{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T19:04:45Z","timestamp":1789758285279,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Children and adolescents are a key audience for scientific and cultural outreach and literacy. As future citizens, voters, and taxpayers, their education\u2014carried out in formal, informal, and non-formal contexts\u2014is crucial for societal development. In this context, scientific culture is decisive, and museums offer a particularly enriching environment. However, there is limited literature addressing young people\u2019s ability to define the purpose of museums as infrastructures. Using an educational program developed at the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (Portugal), the \u201cYoung Naturalists\u201d program, a study was developed aiming to fill in this gap. \u201cYoung Naturalists\u201d engages participants aged 5\u201315 in thematic workshops, guided visits, and hands-on activities that replicate the everyday work carried at a natural history museum. Sessions are led by specialized staff from fields ranging from archaeology to science communication. The program\u2019s emphasis on authenticity and access to backstage spaces aims to empower participants to engage with museum spaces, collections, and practices, fostering a deeper understanding of the institution\u2019s mission and core activities. A qualitative methodology was adopted, consisting of three focus groups with a total of 21 participants. The study explored young people\u2019s perceptions of the functions of museums, their attitudes towards museums, and the program\u2019s impact on these dimensions. The findings indicate that children and adolescents primarily perceive museums as spaces for learning and heritage preservation, placing less emphasis on exhibition and display. Museum visits are associated with enjoyment and discovery, and participants value opportunities for active involvement, as well as diversity and technology-enhanced forms of engagement. These results can inform the design of participatory and age-inclusive programs that strengthen young people\u2019s sense of belonging to natural history museums.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0357466","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T18:01:49Z","timestamp":1789754509000},"page":"e0357466","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Children\u2019s perceptions of natural history museums: Insights from the \u201cYoung Naturalists\u201d program in Portugal"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2025-5919","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jos\u00e9 Lu\u00eds","family":"Pimenta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sciences the University of Porto","place":["Rua do Campo Alegre, Porto, Portugal"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jo\u00e3o Carlos","family":"Paiva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIQUP, Unidade de Ensino das Ci\u00eancias","place":["Rua do Campo Alegre, Porto, Portugal"],"department":["Departamento de Qu\u00edmica e Bioqu\u00edmica"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Jo\u00e3o","family":"Fonseca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Sciences the University of Porto","place":["Rua do Campo Alegre, Porto, Portugal"]},{"name":"Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP)","place":["Pra\u00e7a Gomes Teixeira, Porto, Portugal"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0357466.ref001","article-title":"AEP alerta: Portugal arrisca cair para terceiro pa\u00eds mais pobre da Uni\u00e3o Europeia","author":"JN Mateus","year":"2022","journal-title":"Expresso"},{"key":"pone.0357466.ref002","volume-title":"A ci\u00eancia e os seus inimigos","author":"C Fiolhais","year":"2017","edition":"2"},{"key":"pone.0357466.ref003","volume-title":"The museum experience revisited","author":"JH Falk","year":"2013"},{"key":"pone.0357466.ref004","volume-title":"The return of curiosity: what museums are good for in the 21st century","author":"N Thomas","year":"2016","edition":"1"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0357466.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1080\/03057267.2018.1442820","article-title":"Learning and engagement through natural history museums","volume":"54","author":"T Mujtaba","year":"2018","journal-title":"Stud Sci Educ"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0357466.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1111\/cura.12540","article-title":"Young children's engagement with objects in science museums: a rapid evidence assessment of research","volume":"66","author":"R Flewitt","year":"2023","journal-title":"Curator Mus J"},{"key":"pone.0357466.ref007","article-title":"\u2018Contemplative wonder \u2019: the potential for learning in museum open storage","author":"YT Yiu","year":"2025","journal-title":"Sci Mus Group J"},{"key":"pone.0357466.ref008","first-page":"351","article-title":"Enhancing Museums\u2019 Experiences Through Games and Stories for Young Audiences","author":"V Ces\u00e1rio","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lecture Notes in Computer Science. 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