MFA Boston: Vacation Week Adventures

Museum of Fine Arts Children's Vacation Activities during Spring Break!

Discover the wide range of colors found in art! All are invited to April Vacation Week to enjoy interactive family tours and drop-in art-making activities exploring color! All ages and abilities welcome; children must be accompanied by an adult. No registration required. See Visiting with Kids and Family for more information.

Drop-In Art Making: Sun Catchers
- 10 am–4 pm
- Shapiro Family Courtyard
- See how light changes color by taking a closer look at beautiful examples of stained glass on view in galleries 218, 221, 222, 223, and 228. Then head to the Shapiro Family Courtyard to create your own hanging artwork that glows with help from the sun.
Drop-In Art Making: Felt Art Whimsy
- 10 am–4 pm
- Druker Studios, 159, Linde Family Wing
- Learn how to transform natural wool fibers into a beautiful felt work of art with artist Alexandra Adamo from Alex Makes Art.
- Please note: Felting needles are sharp! This activity is only for visitors ten years old and up.
Drop-In Art Making: Ukrainian Easter Eggs
- 10 am–4 pm
- Druker Studios, 160, Linde Family Wing
- Welcome spring by learning about pysanky, traditional Ukrainian painted eggs. Then create your very own pysanka by adding bright colors and intricate patterns to a wooden egg using watercolor-based dye, tape, and masking fluid.
Drop-In Art Making: Paper Flowers
- Occurs every day but Saturday, April 22
- 10 am–4 pm
- Koch Gallery, 250
- Take a look at Dutch and Flemish paintings depicting flowers in galleries 243 and 244. Then stop by gallery 250 to create realistic-looking flowers using paper, wire, tape, and scissors.
Story Hour
- 10:30 am and 1:30 pm
- Gallery LG36
- Stop by to hear children’s stories about color. Leave after one story or stay for the whole hour.
Family Tour: Colors All Around Us
- Occurs every day but Saturday, April 22
- 10:30 am, 11:15 am, 1 pm, 1:45 pm, and 2:30 pm
- Meet at Sharf Visitor Center
- Join a family-friendly tour in search of the most bold and vibrant colors in the Museum! What’s your favorite? Tours are 30 minutes.
Conservation Up Close: Gilding Frames
- Wednesday, April 19
- 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, and 2:30 pm
- Meet in Gallery 168
- Join Christine Storti, head of Furniture and Frame Conservation; and Gregory Porter, assistant frame conservator; to explore the materials and tools used to gild frames. See up close the delicate nature of gold leaf, and learn how gilders used squirrel hair brushes to transfer the leaf and agate gemstones to burnish the gold for shine.
- Space is limited. Free tickets available for pickup in Gallery 168 on a first-come, first-served basis 30 minutes prior to the start of each session.
Conservation Up Close: Making Traditional Egg Tempera Paint
- Saturday, April 22
- 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, and 2:30 pm
- Meet in Gallery 168
- Join Sarah Mastrangelo, Cunningham Associate Conservator of Paintings, for a brief history of the use of egg tempera in Italian panel painting and a demonstration of how traditional egg tempera paint is made. Take part in a discussion on the manufacture and processing of pigments, and get a feel for the difference between egg tempera and a contemporary paint medium like gouache.
- Space is limited. Free tickets available for pickup in Gallery 168 on a first-come, first-served basis 30 minutes prior to the start of each session.