V&A Museum of Childhood

A bit like Gslade with her earlier review, sadly I could not help but be a bit disappointed by the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood. I really wanted to like it again - with fond memories of going there when I was a child and seeing all the wonderful toys, but somehow, I found it lacking.

I predominantly went to see a temporary exhibition ""Top-to-Toe"' with the famous 2 Nieces, (7 and 10), and was expecting a really comprehensive exhibition of Children's clothing and Fashion through the ages. Whilst the exhibits were good, they were a sparse and almost 'random' choice of clothing and articles. Although there were small 'themes' running through the displays, to me there was no overall chronology or organisation to this exhibition. I'm glad also that it was free - if I'd had to pay for entrance for 3 of us, I would have been pretty mad!

The girls followed the 'trail' that the museum had provided, but this just made them run around, not really taking things in, to my mind - and I don't really think that they got much out of this relatively poor 'fashion' display, spending most of their time doing drawings and a wordsearch - which they could have done at home! We all liked the look of the replica clothes that were locked away until 'tour' time, when the children would be able to try them on. We were looking forward to that - BUT - no tour that day because of the "Art" session. Disappointment for me AND my girls this time!!

The permanent collection is also displayed in a rather odd way, and I did not find the labelling of much use. Yes, there were some very old toys there, but not much to tell you what they did, or where they came from (a great shame in the case of the Automata), no wonder the kids did not seem that interested in them.

In fact, most of the time the girls were running around from one 'activity' to another - trying on shoes, playing on a computer, making magnetic pictures. All great fun, which they did enjoy - especially the making of peg dolls during the art session. However I don't think they left the Museum at the end of our time with any more insight into what children's lives had really been like in the past, than they did when they came in.

Nearly all of the interactive toys - Robbie the robot, the wind-up sand-timer with acrobats, and a few others, were out of order, and the others cost a fair bit of 'money-in-the-slot' to use.

The building is lovely - ish! Although the new foyer area is very practical, it does detract from the grandeur of the original museum building. I think that the V & A could make a small on site exhibiton on the history of the building, and get folk to look at the freize panels on the exterior - which might just be of some interest to Adult visitors - especially those that are interested in Architecture. Even the website muddles the history of the building along with the Crystal Palace and the main V & A site, which is a shame.

We did spend some money there, by having lunch in the cafe in the centre of the 'atrium' the food was reasonable, but nothing special for the price, and service was dreadfully slow, although the ladies at the counter were all lovely - but you don't want to be standing hours in a queue with kids just to get a sarnie and a cup of tea - do you??

I might - I JUST might go back again without any kids, on a quieter day, to see if I can make some more sense of the place, but unless the V & A get it all a bit more 'sorted' then as previous posters have said, it will just remain a glorified playgroup!!

I was looking for a place to take the kids that didn't cost a lot and would interest them.

So we went to the museum, its a lovely building, just down the road from Bethnal Green tube station.

Its quite a small place, and I thought they could have had more displays of toys like lego.

We liked looking at all the old toys though, there were a few toys on display that I had as a child.

There was also Robbie the robot, rocking horses and a small model railway. Also lots of dolls from over the years and some stunning dolls houses.

For smaller children there was a sandpit, places to dress up, a 'chill out' area, disco area, places to read and I believe during the school holidays there are other events going on.