If you’re holidaying in the Netherlands this summer, make sure you visit the city of Utrecht – Miffy’s birthplace – where the exhibition ’60 Years of Miffy’ is currently on display at the Centraal Museum. Packed full of interactive activities to keep families with young children engaged in creative fun, it is a stunning show celebrating Miffy’s birthday.
The exhibition has been specifically designed from a child’s perspective, and features giant interactive 3D structures throughout. For adults, it immediately feels as if you’re stepping into a brightly coloured dream world where everything is larger than life. Giant Miffy storybooks hang from the ceiling, whilst other books form huge free-standing displays to walk around, with their open pages showing images of Dick Bruna at work.
There are eleven recognisable elements in the exhibition which explore a typical birthday celebration, including dressing up in party outfits, buying presents, making birthday decorations and eating birthday cake – making your visit into one big party.
Children can guess what is inside the display of giant presents by smelling, feeling and listening to the contents. They can wander into Miffy’s wardrobe and decorate her party dress, or sit down and make her a birthday card. They can sing a birthday song or play along on a drum or tambourine. Finally they can crawl inside a giant birthday cake that even smells like cake!
For a trip down memory lane, parents have the chance to see a rare display of the earliest manuscripts of miffy and miffy at the zoo – two of Dick Bruna’s first stories he wrote in 1955. You can also see some vintage merchandise – the first Miffy toys and puzzles from the 1970s onwards.
’60 Years of Miffy’ is at the Centraal Museum, Utrecht until 20 September 2015. For more details, visit: http://centraalmuseum.nl
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