tips for taking young kids to the mb art museum
The Myrtle Beach Art Museum is an excellent indoor activity. And it is free! Here are some tips for taking young kids to the MB Art Museum.
ADDRESS: 3100 S Ocean Blvd
HOURS: Tues–Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 1–5pm.
PRICE: Free!
SUMMARY: The museum is fairly small but still has enough to give you a great experience with the artist’s work. It’s not a stuffy environment and the staff always seem excited for kids to come explore!
The exhibits
You can see what is current and upcoming here. They rotate a couple of times per year and they always try to have something kid-friendly during the summer months.
tips for keeping young kids engaged
RESEARCH THE ARTIST/THEME BEFOREHAND | We first did this when we we visited the Frida exhibit last year. It does help the kids stay engaged in the subject and better understand what they’re seeing. It brings up all kinds of things we don’t even think to explain –– like that the artist is the one creating the work, not necessarily the one in the pictures!
FIND THE HIDDEN ELEMENTS | If you have done your research then you’ll probably know some themes you can have kids look for –– or even just look for the artists signature. The museum does also usually have a scavenger hunt activity the kids can do.
PICK YOUR FAVORITE WORK IN EACH ROOM | I’d have my kids take a long look around and tell me their favorite work in each room. For an extra challenge have them tell you why!!! This was fun for all of us and def forced them to slow down some.
TAKE A BREAK FOR TEA | Truthfully my kids got most excited about getting a cup of hot tea and were in a hurry to get to this portion of the adventure. And it does have some novelty… they can pick out their tea flavor, add some sweetener and sit in the lovely all-window room overlooking a great view of the construction site nearby (big highlight for my 3-year old). The tea is free and self-serve but there is a tip jar with a suggestion of $1 per cup.
EXPLORE OUTSIDE | The junk-art octopus is worth walking outside to see. It’s definitely not beautiful in the traditional sense but young kids enjoy walking around the tentacles and it’s a good chance to talk about proper disposal of trash.
FINAL THOUGHTS
These are two really nice and pretty short exhibits to enjoy with kids of all ages. They’ll be on display until Dec 31, 2022 so be sure to carve out some time to go visit!
Here are some other things we like to do in the area…