After dinosaurs, it’s spot the dog! But can a child really learn anything in a gallery?

Galleries such as National Museum Cardiff pull in children with their play areas and pencils – but stick around and you’ll notice kids critiquing Turner paintings too

Neil Osborne and his three-year-old daughter Daisy are peering at a small, shimmering painting by JMW Turner of foaming waves crashing against a cliff. It’s their second visit to the National Museum Cardiff (NMC). Daisy loves the dinosaurs in the prehistoric galleries downstairs, which Neil believes are more kid-friendly; the upstairs art galleries are quieter, with fewer children charging about. “She actually started whispering when we got up here,” he says, “but she likes seeing the paintings and saying what they look like.” He asks her what she makes of the Turner, and she replies: “A fish.”

For us, today is a nursery day, so I’m without my cub reporter. Instead, I’m here solo in Cardiff to figure out whether getting under-fives into galleries is more about entertainment or education, and to gauge the feelings of fellow parents. I can’t be the only one who thinks my almost-two-year-old might be capable of learning something from looking at art, can I?