A must-visit for families with kids! The Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum—fun and engaging for young creators

Bringing your kids to Chiayi? You’ll really miss out if you don’t stop by the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum. Don’t assume that visiting a museum is only for adults and older kids—only after coming here did I realize it’s actually perfect for toddlers too!

Since we entered the museum complex at 3 p.m., with only two hours left before closing, my older son said he wanted to go upstairs with dad to explore the exhibits. So my younger daughter and I headed to the Children’s Creative Center together.
(Recommended reading:)

My feverish little daughter was quiet and not fussy—she was first drawn to the “ceramics” section in this area, where children can try putting broken pottery back together (made of plastic).

Then she played with stamping, transferring beautiful patterns from the ceramics onto paper. You can even take the creations home as souvenirs. The service desk provides the paper.

Learn about tea culture—videos guide children in understanding how tea sets are arranged and how tea is brewed.

Kids can stand in the interactive sensing area to watch digital storybooks on screen.

You have to wave your arms to turn the pages. There are also picture books nearby, featuring Vietnamese folktales.

My little sister couldn’t quite understand them, but when her brother came over, he got really interested and ended up reading the books himself.

Introduction to Vietnamese food.

Pretend play—my little sister played shopkeeper, using cloth pretend ingredients to “cook,” mainly getting familiar with Vietnamese cuisine.

Toys that Vietnamese kids play with.
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Vietnamese drums? Hehe, forgot the details—but my sister and dad had a blast playing the drums.

Stringing board, introducing textile crafts.

Kids can try on clothes from other Asian countries for photos, or have their real faces digitally merged with animated characters—it’s really fun.

There are magnetic building blocks on the wall that kids can play with and build things.

This section is the most special of all. Kids can first take a photo on a small screen, and then the photo will appear in the circular theater. Then the child can follow Hanuman on a journey across Asia. (Hanuman is the monkey god from Indian epics and also the mascot of the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum)

Because it wasn’t a holiday, we could thoroughly explore every section. When my brother and dad came down from the upper exhibition areas, there were only ten minutes left until closing—but we still weren’t ready to leave.

Visit info: Entry is free.
(Recommended reading:)

Address: No. 888, Palace Museum Boulevard, Taibao City, Chiayi County
Phone: 05-3620777