While Venice can seem a bit overwhelming and crowded at first glance, a challenge for family travel, with a little planning, there are a range of exceptional Venice activities for kids that will acquaint them with all of the city’s treasures on their own level, in fact in most cases digging a little deeper behind the scenes into the art, architecture, and intrigue of the culture of Venice than your average adult tour!
Peggy Guggenheim Collection Children’s Workshops
Every Sunday from 3:00-4:30 pm the Guggenheim Venice offers free “Kids Day” workshops for children ages 4-10. The activities are designed to enable children to engage with modern and contemporary art at their own level by experimenting with artistic techniques and themes. The workshops begin with some projects in the museum visiting permanent and temporary exhibits, then continue on back in the classroom with art projects and other creative exercises. The workshops are primarily in Italian but English is offered as well. For this reason, we suggest emailing the museum in advance to reserve a spot for your children and indicate their language needs. Other languages may be accommodated as well. The Guggenheim hosts a series of other family events and activities throughout the year, so be sure to check their website before your visit.
The Arte al Sole educational travel programs, which offers art and cultural courses for kids in English throughout Italy, has fun-filled options for Venice Kids Tours and Activities that allow parents some free time, along with several interactive activities for the whole family to explore Venice together. In these workshops, kids explore the magic of Venice in an interactive way. The program allows parents some free time while children are learning in-depth and hands-on about the city’s cultural legacy with other students, meeting friends and enjoying an international cultural experience. Activities include an adventure around the city themed around Venetian traditions of alchemy and visiting the sites of some intriguing legends, followed by a papier-mache mask workshop. A Murano tour and workshop, and then in the afternoon the children will make their own glass pearl jewels. Families can enjoy a treasure hunt together, and then the kids can create a comic strip illustrating their adventure. Arte al Sole also offers a variety of fun workshops in Rome, Lucca, and Florence, as well as summer day camps for international children.
Macacotour offers a range of tours and activities for either just children, or for the whole family, such as a treasure hunt for the whole family, or a kids-only walking tour themed on “Animals, Mysteries, and Magic.” They also offer two fun interactive activities in Verona for families with kids. They will also be offering some special tours and activities in cooperation with the biennale and partnering with the Arte al Sole programs to offer extended family courses. They can even plan a themed birthday party!
The Context family tours in Venice are interactive 3-hour private tours for up to 6 people with scholar docents leading tours in engaging for kids. The Lion Hunt tour is a general intro to Venice that is fun for the whole family, themed around the lion as a symbol of Venice. Kids are given specific clues for what to look out for along the way, and visit some unique spots, such as Marco Polo’s house. Context also offers a Daily Life in Venice tour for families, which always sparks kids’ imaginations by bringing Medieval and Renaissance Venice to life in all of its splendor.
MORE VENICE SUGGESTIONS
Venice Vacation Rentals for Families
Our Recommended Hotels for Families in Venice
Italy Family Trip Report: Venice, Verona, and Emilia Romagna
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