Open Forum

Hi all,

We have a tour for school groups that includes a live performance by a costumed reenactor, in addition to going through the galleries with a docent. The tour is geared towards 5th-8th grades, but we occasionally have younger and older students. The performance space is a small area near the entrance to the galleries, just a plain flat floor near some windows, without a stage or any other kind of raised platform. Until now, we've asked students (up to 30 per performance) to just sit on floor in front of the actress, but docents have complained that we need to have some kind of designated seating for the kids. For the most part, kids have been okay sitting on the floor, but we finally had one tour this morning of 7th graders who refused to sit on the floor. 

Does anyone else do a similar program that requires kids to sit on the floor or in a similar non-theater space? What do you do for seating? These are the ideas we've had so far:

• a large comfy rug, like shag or similar
• rows of regular chairs, though this idea was rejected for being too complicated to set up, and for creating possible vision problems for kids towards the back
• small folding stools (like this), that kids could grab when entering the space, the only issue with this is how to store them when not in use

Does anyone have any experience with any of these, or have another idea?

Thank you so much!

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Charles Hersh
Education Assistant
National Museum of American Jewish History
Philadelphia, PA
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"but we finally had one tour this morning of 7th graders who refused to sit on the floor. "

Seriously?  If some of them don't want to sit on the floor, tell them to stand at the back.  And to put their phones away.  Perhaps they are too out of shape to get back up?  A little exercise might do them good.

Sorry to rant, but the time and effort to set up/put away chairs is both a drain on staff and a distraction to other visitors.  If a tour wants a sit down presentation, do it in a theater space or a classroom already set up.  If such a space does not exist, maybe charge a set up fee?

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David Beard
Director
Museum of the Gulf Coast
Port Arthur TX

We also often have kids sit on the floor, though this can be problematic for older kids for a variety of reasons. They may not want to get their clothes dirty (if it is messy or wet out and other groups have been through, your floor might not be perfectly clean every second of the day.) For girls who are wearing skirts or dresses they may be much more self-conscious about what shows if they sit on the floor than younger kids are.  For middle schoolers it can also feel like they are being treated like "little kids" and that they are being condescended to if they are being asked to sit on the floor (we wouldn't ask adults to sit on the floor, would we?). We use three different solutions for our museum theatre and storytelling programs. For very short pop-up performances (5 minutes or less), we simply have guests stand. We do have rugs and also vinyl covered cushions (called sit-upons) for younger kids. We also have folding camp stools and a rolling cart with shelves that the stools fit into.   It is easy for kids to pull out a camp stool and to put it away at the end of the performance and the cart will fit in our closets if not needed. Feel free to contact me if you would like more specifics.  Good for you for viewing students as visitors who are as deserving of feeling welcome and comfortable in your museum as any other guest!

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Elizabeth Pickard
Director, Interpretive Programs
Missouri Historical Society and Museum
Saint Louis MO