Helping Children Grow: What Role for Culture?
Organised by the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie alongside École des Loisirs and Universcience, this two-day symposium explored the role of culture in child development from a broad perspective:
- Through the lens of risk-taking — taking children into nature, to museums, or to see a show involves a risk well worth taking when you see the benefits of a cultural experience on their development. Making school outings easier and more accessible is a real challenge in building connections between young people and culture.
- Through movement — movement is essential for a child to learn, discover and venture into the unknown. This movement is needed both in contact with nature and in museums, at exhibitions or shows. Some dance companies invite young people to warm up with them before a performance, so they can absorb the creative process and what they are about to see.
- Through imagination — words have the powerto step outside reality, to help children manage their emotions, and to approach the unknown and difficult situations. Stories give children confidence and develop their self-esteem.
Placing the child at the heart of creative thinking is therefore an important challenge for all players in the cultural sector: museums, theatre productions, dance performances, garden design, books…
Links to two of the talks:
Risk, David Le Breton, sociologist — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duedCu1gxAs
The power of stories, Nathalie Sejean, Storyteller — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc-3vQwRK8w
