Children's museums Part 1: Kinder Kunst Labor St. Pölten/Austria

This brand new venue encourages children from infancy onwards to engage with creativity and art, to be artists themselves, to create and to engage with their environment in a new and open way. It is definitely one of the best places in Austria for children to express their uniqueness and learn that our world is complex, colorful and constantly evolving.

Why is it so important to bring art closer to children? And why museums should not be reserved for adults only?

Art and play therapy is very effective and healing for toddlers and children in elementary school, as the complex development of language and emotions is not yet complete in the first years of life. Intense, stressful feelings, fears, worries and much more can be expressed and processed, which would otherwise often develop into chronic illnesses.

In addition, these forms of therapy strengthen (body) awareness, self-esteem, healthy ego development, individuation and a sense of belonging to a community. Every child is an artist, as at the beginning of our lives we are equipped with diverse creative possibilities to experience our environment, to explore, to take our own place and to create our very own path in life, as long as this is not disturbed by the environment. Children do not need to be “educated”, children need adults who, above all, teach them basic trust, bonding skills, ethical principles, structures/rules for mindful interaction and authenticity/honesty.

But not all parents have been able to develop these skills for themselves. This is why art and play therapy/gestalt therapy is also an important part of integrative trauma therapy and our working approach in later development and for the integration of inner parts that were thought to be lost.