Apart from the school groups and educational programmes, Heide has the potential to be an exciting place for children to learn about contemporary art. Not only is it full of exciting elements, but it also does not have the traditional constraints of a gallery space. It lacks security or the need to be fully disciplined or silent in most of its spaces, making it the ideal place for children to explore contemporary art within their own means.

Many parents have been drawn to Heide for these exact reasons. The free roaming, relaxed environment makes it a great place for families to unwind and take the day off. Because they are a significant audience of Heide, children and families can be seen as an important target group for a wayfinding system.

In order to design a wayfinding system for children, research into how children navigate through unfamiliar spaces was conducted. They conduct wayfinding through cognitive interventions. One of which is landmark evaluation, which involves identifying various landmarks across a route with the guidance from adults. Heide has an extensive collection of large, distinct statues that serve as perfect landmarks for this process. Children of a certain age would naturally have some wayfinding skills, and if they do not, there will be an adult present to guide them. This is also helps to facilitate communication between the parents and children, which is a core part of the museum experience.

To finalise the route for the activity, two visits were made to the Heide musuem. On the first trip, observations about the site were made. This included marking out sculptures that could be seen clearly from a distance and observing the way families and visitors navigated the space. From there, lesser explored spaces of the grounds were marked out, and possible clues were selected for the final route. Some possible ideas were brainstormed and issues with the route were also identified.

The second trip involved exploring the same routes with considerations for families and children in mind. Children do not come to museums by themselves, therefore the design also needs to take into consideration the parents and caregivers that come along with them. The interests of the museum, the children and parents all play a part in the overall museum experience, therefore the guide needs to be easily understood by adults to use alongside their children.

Once the route was finalised, the activity book was illustrated and written. Clues were written based on the sculptures selected, and activities that encouraged families to discuss art and design were included to fulfil the educational requirements that Heide has a cultural institution.

The sculptures were illustrated to be recognized based on their shapes and colours alone, without the use of any legend or reference. Another focal point was to make sure that families were not walking around for too long without seeing anything. Therefore, the most eye-catching sculptures around the park were used as the landmarks as these can be seen and remembered easily, and sculptures selected were those well spaced out in the route, how interesting and how visible they are from afar, and the spacings between them had other sculptures that the family could venture off and look at if they still interested.

With the clues found throughout the route, the children will be able to form the word “VISIONARY”. The clue is not easily discernable, making it a motivation for the families to complete the route.It also pays homage to the founders of Heide, the Reeds and all the artists that lived at Heide who were visionaries that worked towards shaping modern art in Australia into what it is today.