Museums are venues where kids learn a lot, particularly on history, culture and heritage. Parents should make it a point to bring their children to museums as alternative way of learning outside the four walls of the classroom.
Here are a few museums which children and their parents could visit. And because these museums are just located a stone's throw away of each other, the family could actually enjoy quality time walking together from one museum to another.
Casa Gorordo Museum. A historic house museum which features nineteenth century Cebuano-Filipino lifestyle, it is located in the old Parian district of Cebu City. It is formerly the house of the first Filipino and only Cebuano bishop of the Diocese (now Archdiocese) of Cebu.
Museo Parian sa Sugbo. It is popularly known as the 1730 Jesuit House, which is also located in Parian. It is situated inside a warehouse, which all the more gives it an aura of a rediscovered historic gem.
Museo Sugbo. It is Cebu's largest museum. You can explore its more than a dozen galleries and go through different periods of Cebu's history from the pre-Hispanic to the contemporary. It also has galleries showcasing special collections.
Santo Niño Museum. Cebuanos have a great devotion to the Holy Child. The museum lets you into the history, the expressions, and the intensity of faith of the millions of devotees through its exhibits.
Cathedral Museum. The museum houses treasures of the Archdiocese of Cebu. It also gives visitors an idea on the foundation of the Christian faith in the islands. In particular, it has an exhibit on one of the most enduring figures of Catholicism in the Philippines-Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
Jose R. Gullas Halad Museum. It is certainly one of the most unique museums in the Visayas-Mindanao region. It features pioneers and legends of Visayan-Cebuano music of the twentieth century.
Those are just a few of the interesting museums children and their family could spend quality time together. Like photographs, museums are our windows to our past and help in guiding us to our future kids should frequent them. More importantly, the presence of their parents would make each of their museum trip a great weekend adventure.
The Freeman with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. is running weekly features on Early Childhood Care and Development to emphasize the importance of Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) and to increase public support for ECCD. For comments or suggestions, e-mail Hannah.Aranas @ rafi.org.ph.