Image: Early Years - Leeds Museums and Galleries (Photo: Nick Singleton)
Art Fund and Nesta collaborate with eight museum organisations to support parents with their children’s social-emotional development
Art Fund and Nesta – the UK’s innovation agency for social good – have jointly launched a £1m programme to enhance early child development and parent-child interactions through creative museum experiences
‘Mini Wonders’ has been created for for families with 2-4 year old after collaboration with eight UK museum organisations. The £1million programme has been jointly created and funded by Art Fund, through a legacy grant from the Foyle Foundation, and Nesta.
The programme aims to support early child development and enhance parent-child interactions ensuring more families can benefit from the experiences offered by museums and galleries.
It will initially run for two years, supporting as many families as possible to experience and contribute to the work, Art Fund said.
Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales; Great North Museum: Hancock; Leeds Museums & Galleries; Mansfield Museum; National Galleries of Scotland; Norfolk Museums Service; Tate Britain, and Ulster Museum will help to develop and deliver the programme. Working with the Nesta design team and leading academics, the eight museums will create a prototype scheme and pilot the programme using museum spaces and collections.
It will be tested with families with young children, “blending creativity with well-evidenced messages and strategies to support parents with their children’s social-emotional development”, said Art Fund.
“By embedding creativity and learning as part of children’s formative experiences, the programme will give them the best possible start as they move towards primary school.”
Jenny Waldman, Director, Art Fund, said: “The importance of foundational early-years experiences is crucial to giving the next generation the skills and experience to thrive. This programme and the recent Art Fund Museum of the Year winner, Young V&A, show how a museum can be an agent of change and inspiration to the next generation.”
