subject: How To Bring Culture Into Your Home [print this page] A lot of families struggle with how to best expose kids to culture. Dragging them to the ballet may bore them so much they turn away from all things cultural and immerse themselves in video games and crass humor. In other cases, it may be the parents who are bored by mundane cultural activities. If you find yourself wishing you were elsewhere during your night at the opera, you would not be the first person to feel this way. The trick to exposing your family to culture is finding fun, low pressure ways of experiencing activities. Bringing culture into the home means you can enjoy it in small doses without being trapped at a stuffy event with people you do not relate to. There are plenty of ways to bring culture into your home. Adding a duet piano bench or artist piano bench will allow you and your children to enjoy playing music.
Other instruments are a great way to bring culture into the home and get kids curious about classical music. Setting up a harp in your formal living room will excite kids and get them thinking about how they can play. Even if you do not let sticky little hands strum the chords, they will love hearing others play or just observing the instrument. As a matter of fact, creating a little taboo around the instrument may make it even more special. If an instrument is played or accessed only for holidays and special occasions, a child is going to be fascinated with those special times.
If you want to expose your children to art, the home is a great way to do this. An art museum may overwhelm a child and the inability to handle the materials may leave a kid feeling cold about the pieces. If you bring art into your home, a child can get up close to paintings and maybe even handle a sculpture. It also makes are an everyday part of your world. Adding a new piece periodically can be as exciting for children as it is for you. You can even include them in the process of choosing art pieces for the home.
Books are something that should be in everyone's home and if you want to expose your family to culture, books are a great way to do it. In addition to fairy tales, take time to browse art books with your child. If they look through pictures of art and choose pieces they like, it will keep them naturally curious about art in general. You can also choose more sophisticated stories to share with children and make sure they have easy access to a variety of literature as they learn to read on their own.
In addition to the usual cartoons and movies kids love, expose them to movies that are more cultural. It may be a good idea to screen movies ahead of time before sharing with children, but many classics are perfectly suitable for kids of all ages. You can also share documentaries with kids about culture. While their initial reaction may be boredom, knowing they can watch for just a few minutes before moving on may make this a great way to introduce culture to a kid.
