Why Play in Museums? A Review of the Outcomes of Playful Museum Initiatives

This article presents a qualitative review of 38 peer-reviewed studies
on how play has been applied in museums. The objective of the
review is to analyze the outcomes of playful initiatives to advance
our understanding of the reasons for and effects of applying play
within a museum context. The analysis reveals that playful museum
initiatives are typically described as resulting in engagement,
learning, and/or enjoyment. Furthermore, the article analyzes the
quality of the evidence and highlights two nuancing notions
distilled from conclusions found across the studies, namely that the
contextual interplay is important to bear in mind when developing
playful initiatives and that play is highly unpredictable and
audience dependent. In conclusion, the article suggests that further
research should be conducted to examine the outcomes of playful
museum initiatives, particularly with a focus on other target groups
than children and more comprehensive investigation and
documentation of learning outcomes.