Discover a new world and let the art move you and your entire family! The Clyfford Still Museum offers a variety of family-friendly offerings and admission is always free for children ages 17 and under. Plan your visit today!
Día del Niño – April 30
Join the Clyfford Still Museum for a city-wide celebration of children worldwide during Día del Niño (Day of the Child) on Sunday, April 30. Stop by the Museum’s outdoor forecourt and join artist David Ocelotl Garcia for a participatory mural-making session from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Learn more about David’s Abstract Imaginism philosophy while collaborating with other participants to create a work of art. Enjoy child-friendly dance performances by local groups on the Museum’s outdoor forecourt at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. This activity is free and no registration is required. Día del Niño is also an SCFD Free Day, so visit the Museum all day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for free (reserve free tickets online in advance).
Visiting the Museum with Children
Young children are experts in abstract art, which is what Clyfford Still is best known for creating. That means you can come to the Clyfford Still Museum with your young children, and they will guide you! Based on research and our own experiences, we have some tips for bringing your children on their first (or second or third) museum adventure to the Clyfford Still Museum. Enjoy the Museum and Me video series, with tips for caregivers visiting the Museum with infants, toddlers, and young children.
Be an Art Protector!
Protecting our artwork is a very important job! Art Protectors are always aware of how close they are to the art and make sure that their adults do not get too close or touch the art in the galleries (and they don’t touch it either). But why can’t we touch it? Even a clean finger has oils that damage our paintings, drawings, and sculptures over time, even if we just washed them. Try touching a mirror or a cell phone screen to see for yourself. You might see other art protectors in the Museum—we are all here to protect the art! Thank you for keeping our art safe. Watch the brief bilingual Art Protector animated video before your visit.
Family Activity Book
Pick up the free bilingual Family Activity Book at the information desk during your visit to spark your imagination. The book will help inspire your family to look, create, and explore as you work on the activities together.
Family-Friendly Events
The Clyfford Still Museum offers a variety of other family-friendly events including art making activities, tours, concerts, and more!
Art Crawl
Check out the Art Crawl program, with multiple options to attend each month (new themes each month). Art Crawl is designed for caregivers with infants from newborns through age 14 months. Part tour, part mixer, a CSM educator will lead families in a crawl through the galleries in each monthly session. Your guide will encourage an interactive discussion on the importance of introducing your baby to art at an early age and tips for experiencing art together.
The Making Space
The Making Space is a hands-on creation studio located on the gallery level. Deepen your appreciation of the art on view through directed activities, or simply experiment with a variety of art materials to try something new.
The popular hands-on art studio features new activities, materials, and a refreshed design. CSM staff worked with school partner Colorado State University Early Childhood Center to revamp the materials and activities and ensure they are appropriate for all children and families.
Discounts + Promotions
In addition to always being free for ages 17 and under, the Museum offers a variety of discounts and promotions including SCFD Free Days every month!
Museum and Me
Young children are experts in abstract art, which is what Clyfford Still is best known for creating. That means you can come to the Clyfford Still Museum with your young children, and they will guide you!
Visiting the Museum with Your Young Child (3- to 5-year-olds)
Based on research and our own experiences, we have some tips for bringing your 3- to 5-year-old on their first (or second or third) museum adventure to the Clyfford Still Museum.
Visiting the Museum with Your Toddler
Based on research and our own experiences, we have some tips for bringing your toddler on their first (or second or third) museum adventure to the Clyfford Still Museum.
Visiting the Museum with Your Infant
Based on research and our own experiences, we have some tips for bringing your infant on their first (or second or third) museum adventure to the Clyfford Still Museum.
5-Minute Making Videos
Enjoy virtual hands-on art making adventures for children and their families!
5-Minute Making: Caring Community Spirals
Enjoy a pre-recorded, virtual, hands-on activity for children and adults. Create a caring community spiral with us to explore different family structures and consider people, places, and things in our community that love and support us (and that we love and support!). What does your caring community look like? #CSM5MinuteMaking
5-Minute Making: Happy Birthday, CSM!
Enjoy a pre-recorded, virtual, hands-on art making adventure for children and their families. Guess who is 10 years old? The Clyfford Still Museum! Put on your favorite party outfit and celebrate our anniversary by decorating cookies and cupcakes inspired by Clyfford Still’s paintings.
Art Detective
The staff at the Clyfford Still Museum make discoveries everyday about art, Clyfford Still, our Museum, and our community. Now it’s your turn to make some art discoveries and become an art detective! This video shows families how to make a viewfinder to fuel your own discoveries at home or on your next trip to a museum.
A Song for Someone
While experiencing Clyfford Still’s artwork, we’ll explore the similarities between music and visual art to create our own songs with an original melody and words inspired by PH-1069.
Chill Out, Make Art
Follow along as families who visited he Clyfford Still Museum “Chill Out, Make Art” on the sidewalks in front of the Museum using ice-chalk! We’ll show you how to make this experimental material at home and have a messy, fun time on your own sidewalks.
Touch This Art!
Enjoy a hands-on art making adventure for children and their families. For this program, we’ll celebrate the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with the theme: Touch This Art! Designed by Rishika Kartik, this artmaking activity will engage participants of all ages in abstract art, Clyfford Still’s painting technique, and the multisensory process of painting using textured paints.
Pressing Patterns
Press, Squish, and Roll! Using objects found around and in your home, we will experiment with patterns, like our architects did when they were designing the Clyfford Still Museum building! Grab your favorite clay or play dough and let’s explore patterns!
Line-Inspired Fun
Enjoy these bilingual line-inspired activities:
- How are you feeling? ¿Cómo te sientes?
- Lines outside/Líneas exteriores
- Important lines/Líneas importantes
- Poetic Lines/Líneas Poéticas
Lines Líneas Everywhere!
Watch a bilingual pre-recorded, 10-minute activity to explore lines all around us with Steven Aguiló-Arbues, Clyfford Still Museum Educator. We’ll think about lines we see every day and how they make us feel. Then, we’ll investigate Clyfford Still’s art and how he felt about lines. Finally, we’ll make our own art about what lines mean to us. This activity is designed for families with children ages 4-8.