My last post about the Museum of Childhood consisted only of a few photos from a lovely afternoon we spent there with some friends who live nearby but I didn’t give enough information about this great museum with such colourful history.

I recently discovered the original iron structure was moved from West London to Bethnal Green in 1866 and that structure was actually the first home of the Victoria & Albert museum. When the structure became too small for the V&A it was moved to East London to house what will officially become the Museum of Childhood in the 1970s’. The iron structure was covered externally by red bricks, but it is still evident internally.  

The museum has a good mix of permanent displays and temporary exhibitions as well as daily activities and workshops. The collections include historic and modern toys, games, childcare items and children clothing. It has an exceptional collection of over 8000 dolls including wooden dolls, rag dolls, wax, ceramic and plastic dolls. They range from the earliest, a wooden paddle doll dating from 1,300BC, to the most contemporary, a punk doll from the Bratz Boyz 2005 range.  The doll’s house section boasts the largest British collections not in private hands. I will write a special feature about this collection next Tuesday so don’t forget to come back and read about it. The best part of the Museum is the interaction areas where children explore, learn and enjoy the various galleries whilst they are surrounded by the historic exhibits.  

There are three galleries:

The Creativity Gallery comprises 4 areas, each area has a theme with interactive spaces to encourage the expression of ideas: Imagine, Be Inspired, Explore and Make it Happen.

The Moving Toy Gallery features all moving toys from rocking horses to cars, trains, clockwork mechanism and optical toys.

The Childhood Gallery is organised into the following themes: Babies, Home, What We Wear, Who Will I Be? How We Learn, Good Times and Children in Trouble. I particularly like the area where children interact with role play by dressing up with the costumes available and by using the toys representing the various jobs.

The museum really is for all age groups with workshops and events to suit everybody, ranging from arts & crafts and photography to the Saturday film club on every first Saturday of the month showing classic family films.

Watch the short video to get a feel for the place and don’t forget to check back next Tuesday to read all about the doll’s house collection.