Children’s Collections and the Art Museum

Abstract

Abstract Young collectors imitate the activities of sophisticated art collectors by acquiring, exchanging, safekeeping, and showing their items. The present study employed both quantitative and qualitative inquiry processes to both acquire information about school age-students’ collections and to find out more about how well students could relate their collections and collecting activities to those of art museums. This research was descriptive and employed a mixed-method design incorporating the results of two instruments, a questionnaire and face-to-face interviews. A total of 63 public school 4th, 5th, and 6th graders participated in the study; of these 35 were boys and 30 girls. Findings suggested that a museum visit was beneficial to students when comparing and contrasting their collections that of museums. These results have implications for teaching about museums. Students’ personal collections may be a concrete way for initiating discussions about the nature and functions of museums, the value placed on special objects by individuals and institutions, and what makes some objects special.

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