

We gained an awareness of the extra facilities and comfort that nursing parents require and researched how we could install a pull-down changing table for infants within an existing adapted toilet.

We are also planning a Charlie Crane and pilot teddy bear picnic.

In focus: Under 5s sessions

We are keen to start our tots sessions, but have listened to the advice of the mentors that under 5s facilities need to be in place first.

Adapting our current facilities with storage, nappy change facilities, comfortable nursing area and highchairs has proved a challenge with our limited space. We have been careful not to rush in and compromise what we already offer with our adapted disability aids, especially in the toilet. We are looking into funding and specialist help to add a pull down infant changing table.

The recommendation to promote that we are breastfeeding friendly also hit an initial snag, as our district, and indeed county, are not recognised as members of the Breastfeeding Welcome Scheme. North Kesteven District Council has produced its own version instead with the same key aims.

Budget

In total, the cost for the main areas was £830.55.

  • Signage and cut out: £550.00
  • FJ Beerling books: £76.25
  • Round carry seat pads x 6: £64.95
  • Square carry seat pads x 6: £64.95
  • 24-piece Jigsaw floor mat x 2: £49.90
  • Colour-in gliders: £24.50

What was your organisation’s approach to families after the cohort?

We were delighted to work with Far Post Design incorporating our mentor’s recommendations for interpretation within the exhibition hall.  The Family Friendly grant enabled us to extend the family friendly signage into our entrance area and signpost families to find, play and engage within the exhibition hall. A character cut out at the entrance immediately creates a sense that the space is welcoming to families and invites them to share their photos on social media.

In preparation for out tots sessions, we bought soft, portable jigsaw mats to insulate the floor within our exhibition space, along with carry seat pads to give the flexibility to create play and crawl spaces indoors and in our courtyard. The seat pads can also be moved around to form shapes and incorporate imaginative play around aircraft seating. They are a useful addition for booster seats and play and picnic spaces.

Our website is in the process of being updated to communicate more effectively our offer for families. The mentor’s recommendations of providing more information for families to plan their visit and what we offer is a key commitment.

Training and information resources from the programme have been shared with staff and volunteers. Inductions and handbooks have been updated to incorporate family friendly policies. This has generated ideas and discussions on how our site and activities can be improved.

Top tips

  • Try to see your venue from the perspective of a child.
  • Share pre-visit information.
  • Make families feel welcome, free to explore, learn and play.
  • A Museum Mascot signpost invites engagement.
  • Ensure the whole team is aware and sharing ideas on improving the welcome and experience for families.
  • Plan to provide safe, clean facilities for under 5s.

Tags: ,

Categories:

Audience: