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institutions. Over the course of the twentieth century, the children's museums slowly began to discard their objects in favor of more interactive exhibits. While children's museums are a more extreme case, it is important to note that during the twentieth century, more and more museums have elected to display fewer objects and offer more interpretation than museums of the nineteenth century. Some scholars argue that objects, while once critical to the definition of a museum, are no longer considered vital to many institutions because they are no longer necessary to fulfill the roles we expect museums to serve as museums focus more on programs, education, and their visitors.
121:
use a microscope to examine natural objects, and build their own collections of natural objects to be displayed in a special room of the museum. In addition to emphasis on allowing interaction with objects, Gallup also encouraged learning through play. She believed learning at the
Brooklyn Children's Museum should be "pure fun", and to this end developed nature clubs, held field trips, brought live animals into the museum, and hired gallery instructors to lead children in classification games about animals, shells, and minerals. Other children's museums of the early twentieth century used similar techniques that emphasized learning through experience.
113:. It is often regarded as the first children's museum in the United States. The idea behind the Brooklyn Children's Museum implicitly acknowledged that existing American museums were not designed with children in mind. Although museums at the turn of the century viewed themselves as institutions of public education, their exhibits were often not made accessible for children, who may have struggled with simple design features like the height of exhibit cases, or the language of interpretive labels. Furthermore, touching objects was often prohibited, limiting visitors' ability to interact with museum objects.
17:
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67:(ACM), which was formed in 1962 as the American Association of Youth Museums (AAYM) and in 2007 counted 341 member institutions in 23 countries, and The Hands On! Europe Association of Children's Museum (HO!E), established in 1994, with member institutions in 34 countries as of 2007. Many museums that are members of ACM offer reciprocal memberships, allowing members of one museum to visit all the others for free or for a discounted fee.
51:
that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feature interactive exhibits that are designed to be manipulated by children. The theory behind such exhibits is that activity can be as educational as instruction, especially in early childhood. Most children's museums are
120:
Anna
Billings Gallup, the museum's curator from 1904 to 1937, encouraged a learning technique that allowed children to "discover" information by themselves through touching and examining objects. Visitors to the museum were able to compare the composition, weight, and hardness of minerals, learn to
116:
The founders of the
Brooklyn Children's Museum were concerned with education and realized that no other institution had attempted to establish "a Museum that will be of especial value and interest to young people between the ages of six and twenty years". Their goal was to gain children's interest
124:
Children's museums often emphasize experiential learning through museum interactives, sometimes leading them to have very few or no physical collection items. The
Brooklyn Children's Museum and other early children's museums grew out of the tradition of natural history museums, object-centered
180:
By 1975, there were approximately 38 children's museums in the United States. An additional 80 institutions opened between 1976 and 1990, and more than 130 opened between 1990 and 2007. As of 2007, ACM estimated that there were approximately 80 children's museums in the planning phase.
381:
141:(1925). The number of children's museums in the United States continued to grow over the course of the twentieth century, with over 40 museums opened by the 1960s and more than 70 children's museums opened to the public between 1990 and 1997.
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and "to stimulate their powers of observation and reflection" as well as to "illustrate by collections of pictures, cartoons, charts, models, maps and so on, each of the important branches of knowledge which is taught in elementary schools".
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After the
Brooklyn Children's Museum opened in 1899, other American museums followed suit by opening small children's sections of their institutions designed with children in mind and equipped with interactive activities, such as the
510:
Herminia
Weihsin Din, "A History of Children's Museums in the United States, 1899–1997: Implications for Art Education and Museum Education in the United States," (dissertation, Ohio State University, 1998),
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Herminia
Weihsin Din, "A History of Children's Museums in the United States, 1899–1997: Implications for Art Education and Museum Education in the United States," (dissertation, Ohio State University, 1998),
375:
350:
Herminia
Weihsin Din, "A History of Children's Museums in the United States, 1899–1997: Implications for Art Education and Museum Education in the United States," (dissertation, Ohio State University, 1998),
224:
Culture
Foundation. India has seen rise in children's museums in recent years. The first children's museum in Japan is KIDS PLAZA OSAKA which was established in 1997. There is a children's Museum in the
133:'s children's room opened in 1901. The Brooklyn Children's Museum also inspired other children's museums either housed separately or even developed completely independently of parent museums, like the
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212:, established in 1992, claims the title of the United Kingdom's first hands-on children's museum. Austria's first museum for children was ZOOM Children's Museum in
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Robert Haven
Schauffler, "The Children's Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn, New York,"
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Robert Haven Schauffler, "The Children's Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn, New York,"
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The children's museum concept has spread worldwide from the United States. Le Musée des Enfants in
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was started in 1978, inspired by Boston Children's Museum. The Boston museum also inspired the
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in Wollongong, Australia opened in 2015 and was modelled on the US-styled children's museums.
