Far from the cliché that children are bored, more and more museums are offering workshops for young people to familiarise them with the world of the artists they are exhibiting or the theme they are presenting, while at the same time developing the participants’ creativity. For children, the experience is unforgettable. Please note: all workshops require prior registration.

Here are a few examples:

• The Alimentarium in Vevey magnifies cooking with the Resto des p’tits Gourmets where children prepare meals worthy of the best tables and then invite their friends and family to taste them. Several other activities are also reserved for schools, all centred on flavours and the art of preparing food. www.alimentarium.org

• The Foundation de l’Hermitage, in Lausanne, organises workshops for children in age groups ranging from 4 to 6 years old and 6 to 12 years old for each of its exhibitions. The visit to the museum is followed by a workshop inspired by the art of the artist exhibited. www.fondation-hermitage.ch

• In Sion, the art, history and nature museums, as well as the exhibition centre, offer a whole range of activities during the carnival, Easter, autumn and Christmas holidays. Children can satisfy their curiosity in a playful way. www.musees-valais.ch

• In Neuchâtel, the Atelier des Musées is part of the city’s cultural mediation service. Parents can register their children for the activity of their choice in one of the four major sites: the Museum of Art and History, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Ethnography and the Botanical Garden. www.atelier-des-musees.ch

• In Basel, the Fondation Beyeler has not forgotten the young public by organising workshops that allow them to see the museum as a treasure island where the visit is followed by activities where imagination is king. www.fondationbeyeler.ch

• Painting and applied arts workshops for children and teenagers at the Kunsthaus Zürich. www.kunsthaus.ch

This non-exhaustive list gives you an idea of the very rich offer that the Swiss museums have in store for you. Each canton and most of the museums in it have a cultural outreach programme for children and families.

Unusual:

• This is no longer a museum workshop but an excursion in the footsteps of Tintin in the album “L’Affaire Tournesol” that Nyon Tourism is offering. A leaflet that can be downloaded from the Internet. www.nyon-tourisme.ch/fr/a_faire/tintin_ a_nyon allows you to find certain places in correlation with the images in the very heart of the city of Vaud. Guided tours are organised to follow this particular route.

• The educational trail located in the communes of Chevroux (VD) and Gletterens (FR) plunges you into the daily life of our prehistoric ancestors of the Neolithic period. The highlight of this walk is the Gletterens Lake Village, open every day from 1 May to 31 October. A multitude of workshops and demonstrations are on offer, allowing young and old alike to learn how to make a pendant or a knife, to throw an assegai with a propeller, or to discover how to light a fire. www.village-lacustre.ch

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