Kids in Museums
Caroline worked for charity Kids in Museums, supporting museums nationwide to be more welcoming for children, young people and families. As Director of Takeover Day, she devised, developed, delivered and directed Kids in Museums national flagship project, Takeover Day, a day when museums, galleries, historic homes, archives and heritage sites invite young people in to take over jobs normally done by adults. Young people take on meaningful, decision-making roles in museums. From curators to café workers, consultants to pest controllers, welcome hosts to social media managers, they are in charge. The emphasis is on young people’s meaningful participation, involvement and powerful decision making. Caroline created resources to train museum professionals across the UK to deliver Takeover Day successfully, in order to raise the aspirations of young people in museums. She supported museum staff to put young people at the heart of their work; gain inspiration from venues that have taken part; plan time and recommendations for Takeover Days and network with new Takeover Day partners. Find out more about how to plan a Kids in Museums Takeover Day here and read how young people took over at Stonehenge, the most famous prehistoric monument in the world.
Further developments
Takeover Arts
Caroline developed a pilot Takeover Day across the arts, working with partners including the Barbican, Sadler’s Wells, Oval House Theatre and first site, supported by Arts Council England. Other partners include Bridge Organisations, CyMAL, Museums Galleries Scotland, Culture 24 and Arts Award.
Takeover Birmingham
Caroline was involved in developing the initial concept for Takeover Birmingham. This was a ten-month pilot project led by Kids in Museums as part of the Cultural Citizens Programme. Kids in Museums was selected to run one of the pilots by Arts Council England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, alongside partner organisations across the UK. The team worked with culture and heritage organisations across the city ranging from Birmingham Royal Ballet and the CBSO to Flat Pack Film Festival and Arts in the Yard, to form 20 Takeover Birmingham Clubs. Each club worked with young people aged 11-14 to develop and deliver a takeover of the host organisation. The project was aimed at children and young people in Birmingham who had least access to culture and heritage. 257 children and young people took part. Around a third of those participating had never previously taken part in cultural activity in Birmingham. Read the evaluation report here.
- Giving confidence and encouragement to youngsters
- Guide to Takeover Day
- Overcoming external barriers to taking part in Takeover Day
- Museums and Heritage Advisor website to be taken over by Kids in Museums
- Year 9 students takeover Bristol Museum and Art Gallery with the help of Bristol University Students
- Case study, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford
- Blog, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford
- Press release, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford
- Scotland Creates, National Museums Scotland
- Takeover Day work created by UCL students
Quick Links
- Hear from KidRated what Kids think about Takeover Day
- Family Friendly Museum Award From Home
- Families Favourite Lockdown Activities
- Takeover Day
- Digital Takeover
- Hurdles to Participation Literature Review
- Resource Archive
- Climate Change
- Family Friendly Lockdown Awards