Art State of Mind

Art for Babies – What Crawlers Could Do in the Art World

Isla Phillips-Ewen 1 June 2023 min Read

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In the previous article, Artworks Your Infant Will Enjoy, we encouraged you to turn gallery trips into sensory classes for your newborn. While these newborn tips all still apply now your baby is older, when you are out of the newborn phase and your baby is crawling, things might seem a bit more challenging when out and about. Can you still go to see art in museums and galleries? Of course! In this article, we will give you some top tips and tricks for making the most out of galleries with your little one now that they are on the move.

Space to Crawl (Maybe with a Soft Carpet!)

An obvious first tip is that your baby is going to want the room to move if they are going to be able to endure any length of time in a gallery. It’s all very well having them in a stroller or sling, but they’ll soon get bored. If you can visit at a quieter time so there are fewer stomping feet filling up the floor space that is great. In London, the Wallace Collection is a particularly good destination as it has lovely plush carpets for the little crawler. Head here with your baby and while they are luxuriously roaming you can enjoy sumptuous art, such as Fragonard’s Swing.

art for crawling babies: Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing, c.1767, Wallace Collection, London, UK. — Jean-Honoré Fragonard, *The Swing*, c.1767, Wallace Collection, London, UK.

Crawling-eye-level

Next up on the top tip is to find exhibitions that are immersive for your baby – ideally something at their crawling eye level like the shows where you can step into paintings, such as the Van Gogh Experience or the current David Hockney: Bigger and Closer (22 February – 1 October 2023) in London. These spaces are awesome for babies: the set-up is such that most people are laying down on the floor already and your baby can crawl around to their heart’s content. The artworks literally wash over and around them. It’s a brilliant experience for everyone.

art for crawling babies: Art for crawling babies: author’s photograph taken at David Hockney: Bigger and Closer (22 February – 1 October 2023), London, U.K. — Art for crawling babies: author’s photograph taken at *David Hockney: Bigger and Closer* (22 February – 1 October 2023), London, U.K.

Sculptural Installations

Although paintings are wonderful, sculptural and installation art are more engaging for babies who are crawling. Like with newborns, pieces that employ bold colors and big spaces are going to be really great. If they can climb on, through, inside, and over them – even better! Public sculptural art, such as artwork in parks, often ticks this box. A few years ago the Antony Gormley Exhibition at the Royal Academy (21 September – 2 December 2019) was full of sculptures that visitors could clamber in and around – this would have been awesome for a crawler!

art for crawling babies: Art for crawling babies: Installation view of Nailed the Colours to the Mast, Emily Thomas in collaboration with 林林書杰 Lin Shu-Jie, 2019, oil paint on plywood. Photography by Rich Matheson, Soulangh Cultural Park, Tainan. — Art for crawling babies: Installation view of *Nailed the Colours to the Mast*, Emily Thomas in collaboration with 林林書杰 Lin Shu-Jie, 2019, oil paint on plywood. Photography by Rich Matheson, Soulangh Cultural Park, Tainan.

A Quiet Cafe Nearby

Unlike when you had a newborn and a slightly more busy cafe (or simply a bench) might have been suitable for you to breast or bottle feed, now that your baby is crawling you will probably have also started weaning your baby. At this point, meal times are slightly more complicated. If your art trip does coincide with snack or food time then perhaps you could leave the gallery and go to a quieter location nearby where they are more likely to have high chairs and fewer people. You can always re-enter the gallery later on.

art for crawling babies: Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. — Edward Hopper, *Nighthawks*, 1942, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.

Nap Time

Finally, if you really want to enjoy some art in peace why not consider coinciding the visit with a nap? Now that your baby is older they are more likely to have set sleepy times, and if you are happy letting them snooze in the pram this is a great way for you to get some time to yourself.

art for crawling babies: Caravaggio, Sleeping Cupid, 1608, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy. — Caravaggio, *Sleeping Cupid*, 1608, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy.

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Isla Phillips-Ewen

Isla graduated with a first class BA in Classics from the University of Cambridge in 2018. After university she spent a year in Japan, where she interned as a curatorial assistant at the Fukuoka Asian Arts Museum. Recently, Isla completed a History of Art MA with Distinction at Birkbeck College, University of London. She currently lives in London with her husband, siamese cats and baby.