Increasing visitor’s social capital through play

In his 1938 book “Homo Ludens” the Dutch historian, Johan Huizinga, suggested play was necessary in society to generate culture. However, the provision of play activities decreases with age. Play is often seen as being the preserve of children and does not extend much beyond teenage.  Even “Learning for fun” is still seen as relating to children, despite the idea of lifelong learning,

Playing on climbing frame

In 2011 I raised the question of increasing social and cultural capital via the provision of entertainment and education in museums with regard to teenagers. I proposed that, by offering education and culture, museums are able to increase a visitor’s cultural capital and that by organising, or at least allowing, recreational group participation, museums could also increase their visitor’s social capital.

That is not to say that teenagers lack social capital. Far from it! Teenagers are forming social bonds on-line as well as off-line. With a lack of parental-approved, inexpensive physical attractions, teens are turning to the virtual world for action packed activities. In so doing they are building friendships and community spirit online. Such communities can be accessed on demand and do not require a set time to be committed to them.

In studying teenager’s access and willingness to participate in museum visiting I was interested to see if museums could make themselves more appealing to a teenage audience. My suggestion was to move away from thinking of museums as purely a place of education, but as places for leisure too. To appeal to a non-visitor, it became clear that museums needed to promote themselves as a relaxed place to meet socially, rather than emphasise the ability to learn.

Teenagers in museum

 Research at the Museum of London highlighted that a third of the museums visitors were socially motivated. Visitors rate their visit based on interaction with the exhibits and with each other. Playing with the exhibits and discussing the experience increases the level of enjoyment. People like to be social.

 “Play” in museums is often offered by interactive opportunities. Although museums have begun to provide more of these experiences, these are many aimed at children under 12 and are not challenging enough for a teenage audience who would still like to test their skills. Nor are they aimed at adults. Once an activity gains a pre-teen audience, teenagers (and adults) will shun it as childish. This leads to a large section of the community missing out on the play experience.

The teenagers studied for my report complained that non-interactive displays were boring. They enjoy having guided tours, either by a person or via handheld audio. They also expressed a desire for more interactive technology. Although they usually meant more computers, technology encompasses all tools used for interpretation, from the basic pen and paper to people employed as explainers. Suited tour-guides were deemed too formal and like school, whereas costumed explainers had a mixed reaction. On the whole they were liked, as long as, like a theatre visit, the illusion was not broken by explainers being referred to as actors.

Teenagers socialise in both the physical and virtual world and are able to create their own amusement. In a museum environment, this may not appear to involve much learning, nor involve the exhibits how the museum intended. However, by discussing the exhibits and “playing” with them, teenagers are able to increase their cultural capital, as well as their social capital.

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