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Barcelona Museum Activities for Kids

Although it may be summer and the outdoor beckons, if you are visiting Barcelona or remaining in the city this summer, you should not miss out on the many cultural activities that exist for families at Barcelona's art and cultural centres. Several children's workshops are scheduled throughout the summer months.  Key venues for kids' activities are the CaixaForum cultural and art centre and the CosmoCaixa Science museum...

CaixaForum is located on the hill of Montjuïc, just a short walk up from the Magic Fountains at Plaza Espana.  The Obra Social Fundacion La Caixa which owns the centre has other CaixaForums in Madrid, Palma de Mallorca and Murcia. The foundation is also responsible for the CosmoCaixa Science museums in Barcelona and Madrid.

A major attraction of the CaixaForum for families are the Art al Labo activities that run throughout the year.  Children, along with their parents, can participate in creative and stimulating workshops that run adjacent to the centre's main exhibitions.  

This summer,  Pintar la Llum is an additional workshop programmed on Wednesdays at 5pm. Recommended for children 4 years and over, the session is devoted to exploring the effects of moonlight. Kids can observe  how light and shadow change the colours of what we see. In the transition from day to night, contrary to our basic assumptions, the sky does not always appear blue, nor the grass or trees green.

As our perception depends on light and shadow, the workshop begins with children observing 3 identical photographs taken at different times of evening as gradually dusk and then night falls. They can then recreate these images using different groups of colours.  Kids can see how artists reproduce the effects of light in some well-known paintings and then make their own stencils which they can place on a lit background to see the night time effect they have created.

Maternitats, a small exhibition on the ground floor of the centre, is another reason to visit the CaixaForum this summer. These emotive images, captured by award-winning journalist Bru Rovia, display the bond between mother and child in the most traumatic of circumstances. Both parents and children can appreciate the exhibits and a description of each photograph is available at the entrance in English. A table with pens, paper, glue and scissors offers a free, creative space where children can produce their own artwork in response to the photos. Their drawings, thoughts, or poems may be left on display as part of the exhibition.

A permanent feature of the CaixaForum is the brightly coloured mural, Esplat, by Sol Levitt that decorates a main wall on the ground floor. For 2 euros you can pick up an interactive games Kit for this work of art at Reception. You can also borrow jigsaw puzzles for kids to piece together that depict different areas of the centre. All the family can take part in the Joc de Pistes, treasure hunt style game, with clues for each exhibition (in Catalan or Castillian) and the  Les Motxilles activity provides you with a backpack with materials for exploring the centre in detail (available in Catalan). A nice place to sit for a break is the terraced restaurant on the 2nd floor which has a variety of cakes, drinks and hot meals.

CosmoCaixa is considered one of the most beautiful science museums in Europe. The museum houses a reproduction of the Amazon rain forest (complete with alligators, snakes and birds) as well as a planetarium and geological wall made of 90 tons of rock.  The museum offers some fantastic permanent activities for kids including Toca Toca, where young children can explore different environments through touch and feel or the Flash workshop in which children can learn where spieces come from and what shapes life on our planet.

Maths Play is a special summer workshop for all the family. Divided into 3 separate workshops, children are shown how interesting maths can actually be. Not only can they learn how to send coded messages and use an abacus but also witness the surprising things that numbers can do and even how the science of numbers lies behind popular magic tricks.  

For details on these activities and others see Barcleona Museums and Culture for Kids

CaixaForum is also screening films  for young children on Wednesdays at 5pm and 6.30pm - see Children's Cinema 

On the 6th September a family party, Festa Familiar Fi d'Esitiu will celebrate the end of summer with a day of performing arts, cinema, art workshops and games.

CaixaForum Barcelona

Av. Marquès de Comillas, 6-8, Tel. 93 476 8600

CosmoCaixa Barcelona

Teodor Roviralta 47-51, Tel. 93 212 6050

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