Visiting Tool Kit for Families

Tips for Making Your Visit Enjoyable

Did you know about MFAH discounts for children?
Children 5 and younger receive free admission every day. Ages 6 to 18 are admitted free on Saturdays and Sundays with any Texas Public Library Card. Click here to get more information about admission prices.

How do I get there and where do I park?
Click here to find out details about the museum’s parking locations and to get directions to the museum.

Is it okay to bring a stroller?
Yes, strollers are allowed at the MFAH. The easiest way to enter the museum with a stroller is to park in the Visitors Center Parking Garage and use the elevators to enter the Audrey Jones Beck Building. Visitors may drive their vehicles into the porte cochere entrance, parallel to Main Street, to enter the Beck Building and then park in one of the designated museum lots. The Caroline Wiess Law Building is also accessible with a stroller; enter the west entrance door located off of Main Street.

Looking for a place to eat?
Cafe Express is located on the lower level of the Audrey Jones Beck Building. Kids’ meals are available. You may also visit a selection of Houston's finest food trucks in the parking lot adjacent to the sculpture garden. If you brought your own food and drinks, feel free to eat them in the sculpture garden.

Looking for a place to sit in the galleries?
Lobby seating is available in both buildings if you need a place to sit during your visit. There is also seating available in various galleries throughout the museum. You are welcome to sit on the floor in the galleries as you explore art together.

If you need a change of pace, visit the Kinder Foundation Education Center where there is comfy seating and soft carpet.  Families can check out family packs, designed by education staff to enhance a visit, borrow a book, especially chosen to inspire connections to works of art, and discover activities to make the MFAH a part of your home.

Need to find a restroom?
Restrooms are located on every level of the Beck Building and on the lower level and 1st floor mezzanine of the Law Building. Baby-changing stations are available in most restrooms.

Traveling between buildings?
You have two options:
Outside, walk outside the buildings using the crosswalk located on Binz.
Inside, walk through the Wilson Tunnel connecting the buildings. Artist James Turrell’s installation artwork The Light Inside serves as a walkway between the Beck and Law buildings. To reach the Wilson Tunnel, go to the lower level of either building.

Tips for Visiting on Summer Thursdays

Thursday is a popular day at the museum!

Families are welcome, and admission is free courtesy of Shell.

Here are a few tips to ensure you have a great visit:

  • Be flexible. If a program is crowded when you arrive, try visiting another one for awhile. Every Thursday, family activities are happening in the studio or the galleries.
  • Stop by the Kinder Foundation Education Center (KFEC) to check out resources to use at your own pace, such as Family Packs and A Book and A Look. This summer, you can also write a postcard to someone you know about your trip to the museum, and we'll mail it for you!
  • To be courteous to all program participants, please limit your time in the studio to 45 minutes.
  • Keep in mind that the MFAH offers family programs every Sunday. So if you miss a Thursday, visit on a Sunday to experience another program.

Reminder
All drop-in Family Programs and resources at the MFAH are free with admission. MFAH Members receive free admission every day, all year long.

Note for Camp Groups

  • Please review Museum Manners with your group in the lobby before you begin your museum experience.
  • To ensure a quality experience at our art-making programs, the museum requires 1 adult per 5 children.
  • Space is limited in our studio, so a group may not be able to be seated together.
  • To be courteous, we ask all visitors to limit their time in the studio to 45 minutes.
  • Gallery Investigations is a program designed for individual families, but camp groups can investigate works of art with their own looking activity sheet, Summer at the MFAH, which they receive at the admissions desks.
  • To learn more about resources available for camp groups, click here.

Museum Manners

Adults: Please share these guidelines with your group prior to the visit so children understand the importance of protecting the art in the museum. This extra step is especially important for little ones who may be visiting for the first time. The list below is written so an adult can read it out loud to children.

  • Remember not to touch any works of art. When we look at art together, we stay at least two arms’ lengths away to make sure the art is safe.
  • Do you know what “Museum Hands” are? Clasp your hands together behind your back. Watch me do it. When we walk in the museum, we should walk with “Museum Hands,” or you can hold my hand.
  • At the museum, we will see guards wearing jackets. The guards have a very important job: to protect the art. They will remind us of these museum manners if we forget.
  • When we want to look at a work of art or if we want to rest, we can sit on the floor or on a bench together. We should not lean against walls or display cases.
  • When we talk in the museum, we need to use our inside voices.
  • When we are looking at art in the galleries, we need to stay together.
  • Remember not to run in the museum.
  • If we want to take a break for a snack, we can go to the sculpture garden. No food or drinks are allowed in the museum galleries.

Click here to download a printable copy of these Museum Manners to share with your child anywhere.

Looking Activities in the Galleries

Before your visit, print these looking activities. Then, bring them to the museum to use in the galleries!