Taking my kids to cultural events in the city is something I love and try to do often, however, taking my two younger boys to the Metropolitan Museum is a Herculean task. They don’t show interest in the paintings and statues, they want to run around and it’s just a constant source of stress for me to try and get them to focus. It’s important for me, though, that they get used to going to museums. Fable and Lark is a company that provides interactive guided tours that are based on classic stories – and they take place in museums in NYC. My family and I recently went on a Harry Potter-inspired tour, called “Griffins, Goblets and Gold: A Wizarding Tour at The Metropolitan Museum of Art” and not only was it fun and informative, but my boys paid attention the entire time and actually enjoyed being in a museum! Har
ry Potter Fans Alert! A Wizarding Tour at The Metropolitan Museum
Everyone in our family is a Harry Potter fan to some degree, ranging from die-hard to at least a fan of the HP movies. My daughter has read all of the books in the series (several times) and has seen all the movies. My middle son is on the fourth book in the series. I have read the first book and currently reading it to my youngest and my husband has seen all of the movies.
We met our tour guide at the Met museum and began a two-hour tour that took us to various galleries. Our guide used an iPad to show us images from the movies and of places in the UK and pointed out various artifacts and artwork that look similar to what J.K. Rowling wrote about in the books, as well as artifacts that may have inspired her when writing the books. For example, some of the items in the museum are artwork of mythological statues and the guide spoke about how they relate to the books and also discussed mythology in general.
I don’t want to give too much away but I will say that, as mentioned, the tour is interactive and there are various fun activities throughout. The guide also gives away some cool souvenirs but I’ll keep those as a surprise. The tours are always in groups of 12 people or less which makes it easy to hear the guide and learn so many cool facts and tidbits about the Harry Potter series and films.
By the end of the tour we all became experts on Harry Potter! It was so much fun to learn about Harry Potter and other subjects, such as mythology, as well as history and literature. It was a perfect combination for people who love reading and art.
Tickets to the tour also include tickets to the museum so after the tour ended we walked around through various other galleries. When we left my youngest son announced that he liked “the first part much better!” I was simply happy he was entertained for two hours and learned that museums can be fun.
Fable and Lark offers several other themed tours about shows and books such as Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings (also the Met and only for adults), plus more kid-friendly tours from other famous books, such as Percy Jackson.
Visit Fable and Lark to learn more and to purchase tickets. The price for a public tour is $47.50/adult; $37.50/child 12 and under. The tour is appropriate for ages 7 and up. There are also tours that are modified for younger kids (ages 5-7) and are only one hour long, as well as private tours. Prices for private tours start at $60/adult; $50/child 12 and under.
I was not compensated for this post. I received tickets to the tour.
Senior Reviewer Maytal Wichman is a freelance writer and has written for several blogs, including The Huffington Post. She has been living in the New York City area for eighteen years and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature as well as a Law Degree, but blogging is her true passion. Maytal is a stay-at-home mom to three kids (ages 12, 10 and 6) and loves finding great products for her family.
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