The Guggenheim might not seem like the most little kid friendly field trip idea, but we had a blast exploring shapes on our visit.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often called The Guggenheim, is an art museum located in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and it’s famous for it’s architecture as much as for what is found in it’s renowned collection.

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Learning about Shapes at the Guggenheim

I took my twins to the Guggenheim for the first time one hot summer day when they were six years old.

Before the Field Trip

Before I go on a field trip of any kind with my kids I like to prepare myself. I usually start by visiting the website for wherever we’re going. In this case I was thrilled to find The Guggenheim website to be super helpful.

I read the basic tips for visiting, got directions, and took note the family events they have for the future.

I was particularly intrigued by the Kindergarten visit ideas they had for teachers. This visit guide focused on the Geometric shapes in the Guggenheim which I thought would both interest my kids and extend what they were learning about in math.

Also read: Everything you need to know about NYC with Kids

Then I packed my bag for the next day. I included my basic adventure supplies as well as;

• Notebooks with a shape hunt drawn on one page for each kid or hunt on paper with clipboards.
• Colored pencils in a Ziplock Bag
• Pencils
• Camera

During the Field Trip

My kids both love art and going new places so they were pretty excited about this trip. In the back of my head I also knew that my kids don’t like to be indoors, quiet, or relatively still for too long so I had some ideas to keep them engaged planned.

1. The Shape Hunt

This I drew out in their notebooks. You could easily make one on the computer and make copies if you are visiting with a larger group.

While we were riding the train, I talked to them a little about the building and showed them the shape hunt. We labeled the different shapes together. When we got there I gave them each their hunt and a pencil and they started looking at the foyer while I paid.

For the Guggenheim Museum, Wright used many geometric shapes but chose not to use rectangles or squares. It is a building completely without 90º angles which my kids found fascinating once I pointed this out.

We did see a ton of other shapes, though, wherever we looked. The entire structure is an amazing combination of different shapes.

After we all marveled a bit about that, we started hunting for shapes in the art work. My son loves any sort of scavenger hunt so this was his focus throughout.

My daughter needed some other ideas to keep her engaged.

2. What’s your favorite?

In each exhibit, as we looked around the museum I asked them to find one sculpture or painting that is your favorite.

Sit and look.

What do you like about it?

How does it make you feel?

What shapes do you see in the piece?

Would you like to draw a picture of it?

These questions slowed them down a bit and gave me a little time to look around each space as well.

If drawing the whole thing is overwhelming, which is completely understandable. Try drawing just a part of the work of art.

Perhaps focus on one object or change one small part in a fun way.

read also: a visit to the eric carle museum

3. Name the Art

Don’t feel like drawing? Can you imagine what you would call the work of art? This is another fun way to get kids thinking about the art.

After they have named it, look at what the label and read the title the artist picked.

Does knowing the title change the way you understand the artwork?

4. Compare and Contrast

Comparing and contrasting things is a skill my kids are learning about with their kindergarten curriculum. We’ve mostly done it with elements of stories, but you can also compare two works of art.

How are they similar to each other?

How are they different?

5. Move like the Art

This works for paintings, but best with sculpture. Can you move like the art?

My daughter loved doing this with the sculptures of dancers but there are a lot of fun pieces this works well with throughout art museums.

Good things to know about the guggenheim with kids

• There is a cafe with good, but expensive food. You can only eat in the cafe area.
• There are bathrooms, but they are somewhat hidden. Use the map or ask a friendly staff member to help you find one. We used the bathroom near the cafe when we stopped for a snack.
• The museum isn’t huge. We saw almost everything except the special exhibit in a morning. However – with all field trips I think it is important to only do as much as your kids are ready for. You want them to leave feeling positive about the experience.

after the field trip

Afterwards – create art of course!!

Immediately afterwards we went across the street to Central Park and one of our favorite playgrounds. You can read my full guide to all of the Central Park Playgrounds in this post.

The next few days though, we created a lot of art. I think art of all kinds begets more art.

With kids this age there are a ton of options, but I think open ended exploration with different materials is best. Pick an artist or style and play with the materials they use most frequently. Our favorite is making really BIG art.

Here are three art themed blogs that I adore for kid art ideas.

• Meri Cherry – amazing color bursting process art ideas
• The Artful Parent – lots of creative material explorations and projects
• Art Class Curator – great for tying art to kids

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