- GO KIDS TOURS -
DETECTIVE IN FLORENCE
This tour is designed for families with children. The aim is to get my youngest clients curious by getting them to pretend to be city detectives. Armed with their own Detective Kit, they will be able to complete their mission. There will be questions to answer, games to play, photos to take and drawings to sketch and colour. They will discover the Duomo, the statues of the Piazza della Signoria, the Ponte Vecchio and more. Your children will go home remembering Florence as a city of adventure and discovery, and their parents will have their grown up questions answered whilst the youngsters are entertained!
THE LIFE OF A FLORENTINE MERCHANT
The rich merchant is the most important figure of Medieval and Renaissance Florence. This tour will take us on a journey to discover the typical Florentine merchant. We will visit the home of a merchant, learn about his daily routine and his relationship with the city and with local families. What does he eat? What does he sell? How does he live? These are just some of the many questions we will find answers to. We will even visit a church where many rich merchants chose to be buried after they died. You will learn what it meant to have a private chapel in your local neighbourhood. The children on the tour will have their own activity kit that will encourage their learning and keep them engaged.
IMAGINATION, DAVID AND ICE CREAM
This tour combines the elements of Florence that, in my experience, excite children the most. Imaginative stories, the gigantic statue of David and the grand finale, a delicious traditional ice cream! First the children will be given their own Artist’s Kit. While we tour the city, they will be told many stories about the city that will light up a child’s imagination and help them engage with the architecture and art. We will visit the Accademia and the children will learn about the sculptor, Michelangelo and meet the famous statue of David. They will be fascinated by this gigantic statue, and be encouraged to imagine what colour they would paint the white marble. We will encourage them to be artists for the day! To reward them for their efforts, we will take them to a traditional ice cream parlour where they can design and devour the ice cream of their dreams.
CHILD-SIZED UFFIZI
Visiting the Uffizi can be considered an overwhelming and tiring task visit for a family with children. This tour offers a realistic visit designed to meet the stamina of children. We will not have any children shouting or complaining. Over ten years I have designed a tour that engages children of all ages. They will have their own Activity Kit which acts as a guide and keeps them engaged as we visit various rooms of the museum. The tour will be modified to exploring around ten artworks that are specifically chosen around the youngest child in the group. The rest of the family will be amazed how much they can learn from just a few, perfectly chosen artworks.
MYTHS AN PALAZZO VECCHIO
For centuries, the Palazzo Vecchio (the Old Palace) has been the seat of political power for the Florentine Republic. Since the sixteenth century, it has also been the home of the Medici family of which Cosimo I was the head, the Duke of Florence. The family used the Piazza della Signoria as a gallery where they displayed their power and family story across sculptures that we will discover together. Each sculpture tells a biblical or mythological story but also acts as a symbol for other messages. This tour will allow the whole family to explore the meaning of these sculptures. We will meet the mythological and religious characters of Venus, Mars, Hercules and Perseus in statues outside and on the frescoed walls inside the Palace and you will understand why they were chosen to represent this grand family throughout their history. Your children will follow the tour in their Activity Kit which they can take home to remember everyone they met whilst in Florence!
DISCOVERING THE BOBOLI GARDENS
The Boboli gardens are a real treasure. Statues, fountains and ultra-centennial plants will make us taste the life of the children who lived in Palazzo Pitti at the time of the Medici family. We will discover artificial grottos and labyrinths, the Roman gods will wink at different points of the garden becoming the protagonists of fascinating stories, not to mention the many animals we will meet along the way. They will be your new friends and you will have fun finding them in the most hidden corners of the gardens. We will taste a good chocolate just like the Lorena family used to do in the Kaffeehaus and find out when this delicious food arrived in Florence and how they used to enjoy it in the 18th century! The "head gardener" kit will accompany the journey that every child will take with me in the magical world of Boboli!