We are an industrial museum, but have taken steps to be more family friendly without changing who or what we are.  In our visitor center we have tools and toys to keep children occupied while parents watch the video and look at the exhibit.  Children (and adults) can build their own miniature buggy (a great money maker so far) and during tours of the house, factory and showroom, children can do their own scavenger hunt (find the ten items pictured and described on a handout they take home with them).  If they find the items they get to pick a prize from our prize box (pencils, horseshoe magnets, little cars, boats, trains, really cheap stuff).  While it is not typically our job to teach visitors how to behave, we ask children to help us watch adults so that they (the adults) do not touch.  If children get out of hand, we ask them - talking to the child, not the parent - to stop what they are doing, but explain why, no touching, no running, whatever.  On school tours, we pretend the teachers aren't there, which is usually easy to do.  We explain what is to be expected of them before we begin and sometimes we have to remind them.  Nothing that we have done took a lot of time or money, but made us more "family friendly", which brings more visitors for us to educate or edutain depending on how you look at it.  
Bronwen Anderson-Sanders
Mifflinburg Buggy Museum
Mifflinburg, PA
www.buggymuseum.org




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