Kids and Art at the Meadows Museum in Dallas

After our recent trip to Paris, my oldest daughter and I have tried to become a bit more knowledgeable about art. She has now seen the Mona Lisa in person, as well as a computer-generated recreation of Van Gogh's most famous works (hello Atelier des Lumieres). She's seen Degas' famous paintings of ballerinas and paid homage to Paris' most famous work of art, the Eiffel Tower. So now, we figured, is a good time to start learning about art that is right here in DFW!

We started yesterday with a trip to the Meadows Museum at SMU in Dallas, a museum that we honestly didn't know was there until recently. The museum, which opened in 2001, features temporary exhibits on a rotating basis as well as a long term exhibition on load from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday and is $12 for adults and $4 for seniors (kids 12 and under are free). Parking is complimentary in a covered garage, and the museum features a gift shop. 

Meadows recently debuted activity bags geared toward children to get them thinking about, and engaging with, art. The girls and I went yesterday to try out these new activity bags and spend our Sunday expanding our horizons. 

These bags feature prompt cards, a book called Ish, a mirror, a journal and writing implements. The included instructions tell kiddos that there is no need to be quiet in the galleries (although, man!, were those galleries quiet) because art is meant to be talked about and enjoyed. The instructions encouraged us to find a spot (on the floor in the middle of the one of the galleries is totally fine!) and begin talking about art.

We started by reading the book, one we had never heard of. It spoke of a young boy trying to figure out what art is. The neatest part for us was that the book was in Spanish and English, so my oldest was able to read aloud to us in Spanish (we love her dual language school!) and then check the English text to make sure she had properly understood what she read. The text was also written in Braille. 

After reading the book, we talked a bit about the art on the walls, what the artists may have been thinking out when they were painting, why they painted what they painted and so on. My middle daughter got busy creating a self portrait with the supplied mirror and crayons. My youngest created figures with the included wax sticks. My oldest wandered from gallery to gallery writing down questions in her notebook to be Googled later. 

The museum was about a 30 minute drive from Arlington and we spent about 1.5 hours in the galleries and an additional 15 minutes checking out the sculptures in front of the museum. This was a nice Sunday getaway that was equally educational and fun for my girls. Thanks to the Meadows Museum for hosting us!

*Please note: we were provided free admission in exchange for this review. All thoughts and comments are my own.*