UK Travel Guide

Museums
Back

Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood

The National Museum of Childhood contains one of the largest and oldest collections of toys and childhood artefacts in the world - over 6,000 items on display dating from the sixteenth century to the present day. The Museum is the most popular museum in East London, attracting 150,000 visitors a year. As well as its permanent displays, the Museum has temporary exhibitions and hosts weekend art workshops and holiday events for children. Dating from the sixteenth century to the present day, the toy collection, which is permanently on display to visitors, comprises dolls, dolls' houses, teddy bears, toy soldiers, train sets, model cars, puppets, rocking horses, board games and some of the very first jigsaw puzzles ever made. The Museum also houses the national collection of children's costume, spanning the sixteenth century to the present day. The upper gallery is devoted to the theme of growing up through the ages. With its unique display of baby equipment, nursery furniture and children's costume, the gallery explores the experience of childhood, from birth to adolescence. Among the rare exhibits in the top gallery are a pristine set of sixteenth century swaddling bands, a seventeenth century nappy - which is the oldest in any public collection - and a complete girl's wardrobe from the Victorian period. The nearest Tube station is Bethnal Green.

Located at: Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2

Telephone: 020 8983 5200

Opens: Open: Mon-Thu and Sat/Sun from 1000 to 1750

Cost: free

Closest Subway Station: N/A (Click to see more atrraction at this station)