Working with children aged 0–5 requires a fundamentally different approach from working with older children. This study day begins with how young children learn and develops outward from that understanding, asking what museums need to do differently when designing experiences for early years audiences.

Young children learn through play, movement, sensory exploration, relationships and active engagement with the world around them. They develop at different rates, build on prior experience and need time, space and freedom to explore.

The day will connect early childhood pedagogy directly to museum practice. We will explore constructivist and child-centred approaches, including the Reggio Emilia principles of self-directed learning, the environment as a “third teacher”, materials as provocations and multiple forms of expression. We will consider how these ideas translate into play-based and multisensory experiences, object-based learning, inquiry, movement, imagination and open-ended exploration in museums.

A central focus will be the relationship between children and the adults who accompany them. Research consistently highlights the importance of adult-child interaction, scaffolding, dialogue and co-enquiry, while also recognising the need for adults to step back and allow children to follow their own interests and contribute their own knowledge. We will therefore look not only at how museums engage children, but at how they can support parents and carers to become confident co-learners and facilitators of their children’s experiences.

The study day will then move from pedagogy into the wider museum experience: programmes, collections, interpretation, physical and sensory environments, and the ways children and families might contribute to shaping these experiences themselves. We will explore how play, hands-on engagement and multisensory approaches can support children’s curiosity and agency, and how museums can balance structure with the freedom to explore.

The day will also examine whose families museums are reaching and whose they are not. Early years practice cannot be separated from questions of access, cultural responsiveness, representation and belonging. Drawing on research into barriers to participation, community partnerships and assets-based approaches, we will consider how museums can build relationships with families who may not currently see museum spaces as being for them, and how programmes and resources can better reflect different cultural experiences, languages and ways of learning together.

Participants will leave with:

• A stronger understanding of how children aged 0–5 learn and why early years practice requires a distinct pedagogical approach.
• An understanding of key approaches including constructivism, Reggio Emilia, play-based learning, adult scaffolding and child agency, and how these can be applied in museum contexts.
• Practical approaches for designing play-based, sensory, hands-on and inquiry-led experiences.
• Greater confidence in balancing structure with children’s need for choice, exploration, experimentation and self-direction.
• Approaches for supporting parents and carers as co-learners through dialogue, co-enquiry and shared exploration.
• Ways of thinking beyond individual programmes to consider how collections, interpretation, environments and spaces can better support early years learning.
• Approaches for embedding access, inclusion, representation and cultural responsiveness into early years provision.
• Strategies for understanding and reaching families who may currently experience barriers to museum participation, including working with community partners and using assets-based approaches.
• Practical ideas participants can adapt to their own collections, programmes, spaces and audiences.

Early Years in Museums: How Young Children Learn and What Museums Need to Do Differently
Study Day, 11 May, Central London
Led by Hanouf Al-Alawi

About the Workshop Leader

Hanouf Al-Alawi is an international museum consultant specialising in interpretation, learning and audience engagement, with over 20 years’ experience across the UK and Middle East. She has worked across museums, heritage and cultural initiatives including the British Museum, Natural History Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UNESCO and Barker Langham. Her practice spans learning and participation, interpretation, co-creation, programme development and culturally responsive audience engagement.

Her early years practice combines research, pedagogy and programme development. At the Natural History Museum, she undertook research into early years and family learning to inform the development of the Children’s Gallery and its associated programming, examining how young children learn, the role of adults, play, sensory engagement, child agency, access and barriers to participation. Her wider practice has also included intergenerational and child-centred learning at Kew Gardens and the development of learning and interpretive approaches for children’s museum environments.

Book Tickets

Click ‘Select options’ below to book your place on the study day. Tickets are available on a sliding scale from £137 – £177. Book with colleagues for multiple delegate discounts. Book your ticket online below or email info@museum-id.com if you prefer to be invoiced.

Want to join us for several study days? You can save with our 2027 Study Day Ticket Bundle.

20% of tickets are available at a reduced rate for museum workers who may often be excluded from training and professional development opportunities, including people of colour, LGBTQ+ members of staff, students, freelancers, and those working at small independent museums. Reduced rate tickets are £97 – email info@museum-id.com to check availability and to book a ticket at the reduced rate.

Tickets are non-refundable but may be swapped between colleagues at the same organisation and between different study days (if places are available). If the workshop is postponed, your ticket remains valid for the rescheduled date.