ABSTRACT
Children do not come to the space of the museum, even if it is their first visit, entirely 'cold'. When they enter the museum, they do so with a rich set of cultural assumptions and social expectations already in place. There is another kind of navigation and negotiation that takes place as the child enters and becomes familiar with the museum. This is because the museum is not just a physical and social space, but it is also a space of objects, information and ideas. Small, taken-for-granted differences in children's responses to the physical, social, cognitive and affective dimensions of the visit have important impacts upon the ways in which they respond to the museum collections and exhibitions. The navigation of the museum – and the mapping of the physical, social, cognitive and affective space – may begin before the visit itself. Children's mental maps are clearly capable of being long lasting.
