Gyeonggi Children’s Museum holds planned exhibition to help children learn the importance of grandparents

Unlike conventional exhibitions, the planned exhibition is an activity-zone that invites children to touch the exhibits themselves

◇ The interior of the Gyeonggi Children’s Museum’ captures the attention of children. Photo of planned exhibit entrance. ⓒ Reporter Song Jeong-hyo

If you want to enjoy a relaxing cultural experience in the middle of a city full of apartments and shops, how about heading out to the Gyeonggi Children’s Museum in Giheung-gu of Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province? Celebrating its fourth anniversary, the Gyeonggi Children’s Museum is holding a planned exhibition titled ‘Very Special Friends! Our Grandmothers and Grandfathers’. The exhibit runs from October 2 all the way to August 21 in 2016 to help children, who tend to forget about their grandparents, learn and experience their importance.

The pastel-tone interior of the museum is packed full of, hands-on experience facilities set at the eye level of children as well as interesting exhibits capable of capturing their attention. It has four doors, each in a different color. As children open the doors one by one, they inch closer to their grandmothers and grandfathers before they even realize it.  

■ A special planned exhibition full of great experiences

◇ The blue door that helps children understand their grandparents (left), and magnifying glasses that help children experience how it feels to have cataracts (right). ⓒ Reporter Song Jeong-hyo

If you knock on the green door and enter, you’ll find activities that help children take interest in their grandfathers and grandmothers. Fedoras, glasses, and grey-haired wigs that belong to grandparents are there for the visiting children. When they wear those items and press a button, they can take photos of themselves in grey hair.

Children can also experience the difficulties their grandparents face in everyday life. They don’t understand why old people wear glasses and squint when they read newspapers. To help children understand why, there are magnifying glasses and ‘cataracts glasses’ for them to wear and read books. Apart from these items, the museum has plenty of interesting activities such as ‘Grandmother’s bundle of wisdom’ that help children learn various lessons from the experience of grandmothers, as well as ‘Grandmother’s treasure chest’ and ‘Grandfather’s dream’ that invite children to participate in the activities.

It takes roughly 30 to 40 minutes to fully tour the planned exhibit. Children barely notice the time flying by as they enjoy activities that invite them to take photos, ride the ‘bicycle of life’, and play old games from the past. The exhibition is expected to inspire the desire in children to play with their grandmothers and grandfathers. Meanwhile, for accompanying adults, the exhibit is expected to be a heartwarming experience as it reminds them of their own parents and grandparents.

Regarding the exhibition, one curator with the Gyeonggi Children’s Museum explained, “It’s not just an exhibition hall to see with your eyes. Rather, it’s an experience-based exhibition hall that’s approachable, interesting, and easy for children to understand.” The curator added, “We hope parents can come to the Gyeonggi Children’s Museum and experience culture for as long as they want without having to worry about costs instead of taking their children to expensive facilities such as kids cafes.”

■ Gyeonggi Children’s Museum is full of various cultural activities!

◇ Children playing with yellow and red leaves at Nature’s Playground (left), and Healthy Playground (right) ⓒ Reporter Song Jeong-hyo

Parents and children can enjoy healthy and informative cultural activities at the Gyeonggi Children’s Museum between 10:00am and 6:00pm from Tuesdays to Sundays. Infants under 12 months old are admitted for free, while the admission fee for children from 12 months of age is KRW 4,000 per person. Gyeonggi residents can visit the museum for the economic price of KRW 3,000.

The Gyeonggi Children’s Museum has its Planned Exhibition Department, Nature’s Playground, Healthy Playground, a cafeteria, and museum shop on the first floor. The second floor features three exhibition halls and the third floor features four halls. Once you enter the museum, you’ll be able to spot designs and eco-friendly playgrounds that are popular among children. A cooking program for families on weekends is also available until November. For more information, please visit the Gyeonggi Children’s Museum’s official website (http://gcm.ggcf.kr).

ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News | Gyeonggi Province Youth Press Corps, Reporter Song Jeong-hyo love99song@naver.com 

http://gnews.gg.go.kr/news/news_detail.asp?number=201511171548315122C083&s_code=C083