Museums provide resources for children, in person and online, amidst the war

When the COVID crisis hit, many museums around Israel made content available online, especially children’s content, which you can again access during this difficult time. A few museums apparently are still open, but check before you visit. The Israel Museum (www.imj.org.il) will be starting online children’s activities via Zoom starting on October 12. It has already made much available online for free from its exhibits and collections, including some videos.  

The museum website section for digital content is called “Museum in the Palm of Your Hand.” It features a number of videos, including one about 20 minutes long, called Time Tunnel: Discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls (tours.imj.org.il/en/time-travel-the-story-of-the-dead-sea-scrolls-2).

In Hebrew with English, it combines animation with photographs to tell the story of the journey of the scrolls to the Shrine of the Book, from their discovery in the desert by shepherds and archaeologists, to how they were smuggled out to antiquities dealers and eventually recovered and cataloged by archaeologist Eleazar Sukenik. It’s quite a story and is told in a way that will interest young children.

The Israel Museum also features Museum 360, where you can click on a work of art and then go on a virtual tour of the gallery in which it is situated (tours.imj.org.il/en/museum-360). There is some contemporary art, but much of it is comprised of the museum’s ancient treasures and may even help reinforce some lessons your children are learning in school. There is also a page called Family Experience (tours.imj.org.il/en/family-experience), which consists of videos of a number of art projects you and your children can make together, led by artists who work with the museum.

Of course, you may not have all the materials in these videos on hand, but most of them require common household items and a little paint or a few crayons. You can make a candle lampshade out of lasagna noodles, for example, or a picture out of old pencils and pens.

Other museums with activities for kids

The Tel Aviv Museum of Art also has online activities for children (www.tamuseum.org.il/he/event/stay-connected-online-activities-kids), which includes an exhibit of pictures that artists have created for their own children. There also coloring pages that are based on famous works of Israeli art, and much more.

Starting on October 15, the ANU Museum of the Jewish People (www.anumuseum.org.il/anu-together) will open free online tours, in Hebrew, English, and Russian. It also has an online genealogy base that may be fun to explore.

The Tower of David Museum (www.tod.org.il/) in Jerusalem will be open some days, although it will be closed on Fridays and Saturdays. It invites residents of the South and North, who have had to leave their homes, to visit for free. Contact the museum before you visit, to check on opening hours and to see if they have added any online content.

The Biblical Museum of Natural History (www.biblicalnaturalhistory.org), near the entrance of Beit Shemesh, also says on its website that it is open and that discounted tickets are available for the petting zoo.

The Tisch Family Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem is closed now, but the movie that they show in the visitor’s center in the Noah’s Ark exhibit is available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSeBqse3K3s, and it shows the zoo, and Jerusalem, at its best.

Once you are online, you can go pretty much anywhere, and children who wish they could visit an aquarium can enjoy the webcams available on the website of the Monterey Bay Aquarium at www.montereybayaquarium.org.

They feature cameras that are live most of the day – when they are off, they show prerecorded footage – of their impressive shark tank, sea otters, jellyfish, kelp forest, and the Monterey Bay itself.