As the fourth installment in my The {Tiny} Ten series, here are 10 of my personal favourite child-friendly museums and galleries, in no particular order.
The {Tiny} Ten: 10 Awesome kid-friendly museums
1. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
*People’s choice* Tops for dino-lovers. Be sure to visit the Discovery Room for hands-on exploration.
amnh.org
2. CosmoCaixa, Barcelona, Spain
Science alive! Visit an indoor rainforest. Make sure to be here on the weekend for ¡Toca, toca!
obrasocial.lacaixa.es/laCaixaFoundation/research_en.html
3. The Ontario Science Centre, Toronto, Canada
More hands-on science for the whole family. Was my mum’s first science museum : )
ontariosciencecentre.ca
4. The Austin Children’s Museum, Austin, USA
12,500 square feet of interactive exhibits, right in downtown Austin.
austinkids.org/Exhibits.aspx
5. Trainworks, Thrilmere, Australia
SO MANY TRAINS! Keep an eye on their website as they host “A Day Out with Thomas” – you get to ride a real Thomas-style steam engine, departing from Sodor station! Next dates: 23 and 24 March 2013.
trainworks.com.au
6. Los Angeles County Museum of Arts (LACMA), Los Angeles, USA
A world-class art museum with a focus on family – any children under 17, including visitors, are eligible for free membership. This allows free entry for the child plus one adult. I’m a member!
lacma.org
7. Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia
More dinos! Plus one of the best children’s play areas – it even includes a small soft play area designed for younger children under two.
australianmuseum.net.au
8. Science Museum London, UK
Another world-class science museum, with a range of excellent offerings for different age groups. Here are some of the current offerings for under 5s.
sciencemuseum.org.uk
9. Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China
As a lover of cities and replica models, the amazing model scale of Shanghai that takes up nearly one whole floor of the building and includes buildings scheduled up until 2020 is an all-time favourite of mine. In the lovely and large People’s Park.
supec.org/index.html
10. Miniaturk, Istanbul, Turkey
Not a museum as such – but an open-air park that features 120 buildings on a replica 1/25 scale of their counterparts, including 57 from Istanbul. A great way to see the all the major sites in one place :) The park also has lots of outdoor space and a swimming pool.
miniaturk.com.tr/en/index.php
Honourable mentions
Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, Turkey
Check out the interactive section for children ages 6-12.
istanbulmodern.org/en
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia
Of particular interest to me is the giant steam engine that greets me in the entrance hall. It’s science + technology + art + an awesome playground + a long-running Wiggles exhibition.
powerhousemuseum.com
Children’s Museum of the Arts, New York, USA
I get to *be* the art.
cmany.org
I will be posting the rest of The {Tiny} Ten over the next couple of weeks. Next up: top 10 children’s shopping websites.
Love this post| It’s very useful ! I’m from Barcelona, and I think Cosmocaixa it’s a great visit for families.
Love this post| It’s very useful ! I’m from Barcelona, and I think Cosmocaixa it’s a great visit for families.
So glad you find it useful Helena :) I absolutely love Barcelona – there are so many things for children to do there! We recently wrote a mini-guide for Qantas Travel Insider >> http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/barcelona_5_things_to_do_with_kids.htm let us know how we did/what you would add! xo
I loved the International museum of children’s art in Oslo, Norway. http://www.barnekunst.no/en/ImageGallery/Europe/
I was there accompanied by a two-year girl and her mom. It was so much fun! There were kids from kindergarten and their teachers. And there was a man, employee of the museum. He played guitar, they were signing and dancing, playing different games, with toys also. And though it was Norwegian which we didn’t didn’t understand it was awesome! Our 2-year girl had great time.
Thanks so much for the tip! Sounds wonderful – I haven’t been to Oslo yet but would love to visit. Will add this to my list for my future trip :)
Such a globe trotter! We’ve just recently started taking Thomas to little local museums and he loves it. We have an Adventure Science Center in Nashville that’s interactive and massive. We’ll spend a whole day trying to keep up with the boy!
There are so many wonderful kids’ museums in the US! This article has some other good suggestions:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2012/01/30/12-best-childrens-museums-in-the-u-s/
Also, Nashville is another place I would love to see :)