Have interactive exhibits spoiled the museum experience?
Keeping your kids frenetically entertained has ruined museums for adults
You’d think that a hall of taxidermied animals would be the epitome of quiet. The animals were all shot, skinned, and propped up against idyllic backdrops decades ago, mute muses for visitors ready to lose themselves for a few quiet moments in nature scenes that they will likely never see firsthand. But on this afternoon in the depths of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the whispers of the wild were drowned out by a different sort of noise. Screeches of “Smash it! Smash it!” bounced off the wood and glass cases as a trio of children jumped and danced across an interactive floor mat, trying to squash as many virtual insects as possible.