Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery

Sometimes I really want to be a kid again.  At the opening of the inspiring Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery at the Melbourne museum I really, really wanted to be a kid again.  The interactive, sensory play space takes educational play to a whole new level.  Visitors to Melbourne and local families with children aged 0-5 will benefit by spending time together in this wonderful Gallery.

Created through a long process of consultative collaboration with key stakeholders (including early learning educators, parents and lots of kids) the Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery incorporates both indoor and outdoor areas.  Part of me wants to say the spectacular indoor climbing structure is the showcase piece of the Gallery.  It is however in the details, the nooks and crannies of the Gallery where the brilliance is displayed.  As children’s five senses are stimulated they will discover new surprises in the gallery – a tactile experience here, a hidden story alcove there, a new place to climb.  I suspect that families could vist the Pauline Gandel Gallery ten times and children would gravitate to new aspects.

Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery

Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery

Some of the features that my own children enjoyed on their first visit were:

Indigenous story-telling booths,.

Water play with Tidalick the Frog

Tactile play with possum hides balls

Climbing, climbing climbing.

A dinosaur dig.

Sitting and reading together (with all the sensory stimulation they wanted some close mum reading time too),

Shape sorting

Engaging with interactive animal exhibits – these were fabulous.  I loved the museum’s use of existing stuffed animal exhibits alongside technological wizardry that saw animal scenes come to life on the walls and floors.

A dinosaur dig at the Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery

Outdoor play at the Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery

Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery – I was fascinated to see how my kids gravitated to the animal skins amongst all the amazing aspects of the gallery

Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery

I genuinely appreciate that Museum Victoria included children from rural, urban, Indigenous and non-Indigenous and mixed socio-economic demographics in their collaborative development.  The scientist in me could also identify aspects of science that the children are being introduced to – in this instance using their whole bodies.

The Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery is now open; it is a permanent gallery situated in Melbourne Museum. Children and concession holders are free to enter Melbourne Museum and the new gallery; adult tickets are $14. There is no extra charge for the new gallery.

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