Cork's new culture trails are child’s play

A collaborative play trail encouraging children to explore Cork city has been a big hit this summer - we spoke to some of those involved about the importance of making culture fun

Cork's playful new culture trails appeal to all ages. Pictures: Clare Keogh.

In bygone days, museums and art galleries were places that children were hardly seen, never mind heard. All that has changed as cultural attractions becoming more aware of the importance of appealing to all ages and offering more family-friendly activities.

In this spirit, this summer, museums, galleries, and attractions across Cork have come together to turn the city into a playground, creating a Playful Culture Trail, featuring 30 cultural locations and green spaces for children and families to explore.

An activity pack and map is available at each attraction, and children are encouraged to look out for trail mascot, Blaithín, a cute and cuddly lizard who pops up along the way. The initiative has been a huge success with families staying at home this summer, who have been enjoying exploring parts of the city they may never have known about before — from the labyrinth at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral to going underground at Triskel Christchurch, or sampling the sweets at the legendary Lenihan’s in Shandon. It’s rare for so many museums in one city to pull together for one initiative.

There is a wealth of evidence that exposing children and young people to culture and heritage at a young age has significant knock-on benefits. Danielle O’Donovan, programme manager at Cork’s Nano Nagle Place, who was involved in organising the trail, says people are never too young to experience museums and other cultural institutions.

“Giving kids a sense of empowerment to be the owner of the museum, to know it is their space too and creating that habit for life, you can really inspire people. Museums are also really good places for wellbeing — there is peer-reviewed research that says visiting museums does improve your health and people who visit museums live longer.”

O’Donovan describes the playful culture trail as a “real passion project” for everyone involved.

“All the museums had a meeting on Zoom, we had loads of ideas but we needed to join them together in some way. It kind of grew organically. We were really lucky because in Nano Nagle Place, we had two really good interns, Deirbhile Lynch and Maggie McCabe, who took on the job of designing activities for museums that didn’t have them. They went to every museum and gallery in Cork and came up with something different for each one.”

The Playful Culture Trail features 30 cultural locations and green spaces for children and families to explore.

Also involved in organising the play trail was Denise Cahill, co-ordinator of the Playful Cork City Project and Cork Healthy Cities, who says the feedback on the trail has been “phenomenal”. According to Cahill, introducing children to culture through play has a positive impact on physical and mental health.

“Play is so important for children in their social development, language development and interaction. Really, it is how they learn to engage with the world — there are physical benefits but also the social, emotional and mental health development side of things is huge as well.”

She adds that providing opportunities for fun and play is more important than ever right now, after pandemic restrictions and numerous lockdowns.

“During lockdown in particular, we were very conscious about making space for children, which is why there is more of an investment in green spaces, cycle lanes, local parks and local facilities. When children didn’t have the exposure to their activities and school, it was even more important.”

O'Donovan agrees that children have lost out on opportunities for play and discovery over lockdown and are hankering for new experiences — which can often be found right on their doorstep.

“I think of my own daughter who had her nose pressed to the glass saying ‘Mummy, we need to go somewhere’. So many of the things they love to do, like soft play, were all closed.”

She says the trail is also aimed at encouraging people who might normally be put off visiting galleries or museums for a variety of reasons.

“We hope we reach new people with this. It has just been fantastic to see all of the museums, galleries and cultural attractions working together, and hopefully this is just the beginning. There is a whole spectrum of people who don’t visit for lots of different reasons. People say I don’t think that place is for me or they can’t afford it or whatever. That is the job, to get those people through the door and give them a sense of ownership.”

Playful Culture Trail, featuring 30 cultural locations and green spaces for children and families to explore

She adds that children have really bought into the idea of completing all the activities on the trail. “Kids are such completists, and that list of 30 things to tick off, they will be like, ‘well now we need to visit the Butter Museum’. I was in Elizabeth Fort the other day and there were Blaithíns everywhere and the kids were having such fun hunting them. We have seen so many people coming through the door with their little bags, the kids are leading the way.”

Cork City Council is one of the lead supporters of the initiative and Lord Mayor Colm Kelleher says it is incredibly uplifting to see families flock to the city’s museums, galleries and attractions. “I’m really proud that we are creating an open and welcome experience for families in our museums, galleries and historic sites,” he says.

Cahill says there are plans in train to make the city even more playful and child-friendly, including implementing a play street in one of the pedestrianised areas.

'Children are an indicator species of a liveable city so if you see children being active in a city centre, you know it is a liveable, healthy, child-friendly city.'

“According to UNESCO, children are an indicator species of a liveable city so if you see children being active in a city centre, you know it is a liveable, healthy, child-friendly city. This is a unique opportunity for Cork to set itself apart from other cities in Ireland. Our next ambition is to develop a play street in Cork city centre, to emphasise the mentality that play isn’t about equipment and toys, it is a mindset and attitude.”

She adds that play isn’t only for the young and is keen to encourage people of all ages to reconnect with their inner child.

“Every single one of us has played at some stage in our lives. We all have the skills, we just get inhibited. Older adults are fantastic for doing playful things such as bowling or card-playing. It’s there, it just needs to be tapped into in all of us.”

Play trail maps can be downloaded at purecork.ie