Families

The Fitzwilliam is a great place to bring children of all ages. You will see paintings, sculptures, drawings, historical objects and more. Don’t feel like you need to see the entire Museum in one day, it’s a big place! Come along and see what catches your imagination.

Things to do

Staff are available to welcome you at both entrances. Looking for activities to do while visiting the museum? Come and find our family trolley in the main Courtyard area, opposite the benches at the end of the cafe.

Here you can always find lots of resources to borrow and use in the galleries: 

• Baby Bags – suitable for use in any gallery, these include a soft mat for babies to lay/sit on, along with a range of interesting sensory items to explore shape, form, colour & material inspired by the collection. (We recommend these for 0–2-year-old visitors) 

• Story Starter Bags – these tote bags include a picture book, storytelling props, and some suggested activities to do together. (We recommend these for 2–6-year-old visitors) 

• Trails and drawing materials – pencils, paper, trails, viewfinders and clipboards will be available for visitors to use independently in the galleries. (We recommend these for 5+ year old visitors)

Ideas for your visit:

• Sketch: Using paper and pencils, sketch what you see in the galleries.
• Imagine: As you look at paintings, imagine the sights, sounds, and smells you would experience if you stepped inside.
• Try striking a pose like the sculptures you see.
• Play a gallery game: for example, ‘I spy', or a memory game together. Look at a work of art for a few minutes. Then, turn around and describe what you saw.
• After your visit, discuss together each person’s favourite object or gallery. Create a work of art together when you get home.
• Enjoy the building – make the most of our large gallery spaces, spectacular staircases and cosy nooks to explore together.

We hold regular events for families with children from 0-12, for up-to-date event information please see our ticketing website or sign up to our family enewletters for regular updates.

In our home activities section, We have lots of different ways for you to connect with the collections, be inspired, create, respond and relax from home.