It’s not just for kids. As a professional museum goer I always do that when anywhere near any exhibits which might be vulnerable in any way. Though, tbh, it is more for the benefit of any guards watching me knowing that I’m not a threat and leaving me alone when I instead poke my head really close to the object to see a detail.
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The artifact’s value is arguably more in its cultural and archaelogical context than in its aesthetic properties. Repairing it with Kintsugi will significantly disturb its archaelogical value.
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This could have been a sacrificial decoy jar to attract children’s attention away from more valuable or fragile items. Also to mentally scar them so that they never touch anything again ever when they are in public.
That it can be put back together so quickly I believe supports my hypothesis.
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It hasn’t been put back together – a conservationist has been appointed to repair it, “a short time” in the life of a 3,500 year old object could be quite a long time in the life of a 4 year old.
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This depends a lot on the kid. Some four year olds I’ve known would have no problem keeping their hands to themselves (likely with a few reminders) or behind their backs. Others would just happily kick or headbutt the jar if they got the chance and couldn’t use their hands. I try not to make too many assumption about maturity based on age. I, too, have met otherwise polite but not too bright adults that can’t resist touching stuff in museums.
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And let’s not forget this one’s inability to follow simple instructions:
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“… toddler breaks the sun”
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“Wow, that’s amazing. The longer I look directly at it, the dimmer the Sun gets!” (Which honestly could be a phrase used to describe Trump as well as the Sun.)
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Like @AnthonyC said, it definitely depends on the kid, but young kids can have a lot of fun (and learn a ton) in a museum if you do it right.
Tell them stories about the things they’re looking at. When I was 6, my grandfather had me mesmerized by the stories he’d tell in archaeological museums. Ask them to describe what they see and what they think is interesting (or boring) about it. If they want to point at things, they can–they just need to step far enough away that they won’t touch it. If they’re a little older, you can buy postcards (or print out pictures from the museum website) and have them do a scavenger hunt to find those objects/works in the museum.
Those things won’t work for every kid. I have one kid who refuses to go to most museums, and that’s fine. But when I take the others to a museum, it’s not me being selfish.
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Indeed. Mary Beard tells this story of her inspiring visit to the British Museum.
There was one formative moment in particular. When I was 5 years old, my Mum took me for my first visit to London (we lived in Shropshire). The British Museum was one of the places we visited. I wanted to see the Egyptian mummies of course, but we also went to see the remains of ancient Egyptian life, not merely death.
At the back of one case Mum spotted a carbonised piece of Egyptian cake, 3000 or more years old. I was desperate to see it (ancient cake!), but the case was too high for me to see, even when Mum picked me up. At that moment a man walked past, and stopped to ask me what I was trying to see. “That piece of cake” I squealed. He must have been a curator, because he took some keys out of his pocket, unlocked the case and brought the cake out for me to admire! It was a moment of wonderment, which I never forgot. I have no idea who the curator was, but he introduced me to the excitement of the ordinary things from the distant past (and he taught me about the importance of opening cases for curious kids).
I didn’t go on to be an Egyptologist. But that sense of wonderment has stayed with me in confronting any part of the ancient past, whether it’s reading Roman tombstones or trying out ancient lavatories.
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