Accomplice to a rainy day and discounted admission thanks to the cumulative ticket with the Castle of Fénis, we decided to visit the MAV Museum of Valdostan Craftsmanship located in Fénis, a few minutes from the well-known Castle.
The visit to the MAV is free and takes approximately 30-45 minutes, although you can stay as long as you need.
During the visit, children will be free to touch the trunk of some trees, smell their bark, and try to guess their species.
Truly a nice idea to create a sensory trail to engage especially children – but also adults – in visiting the Museum.
Museum of Valdostan Crafts with children: tour route
The MAV is a museum dedicated to traditional Aosta Valley handicrafts that houses more than a thousand objects including artifacts of use (17th-20th centuries) and sculptures (13th-20th centuries) from public and private collections.
On the tour, you can see various objects typical of daily life in the Aosta Valley of the past and present, such as baby cribs, toys, work tools etc.
They are all objects carved in wood and displayed on shelves without the presence of display cases: it makes you want to take them in your hands to look at them more closely and admire the perfect working technique!
The mission of the MAV is to tell the story of the identity of the Aosta Valley community, hand down its traditions, and acquaint the public with the skilled work of artisans.
A visit to the Museum is necessary to understand the close relationship between crafts and the Aosta Valley territory. But it doesn’t end there!
If you are lucky enough to visit the Museum of Valdostan Craftsmanship on the days set aside, children will be able to participate in fantastic workshops where, for a couple of hours, they can for all intents and purposes turn into perfect woodworkers.
Museum of Valdostan Craftsmanship with kids: workshops for children
From the tour route, a flight of stairs leads to the Educational Carpentry Workshop where workshops are held for children ages 3 to 12.
Each month a different theme is chosen – for example, mountain landscapes, geometric shapes, playmates, etc. – so that the child can have a base from which to start and from there, thanks to the use of the various tools on the workbench, he or she can carve, saw, and drill wood, finally creating the desired object, according to his or her creativity and imagination.
Once the object has been created, the last step is to color it with pencils.
Access to the workshops, only one parent per child is allowed. On the other hand, if the child is older than 7 years old, he/she can be alone.
The workshops last 2 hours and cost 8 euros.
Museum of Valdostan Crafts with children: opening hours
The MAV is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Mondays and throughout the month of November. You can enter with a stroller and there is a changing table in the bathroom.
Contact: MAV – Museum of Valdostan Craftsmanship of Tradition.
Villa Montana – Hameau Chez Sapin 86, 11020 FENIS (AO).
Phone: (+39) 0165 1835120.
Children’s workshops are usually held on Wednesday afternoons and in the summer period also on Fridays. On weekends for the time being only at kidpasses.
For all information, visit the official website.
Ticket and agreement with the Castle of Fénis
Admission to the MAV costs 8€ and is free up to 25 years of age. To take advantage of the agreement with the Castle of Fénis, you must expressly request it at the Castle ticket office because only they can issue the cumulative ticket (9€ Castle + 2€ MAV). The cumulative ticket is valid on the day of issue only.
Children’s workshops, on the other hand, have a separate cost i.e. 8€ and last 2h.
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