Your school visit

Kanal seeks to partner with your school, whether it’s located in Brussels, Flanders or Wallonia. Our accessible learning programmes—from workshops and guided tours to long-term projects—aim to stimulate curiosity, creativity, and active learning in your pupils. Kanal, together with artists and partners from a variety of sectors, wishes to create the opportunity for children to actively explore and experience art and architecture in a space where they feel welcome and seen.

Educational philosophy

Art and exhibitions as a starting point: Works of art form the starting point for every visit. They encourage observation and reflection, while fostering sensory and creative exploration.
Three pillars: Each activity is based on three pillars: play-based learning, experimentation, and creativity.
Creative workshop: Tours are complemented by a workshop offering pupils an opportunity to put their discoveries into creative practice. However, tours can also be booked without a workshop, depending on your educational needs.
Link to the school curriculum: Workshops and tours are designed in alignment with school curricula and tailored to the skills and learning objectives of each level.

Organisation

Before the visit: Groups can prepare their visit and exploration of the artworks using the educational resources available on the Kanal website.
Break and play times: Breaks and playtime are scheduled for visits lasting longer than two hours.
Conclusion of activities: After each visit and workshop, groups are free to explore the playground.
Reception and catering: Groups are greeted in the Welcome room. A picnic area is available for meals and snacks.
Supervision and support: Teachers accompany the mediators throughout the visit and are responsible for supervising pupils during meals and breaks. The picnic area and playground are accessible during these times, provided that the spaces are treated with care and respect.
Access and PECA support: As a cultural operator, Kanal is a partner of the PECA programme. If you need help organising your visit, please contact your PECA school liaison.

Approach by school level

Nursery school

Discovering Kanal with a nursery class means exploring and learning about modern and contemporary art through the senses, movement, creativity and play. From 9:00 to 11:00, the museum is reserved exclusively for schools, allowing pupils to feel fully welcome and at ease as they explore the exhibition. For younger children, Kanal allows an additional 30 minutes beyond the scheduled activity time to support a gradual transition into the museum environment. Breaks are also integrated throughout the visit to ensure comfort and well-being.

Primary school

Discovering Kanal with primary school classes means exploring modern and contemporary art through hands-on observation and free-rein invention. Each workshop is conceived as a creative laboratory: questioning, experimenting, making mistakes, and starting over again – developing insights and ideas. Children are placed at the centre of their own learning process, free to act and express themselves while engaging with learning and play. The activities combine practical work, (role) playing, inquiry and analysis, in a dynamic approach that encourages reflection on the world and on oneself. To tailor the visit, groups can choose a themed tour complemented by a creative workshop, each designed to stimulate the imagination while reinforcing learning skills.

Secondary school

Discovering Kanal with secondary school classes offers an opportunity to engage with modern and contemporary art while fostering critical thinking, creativity and inquiry. Each activity invites pupils to observe, analyse and experiment, and can be complemented with a creative workshop to deepen reflection. The programmes combine analytical approaches, practical workshops and creative activities, aligned with the school curriculum, to support both individual and collective expression.

Higher education

Discovering Kanal with college and university students from all fields and disciplines offers a lively and hands-on encounter with modern and contemporary art. It is a space for experimentation, critical engagement and dialogue with both artworks and present-day realities. Kanal aims to provide an environment for exploration, rooted in the world of today, where students can move freely, feel at ease and develop their questions and ideas.

Specialised education

Discovering Kanal with special needs groups means encountering art in an accessible, sensory and welcoming environment. Each activity is designed to respect individual pace and modes of expression, allowing all participants to engage with the artworks in their own way – through touch, play, sensation and shared experience.

Lifelong learning

Kanal places knowledge-sharing at the heart of its approach, offering continuing education and training programmes for all ages, in a variety of formats and thematic focuses. The aim is for participants to leave inspired and equipped with practical tools that can be applied creatively in their own contexts, opening new possibilities for learning and exchange.