ABSTRACT
Navigating itself involves a degree of 'lighting up', as certain parts of the museum become salient as anchor points or aides-memoire. And both these phases are also preliminary ways in which children make sense of the space of the museum. Museums differ in the extent to which they try to direct the attention of their visitors, and on this continuum, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History is relatively free from explicit direction, allowing visitors to find their own routes through the museum. The museum has significant prehistoric collections, and dinosaur models and skeletons are some of the most visually arresting of the objects on display. Family museum visits are social occasions, and the children's attention was often drawn to certain objects by other members of their group. In Eloise's case, her older sister Amber's influence appeared to be less a case of contagious enthusiasm, and more one of micromanagement of Eloise's museum visit.
