Menu
  • Brooks on the Bluff
  • MemphisWine
  • About
  • Home
    • Copyright
    • eBrooks
  • Exhibitions
    • Current
      • A Journey Towards Self-Definition
      • Power and Absence
      • Divas Ascending
      • Drawing Memory
      • Carroll Cloar Gallery
      • Arts of Global Africa
    • Past
      • Play Station
      • Photography in Memphis
      • Albrecht Dürer
      • Ernest C. Withers: Baseball Photographs
      • Renditions II
      • Natural Curiosity: Beth Van Hoesen
      • Claire Van Vliet: Illustrating Babel
      • Painted Words: Poets and Painters in Print, 1869 – 1967
      • Rotunda Projects: Federico Uribe
      • Bouguereau & America
      • Georgia O’Keeffe: Visions of Hawai‘i
      • 2019 Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards
      • Jaume Plensa: Talking Continents
      • Brooks Outside: Outings Project
      • African-Print Fashion Now!
      • Black Resistance
      • Rotunda Projects: Lisa Hoke
      • Coming to America
      • Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
      • Making Our Mark
      • 2018 Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards
      • About Face
      • Barrier Free
      • By the Book
      • Selections from William Eggleston’s Portfolios
      • Brooks Outside: Tape Art
      • Rotunda Projects: Nnenna Okore
      • 100 Gifts for 100 Years
      • A Feast for the Eyes
      • Art Builds Creativity 2017
      • Creating Connections Through Art Therapy
      • 2017 Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards
      • Red Grooms: Traveling Correspondent
      • Rotunda Projects: Yinka Shonibare MBE
      • Veda Reed: Day into Night
      • Hassan Hajjaj: My Rock Stars
      • Create. Imagine. Explore.
      • Early Learners Explore the Environment
      • RedBall Memphis
      • Families in Art
      • Clare Leighton and Thomas W. Nason: Common Threads
      • Wonder, Whimsy, Wild: Folk Art in America
      • 2016 Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards
      • Decorative Arts Trust: A 35th Anniversary Exhibition
      • 60s Cool
      • Ofrendas: Student-made Altars
      • Buggin & Shruggin: A Glitched History of Gaming Culture
      • Surreal Kingdoms
      • The Art of Video Games
      • This Light of Ours
      • Marisol: Sculptures and Works on Paper
      • Exhibitions since 2006
  • Collections
    • The Collection Online
    • Conservation & Appraisal
    • Image Services
    • Provenance
    • Outdoor Sculptures
    • Give to the collection
  • Events
  • Visit
    • Visitor Information
      • Directions + Parking
      • Group Visits
      • Community Visitor Pass Donation
    • Cafe Brooks
    • Museum Store
    • School Tours
    • Visit with Families
    • Buy a Ticket
    • FAQs
    • Accessibility
  • Learn
    • 2021 Scholasic Winners
    • Summer Art Camps
    • Virtual Visits
    • Inside Art
    • Students + Teachers
      • Art Builds Creativity
      • Homeschool Program
      • Lesson Plans
      • Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards
      • School Tours
      • Teacher Information
    • Adults
    • Families
    • Community
      • Art Builds Creativity
      • Art Therapy Access Program
      • Community Days
    • Lesson Plans
  • Join + Give
    • Donate Now
    • Gift Memberships
    • Membership
      • Cloar Circle
      • Become a Member
      • Brooks Membership Travel Program
      • Member Events
    • Ways to Give
      • Annual Fund
      • Tennessee Arts Commission
      • Honor + Memorials
      • Planned Giving
      • Gifts of Art
      • Endowment
      • Education
    • Brooks Membership
    • Volunteer
  • Venue Rental
    • Weddings
    • Corporate Events
    • Spaces
    • Contact Us
  • #BrooksMuseum
    • Blog
    • Red Grooms Audio Tour
    • Interactive Timeline
    • Canaletto in Minecraft
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art welcomes families to experience our permanent collection and traveling exhibitions, which feature art from all genres and time periods.

