V&A Museum of Childhood

Have been to this museum twice and enjoyed the experiences each time very much. The best time to go is when there are special events or exhibitions on which interest you, though there are arts and crafts activities for kids on most afternoons I believe. Our first trip to the museum of childhood was the 50th anniversary of Miffy which had clothes for your child to dress up in as Miffy with plastic birthday cake to play with and you could make Miffy masks and lots more besides. The second trip was when there was a special exhibition on we were not interested in but there were still dolls houses to play with, a beach to play in, punch and judy set to play with, dressing up items and more. I would recommend this to anyone with a toddler to pre school age child and maybe older too when special events are on. Great place to visit. Food good quality but not especially cheap, but then it is london

I had gone to the childhood museum when I was about 6 years old and 22 years later I decided it would be nice to go back- after all, I love old toys and dolls and thought it would be great to see if the museum was as good as I had remembered. Boy was I disappointed. The museum is in a large imposing red brick building and is free to get in- good job too because I would have felt cheated if I had parted with any cash to get in! Inside, the museum has a warehouse feel as it is one large room with two floors and a large central atrium where 75% is taken up by what looks like a school canteen where you can buy snacks and drinks.

There are some great dolls and teddy bears on display, and board games and puppets and cars and even prams and doll houses but the information in the cabinets in uninspiring and in very small script. The guide book or should I say pamphlet costs L4.50 and we didnt partake- maybe that would have been a good idea. I saw no staff members in the actual museum itself by any of the exhibits and Ok it was Sunday morning and it was quiet but it just had an unloved feel. My partner loved the small star wars exhibit and the rocking horses were lovely too. There were a few penny slot machines or automatons but at 20p a throw they were very underwhelming and I thought they should have been free for the children to experience. I felt as if this museum had decided that instead of being a museum of childhood past, it was now like a play scheme for current children- there was a large sandpit and play areas and I did comment that perhaps it was a cheap way for parents to keep their little ones amused on a boring day? I feel that the antique elements should be re-housed back in the Victoria and Albert museum of which this is an off-shoot- they look unloved and uncared for and I went away very sad and disappoined- this was not the museum I remembered. One last note- the giftshop is apalling- it is like a large market stall and caters only for those who want expensive books on antiques or childrens toys- not even a postcard of the Bru french antique dolls- I bought one postcard only and felt that they could have had a much greater selection on offer and remember coming home loaded with goodies when i was young-