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.