There are many ways to look at art with children. Here are some tips for planning your next visit to the Brooks, as well as a few ideas for follow-up activities.

Before you visit the Brooks Museum:

  • What is an art museum? Talk with your children about what they think an art museum is and what they might see there. There aren't any fish or dinosaurs here; rather, we have sculptures, paintings, photographs, drawings, and even design objects.
  • Explain museum behavior. Look with your eyes, not with your hands. Use indoor voices. Walk, don’t run in the galleries.
  • When available, use one of our interactive Family Guides, which you can pick up at our Visitor Services desk. Or attend a family-friendly program. See our calendar for upcoming events.

 

Looking at art with your children:

  • Please help us protect the art by not touching. The oils from hands can damage works of art. Follow your children’s lead as to what excites and interests them. An hour – or even half an hour – may be enough time. Remember, you can always come back!

  • Play I Spy. Ask your children to find shapes, colors, and objects, or to count any number of things in a gallery or work of art. They can find animals, name everything they see that is blue in one gallery, etc. Take turns describing a detail from a painting aloud while your child stands in the center of the gallery with eyes closed. When your child opens his or her eyes, can he or she find the painting with the detail you described?

  • Journey around the world. Travel around the globe without leaving Memphis. Look at objects from different continents, cultures, or countries. “Visit” a landscape painting to take a swim in a lake, hike up a mountain, or walk in the French countryside.

 

Ideas for follow-up activities:

  • Look for opportunities to reinforce things your children discovered. Mention how everyday objects and things in your home are similar to things you observed in artworks at the museum.
  • Be an art critic. Encourage your children to draw, write about, and talk about the things they saw at the museum. What was their favorite work of art? What didn't they like? Why?
  • Become a curator. Start your own collection at home. Use something your child or family already collects, or build up a collection of something around your house, such as buttons, dolls, toy cars, leaves, or rocks. Think about how you would display your collection and who you might want to share it with.

Community Days at the Brooks

For a fun, free family activity, come to the Brooks! Community Days allow families and friends to experience the museum in a fun, engaging environment. These free events feature art-making activities, events like storytelling in the galleries, musical and dance performances, and family-oriented gallery guides, all designed to engage families with current exhibitions.

Family Guides

Free interactive family guides, which include activities for families to complete both in the gallery and later at home, are created in conjunction with special exhibitions as well as for the permanent collection. Inside these guides families will find questions for guided looking, information on artists and artwork, and suggestions for further exploration. Guides are available at the Visitor Services desk and in the special exhibition galleries. 

Brooks Summer Arts Camp

NEW in 2020, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art offers weeklong art camps for children ages 5 through 14, inspiring young minds to explore art and creativity. Camp includes active learning in the galleries, looking at original works of art, creating studio projects, active play, and more. Get inspired by works of art from the museum's collection and exhibitions! Please note: Campers bring their own snacks and their own lunches for all days of camp. Camp will be held Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with extended childcare available at an additional fee.

2020 Dates:  June 22 - 26 // July 6 - 10 // July 13 - 17

Become a member

Experience Brooks Museum and receive all the benefits of a member! Join at the Family level and get benefits for two adults and children ages 17 and under. You'll get free admission to a variety of family programs throughout the year, as well as, a 10% discount on Summer Art Camp and Saturday School programs at the Memphis College of Art. This membership is also available to grandparents to include their grandchildren under the age of 17. Learn more.

  • Home
  • Visit
  • Visit with Families

Visit

  • Visitor Information
  • Cafe Brooks
  • Museum Store
  • School Tours
  • Visit with Families
  • Buy a Ticket
  • FAQs
  • Accessibility

Memphis Brooks
Museum of Art

1934 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, TN 38104
901.544.6200

Subscribe to eBrooks

Additional links

  • View sitemap
  • Terms of use
  • Press room
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Email login
Memphis Web Design by Speak
and Studio Blue

Our Supporters

  Hyde Foundation Tennessee Arts Commission The Jeniam Foundation Autozone
* indicates required