The National Museum of Denmark launches a “Boredom button”

Many children think it’s boring to visit museums. You have to be quiet, you can’t play and you’re forbidden to touch anything. But not for much longer. The National Museum of Denmark is about to change all this.

From Easter, children will be able to hunt for the newly launched boredom button, if cabinets with arrowheads and potsherds don’t interest them. The button is designed to bring the museum to life, so the children experience that history wants something from them.

”2018 will be children’s year at the National Museum of Denmark. During the Easter holidays, we’ll be launching a comprehensive children’s programme, where we will debunk any myths about what a museum is and give children access to the National Museum and history’s secret universes. We want to play with history together with the children. We’ll turn the concept of the museum around and test brand new ways to share history”, says the National Museum’s newly appointed museum director Anni Mogensen.

Million kroner support from the Nordea foundation for children’s cultural heritage
Expect the unexpected when children find the boredom button and press it. Statues come to life, mummies mysteriously move and secret chests open. Who knows what will happen next. Children can pass talking paintings or meet great adventurers who have risked their skins in the quest to clarify the mysteries of history.

The DKK 5-million donation from the Nordea-Fonden means the National Museum of Denmark can develop brand new dissemination measures that reverberate among children, parents and grandparents. The boredom button is the first step in developing interactive activities designed to provoke children’s curiosity about history.

The millions of kroner from the Nordea-Fonden enable the National Museum of Denmark to challenge the way the museum talks to children. The National Museum intends to develop activities that give children a special status, so the experience is on their level, making them feel they are a part of our cultural heritage.

“Good living is also about understanding the roots, history and community we’re shaped by. Therefore, it is crucial that new generations enjoy good museum experiences! It is almost children's basic rights to meet common cultural heritage at their level,” says Henrik Lehmann Andersen, CEO of the Nordea-Fonden, which supports activities to promote good living.”

For more information
Press Officer, National Museum of Denmark Karen Torp-Pedersen T: +45 4120 6096, M: ktp@natmus.dk