About the discussion of kids labelling, Ginny Cass sez:

"I don't communicate
with children (my own or those I worked with in the school district when
I was employed as Service Learning Program Coordinator) on a lower
*level*  because I know they are capable of understanding what I have to
say given an opportunity.  When they are talked down to, in simplistic
language because of lowered expectations, they will respond on that
level."

There are a few points: first, face to face communication is different
from reading in a book or in text labels. Second, there are reasonably
well-designed studies of how kids learn in museums and what are the most
effective strategies in general, so I would check these as references.
Third, it depends considerably on what is being taught, and how, by the
exhibitions themselves. Are they hands-on? Are they "awesome"
intrinsically (like dinosaurs), are they things the kids might never
have seen, and need fundamental explanation? Finally, kids who are six
learn more differently from kids who are twelve than the latter do from
a 60 year old (or at least I once heard an education type say that), so
*which* kids you are targeting is a crucial fact.

I certainly personally agree that when I talk to kids, its death to talk
down to them, but I don't think that this anecdotal evidence is
sufficient for designing new museum interpretation.

Eric