Family Visits

The ICA offers a number of ways for kids and adults to explore the creative process together. Here you'll find tips for visiting the museum as a family and ideas for getting the most out of your visit. Remember, children 17 and under are always free at the ICA!

"You could teach a lot of other museums a thing or two about how to make kids feel welcome at a first-class museum" 
                                                                                                                                           – Play Date visitor
WHAT TO DO

See what exhibitions will be on view during your visit. See a list of current and upcoming exhibitions is available here.

Pick up Our Building, a free booklet for families, at the admissions desk. Designed for kids and grown-ups to use together, the guide explores the concepts behind the design of the ICA's building, and includes space for sketching and taking notes. Ask admissions desk staff for golf pencils or use your own pencils in the galleries. Sorry, no markers or pens are permitted in the ICA galleries.

Visit the Poss Family Mediatheque on the fourth floor. Here you can find more information about the artworks in the ICA's exhibitions and collection and the people who made them. Browse photos, videos, interviews, and much more. Kids may also enjoy the "tagging" feature, which allows them to describe ICA artworks in their own words.

Play Dates

Consider attending the ICA on a Play Date, held on the last Saturday of each month, when the ICA comes alive with activities especially for families. On these days, families get in to the ICA free (free admission for up to two adults per family with children 12 and under). Play Dates can include films, performance, art-making activities, gallery tours, and more. All activities are designed for children and adults to do together. No prior registration is necessary, but families are encouraged to arrive early to take full advantage of the day's events.

See the schedule of upcoming Play Dates

POLICIES

Talk about appropriate museum behavior with your children:

Explain to them that they are not allowed to touch the art (unless museum signage indicates otherwise). This is to protect the objects from being damaged and also because our fingers have natural oils that can leave harmful prints on artworks. Contemporary art uses a wide variety of media, which may include staining, toxic, and/or sharp materials.

Instead, encourage your child to think about how it was made and imagine what it feels like.

Remind children never to run inside the museum and to always stay with an adult. We don't want kids to get hurt or bump into the art by accident! If you have a child under age five, please hold his or her hand when in the galleries.

Please use your regular voice inside the museum. We love to hear conversation in the galleries; talk with inside voices please.

If a member of the ICA staff asks you or your child to move farther away from a work of art, please respect the request. It is the job of ICA Security guards and visitor assistants to protect you and the art. You can still look closely while maintaining a safe distance.

AMENITIES

Baby changing stations are located in both the women's and men's restrooms on the first and fourth floors.

Strollers are permitted throughout the museum. For safety, please do not leave strollers unattended.

A children's menu is available in the Water Café. Outside food and drinks are not permitted in the museum. Please note: meals are made individually to order in the Water Café—plan ahead for some wait time as necessary.

Activities in the Bank of America Art Lab are made possible by 

  
    Generous support of ICA Youth Education is provided by the Cabot Family Charitable Trust,
     the Fuller Foundation, and JP Morgan Chase Foundation.