Home Resume Blog
☰
Nicole Shoblom
email
Image 1

Me and the kids at the entrance of the National Folk Museum of Korea on April 2, 2025

Image 2

Waiting for the bus near our 집 (house) to take us to the Jongno-gu area of Seoul where the museum is located. The air quality was poor at that time of day

Image 3

President 윤석열 impeachment demonstrators near Anguk Station. We had planned to visit the Museum of Craft Art, but it closed due to demonstrations

Image 4

The kids playing on a rainbow playground while waiting for our entrance time to the National Folk Museum of Korea Children's Museum

Image 5

Photo opp on our way to entering the museum

Image 6

Kiddos doing a kite coloring activity inside the National Folk Museum of Korea Children's Museum

The boys discovered they could scan their kite creations to be displayed on the large wall in front of them.

Image 8

Ezra trying out a piece involving getting a ball to come to the middle of a maze

Image 9

Gotta have the ball pit in a kids museum!

Image 10

Entrance to the Korean Life Passages permanent exhibit in the main area of the National Folk Museum of Korea

Image 11

A beautiful (fake) tree in Autumn (가을) decorates the part of the exhibit about seasons

Image 12

A bier or coffin used in burial processions during the Joseon Era

Image 13

A piece with a picture of a burial procession. Zoom in to read the text under the picture to learn more

An impressive digital art piece

Image 15

Another impressive digital art piece...go to the next slide to see why!

Image 16

Yum! 맛싰어요! :)

Image 17

A Traditional Hanbok worn during Winter (겨울) on display

Image 18

Another impressive digital art piece. The digital leaves on the floor looked so real!

Image 19

아녕하세요, 선셍님! Hello, teacher! The kiddos take a picture with a wax figure of a teacher during the Joseon Dynasty

Kids playing a game that taught them how to do some traditional Korean dance moves, and also allowed the kids to freestyle at the end of the game.

Image 21

Kids with our wonderful nanny, Lolita, in front of one of the buildings of the Gyeongbokgu Palace

Image 22

Eating our convenience store lunch on the second floor of a Seven Eleven right nearby the National Folk Museum of Korea

Image 23

Ezra admiring the view from the fancy Seven Eleven

Image 24

The most beautiful (예버요) Seven Eleven I have ever seen! :)

A Visit to the National Folk Museum of Korea

April 13, 2025 | Seoul, South Korea

During my kids’ Spring (봄) school vacation (방학) we took an unexpected trip to the National Folk Museum of Korea. We were supposed to go to the free arts and crafts museum, but they closed unexpectedly due to demonstrations related to the impeachment of President 윤석열. Thankfully, the Children’s exhibit at the National Folk Museum of Korea was within walking distance and also free. In fact, the entire National Folk Musuem is free! You can also get a glimpse of the famous Gyeongbokgu Palace from the museum campus without paying the palace entrance fee. Typically free children’s (아이들) museums in Seoul require advanced reservations, but luckily there was still availability. While waiting for the 11 AM entrance time, my kids played on a radiant rainbow playground next to the museum entrance. Once 11 AM hit we entered the museum and my kids were allowed to play for 80 minutes inside the children’s museum. Among the many activities, they were most drawn (no pun intended!) to the art activity where they got to see their art come to life on a big screen. Thanks to our wonderful nanny, Lolita, I got to explore other exhibits in the museum on my own. I learned about family, seasons, and death during the Joseon era. I was very impressed by the digital art and the many pieces that were interactive. I had the kids take a picture with a teacher from the Joseon Dynasty and they learned how to do some traditional Korean folk dance moves! Before heading home we went to have lunch at a fancy Seven Eleven. It had a second level seating area decorated in Hanok-ish style with a view of the Gyeongbokgu palace and 북악산 (Bugaksan) mountain. Since it’s not a 식당 (restaurant) you’re encouraged not to linger for long, to be quiet, and if you need forks, you may be out of luck. However, we were all happy campers with our standard convenience store food like instant ramen, 김밮 (gimgbap), 과자 (snacks) and drinks. To my readers - I wasn't eager to visit the National Folk Museum of Korea based on the name, but thank goodness fate had other plans. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Seoul! 감사합니다 (thank you) for reading and goodbye!