16:
471:
216:, established in 1994. Korea's first children's museum is the Samsung Children's Museum in
200:, Venezuela, became Latin America's first museum for children when it opened in 1982. The
8:
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that mentions that Buell Children's Museum was ranked second in the United States in 2002
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40:
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209:
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25:
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472:"Knowledge Begins in Wonder: The Design Behind the Smithsonian Children's Room"
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164:(1925) – according to the ACM, this is the world's largest children's museum.
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International professional organizations of children's museums include the
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137:(1913), The Children's Museum of Detroit Public Schools (1915), and the
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The Children's Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences
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459:. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 21–23.
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are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate
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445:(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997), 28–29.
364:(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997), 28–30.
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From Knowledge to Narrative: Educators and the Changing Museum
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From Knowledge to Narrative: Educators and the Changing Museum
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was ranked #2 children's art museum in the United States by
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344:
821:
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220:, which opened in 1995 under the sponsorship of the
822:"The Learning Pad at Walden Children's Explorium"
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374:Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences (1900).
299:"The Association of Children's Museums website"
243:List of children's museums in the United States
549:. Detroitchildrensmuseum.org. Archived from
144:The next earliest children's museums were:
401:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
168:The Children's Museum (West Hartford, CT)
724:. Museodelosninos.org.co. Archived from
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84:
74:
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111:Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences
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206:Eureka! The National Children's Museum
60:or by very small professional staffs.
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326:. Hands-on-europe.net. Archived from
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162:The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
572:"The Indianapolis Children's Museum"
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316:
56:organizations, and many are run by
13:
432:, 9 no. 5/6 (1924): 208, 210, 213.
284:
14:
893:
799:. Samsungkids.org. Archived from
747:"Eureka! The Museum for Children"
482:from the original on 2 March 2016
204:, Colombia, followed it in 1986.
139:Children's Museum of Indianapolis
65:Association of Children's Museums
476:Smithsonian Institution Archives
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778:from the original on 2013-09-01
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703:from the original on 2018-10-02
689:
674:. Museo Pambata. Archived from
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653:from the original on 2013-07-30
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628:from the original on 2013-08-23
603:from the original on 2013-08-22
578:from the original on 2011-02-26
528:from the original on 2018-08-10
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470:Brady, Hillary (1 March 2016).
463:
448:
430:The American Midland Naturalist
417:The American Midland Naturalist
384:from the original on 2023-03-17
305:from the original on 2020-12-13
109:was established in 1899 by the
47:. In contrast with traditional
697:"Children's Museum of Caracas"
457:Do Museums Still Need Objects?
435:
422:
409:
367:
354:
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1:
722:"Children's Museum of Bogotá"
624:. Duluthchildrensmuseum.org.
259:
91:Labyrinth Kindermuseum Berlin
599:. Thechildrensmuseumct.org.
419:, 9 no. 5/6 (1924): 209–216.
198:Children's Museum of Caracas
196:, which opened in 1994. The
80:Children's Museum of Houston
7:
797:"Samsung Children's Museum"
699:. Maravillosarealidad.com.
547:"Detroit Children's Museum"
236:
231:Early Start Discovery Space
202:Children's Museum of Bogotá
10:
898:
622:"Duluth Children's Museum"
522:"Boston Children's Museum"
324:"Hands On! Europe website"
227:Canadian Museum of History
107:Brooklyn Children's Museum
70:
772:"ZOOM Children's Museum"
301:. Childrensmuseums.org.
174:Duluth Children's Museum
158:Children's Museum (1917)
149:Boston Children's Museum
135:Boston Children's Museum
597:"The Children's Museum"
574:. Childrensmuseum.org.
380:. Brooklyn. p. 7.
22:Buell Children's Museum
649:. Museedesenfants.be.
647:"Le Musée des Enfants"
277:June 21, 2008, at the
102:
82:
33:
455:Conn, Steven (2010).
250:(disambiguation page)
88:
78:
19:
849:. kidsplaza.or.jp.
774:. Kindermuseum.at.
272:Go Colorado article
248:Museum of Childhood
877:Children's museums
847:"KIDS PLAZA OSAKA"
824:. learningpad.in.
524:. Bostonkids.org.
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83:
37:Children's museums
34:
749:. Eureka.org.uk.
441:Lisa C. Roberts,
360:Lisa C. Roberts,
89:Two girls in the
41:informal learning
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882:Types of museums
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871:Categories
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334:2013-08-19
309:2013-08-19
260:References
254:Toy museum
58:volunteers
397:cite book
54:nonprofit
851:Archived
826:Archived
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303:Archived
275:Archived
237:See also
186:Brussels
97:Wikidata
45:children
222:Samsung
156:Detroit
71:History
49:museums
501:26–34.
229:. The
214:Vienna
194:Manila
176:(1930)
170:(1927)
151:(1913)
486:3 May
218:Seoul
100:]
511:1–2.
488:2016
403:link
154:The
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