The Early Years, Children and Families Programme plays a major part in encouraging learning through art at the National Gallery of Ireland. It is informed by research in the field, working with highly engaging early years and family learning specialists, and has developed through ongoing project evaluation and in dialogue with the core audience. This strand is for all the family, from babies and toddlers to younger teens and their parents/carers. It is a highly engaging programme, supporting both cognitive, fine motor and emotional/affective development in children while encouraging joyful intergenerational engagement with art.

What do we do?

We embrace play, enquiry, problem solving, independent thinking and collaboration through multi-disciplinary sensory activities responding to the national collection. We programme general activities onsite for everyone from seasoned museum visitors to tourist families on holidays, and offsite through outreach projects for families who have not visited the Gallery before and are less likely to connect with cultural institutions for geographical, social, or financial reasons.

At the Gallery, Sunday is our ‘Family Day’ when drop-in workshops, tours and activities all have a family focus. However, any day of the week our Maples Group Creative Space and free art packs support independent creative activity, while our scheduled workshops and events are designed with age-appropriate learning in mind. We are currently developing our existing online strand for Early Years, Children and Families which aims to take learning through art out of the gallery and into the home.  

Types of Activities

• Family-friendly tours
• New parents’ tours
• Baby workshops
• Sunday drop-in family workshops
• Seasonal events e.g. mid-term break camps
• Workshop series for older children
• Special events e.g. Halloween activities, bespoke theatrical and performance events
• Creative packs
• Resources
• Outreach – one-off workshops, series of activities, or long-term projects

Find out more:

General children and families queries: contact Joanne Drum T: 01 663 3505 | E: [email protected] 

For more info on Sunday family drop-in workshops and activities contact Caomhán Mac Con Iomaire

T: 01 663 3507   E: [email protected]