Is there only one way to have a “museum experience?”

Is there only one way to have a “museum experience” and how does that translate to the classroom?    I think the answer to question “No.”  Museums and when I say museum I am using it a broad sense; ie: zoos, art, history, science, etc.   The museum experience is about presenting and sharing ideas in ways.  It is also about hands on and visual experience that can occur at the museum.  At History San Jose, I would sit and guide visitors through the Umbarger House. The children found the objects box interesting because it presented hands on things from the past which helps to bring the past alive.  I loved when touring the children around the Fallon and pointing out the hair art sitting on the wall.  Hair art represents a form of art that many don’t know about and informs people that are other ways of preserving the memory of people that are important in your lives when photographs were not around.  I think an interesting activity to teach about the museum experience if children haven’t had the chance to visit a museum is by having students bring in an object from home based on a topic and then treat the object as if it was going to go on display in a museum and have them write a blurb about it.   Then the class could put together an exhibit on objects they have brought in.  This activity would allow them get to the feel of what it would be like to visit a museum.  I think part of the value of museums is the hands on experience they offer to see objects that may not be available to see elsewhere.  Hands on experiences offer a chance to learn from by interaction with what is in the museum.  Objects give a look into the past into how things that have changed and they inform.  I pose this question, “What is the museum experience to you?” and “how do you see it translating to the classroom?”