Vietnam Museum of Ethnology opens Discovery Room for children

A new space for the public, especially children, to explore and learn about the culture of Vietnam and the world, has just been opened at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.

Children playing in the Discovery Room. (Photo: Vietnam Museum of Ethnology)
Children playing in the Discovery Room. (Photo: Vietnam Museum of Ethnology)

The new space aims to encourage the public to interact with artifacts through sensory experiences with the support of technology.

Visitors not only admire and learn information about the artifacts, but also have the opportunity to directly feel, think and share about each artifact through multi-dimensional stories from artisans, museum staff or the visitors themselves.

The Children's Discovery Room is a special gallery just for children, with an eye-catching design presented in the form of games, story exploration through each sub-theme, hands-on experiences, and a combination of using modern audio-visual aids.

Activities are arranged in accordance with age and receptivity to stimulate curiosity and help children learn and have fun at the same time.

The highlight of the Discovery Room is to encourage children to make the most of their senses, being able to hold, touch, smell, and hear in order to feel and discover artifacts of ethnic groups in Vietnam and around the world.

The Discovery Room designs dynamic spaces to serve the diverse needs of the public: a permanent space for regular exploration programs; space for thematic activities; dedicated space for organising classes according to the school's theme.

The Multimedia Room is considered as a data centre through sounds and images about Vietnamese culture and the world. The room has a variety of equipment to serve the needs of watching, listening, reading and singing for domestic and foreign tourists to actively explore.

Regarding the movie viewing activity, there are eight movie screens with their own headphones, the content features topics such as festivals, customs, crafts, folk music, performing artsand daily life of the ethnic groups in Vietnam. Visitors can listen and feel the sound through the headset system and learn about traditional instruments from four music discovery boxes; as well as sing folk songs and lullabies of ethnic groups in Vietnam.

Dr. Bui Ngoc Quang - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology shared: “We hope that young people not only have the opportunity to study at the museum but also come here with a love of cultural heritage. The museum is expected to become a destination to have fun and relax after a hard day of studying. The museum tries to create a variety of activities in the Discovery Room to connect with a wide range of the public, especially young people. The museum believes that the Discovery Room will become a bridge connecting the school with the museum to create many lively lessons with visual aids. At the same time, the room is expected to connect tourism makers with the museum to design many tours associated with cultural heritage experiences. Through practical activities of the parties, it will make an important contribution to the introduction and promotion of culture, raising understanding, respectful attitudes, and encouraging the sense of preserving cultural heritage of the young generation".