The Best Family-Friendly Museums In North America

In this blog post, we’ve rounded up a list of the best family-friendly museums in North America. These museums have made accessible family spaces a priority, crafting all of their exhibits to appeal to every age group. However, they’re not only for kids—adults will find exciting exhibits about science and technology at all of these museums.

Let’s get to it!

Canadian Children’s Museum, Gatineau, QC

The Canadian Children’s Museum is located inside the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, just minutes from the nation’s capital in Ottawa. While the whole Canadian History Museum is a family-friendly destination, the children’s museum was specifically designed with children in mind.

The museum-within-a-museum opened on June 29, 1989, around the central theme of “The Great Adventure,” giving young visitors the opportunity to experience the world from within the walls of the museum. The museum promotes intercultural understanding through interactive exhibits and activities that include props, costumes, hands-on artifacts, and inquiry-based learning experiences.

As an example, at the Canadian Children’s Museum, visitors can take part in things like Origami creation to learn about Japanese culture or play the drums as they learn about Nigeria. One of the most interesting and interactive experiences is the Vagabond Exhibit where kids have a chance to act as a crane operator and help unload newly arrived cargo. Taking the experience a step even further the attendees get a chance to navigate their very own ship! All ABOARD!

Through these child-centered experiences, young Canadians can begin their relationship with arts, culture, and history, developing a lifelong love of learning.

Consider creating a kid-friendly space within your own museum, if you don’t already have one. Perhaps you have existing exhibits that could easily be adapted to appeal to children. This special focus will help draw in families and make it easier to market your museum to tourists visiting the area, without changing the core atmosphere or mission of your museum.

The Discovery Centre, Halifax, NS

The Discovery Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, just reopened its doors in February 2017 at a new location on the city’s waterfront.

The five-year, $20 million project is housed in an old turbine room used for power generation. Inspired by the sparse architecture of the Tate Modern in London, the designers of the reimagined Discovery Centre kept the industrial feeling of the space.

The centre’s planetarium, called the Dome Theatre, features star shows and immersive films. CEO Dov Bercovici says that the Dome Theatre is “not just outer space, but you can actually immerse yourself in the human body: you can see what it's like to be in the bloodstream, under the water... an animal running through the jungle."

The Michelin Innovation Lab provides a kid-friendly space to design electronic circuits and play with snap-pulley systems. In 2018, the 3,000-square-foot Ocean Gallery will open to give visitors a hands-on snapshot of Halifax’s growing ocean technology industry. The new space will have displays about remotely operated vehicles and ocean tracking technology, plus a large touch tank filled with local marine species—always a favorite with kids.

To bring its themed spaces life, the Discovery Centre works with industry partners who sponsor the museum with generous grants. If you run a museum, ask yourself what industries might be interested in sponsoring an exhibit at your museum? Think outside the box and consider what key stakeholders might find appealing—and worth investing in.

The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY

The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, is home to the world’s largest collection of historical materials related to play. The museum’s founder, Margaret Woodbury Strong, was a “prolific collector of everyday objects, especially dolls and toys,” according to the history of the museum.

Since opening in 1968, The Strong’s focus on play has attracted families from around the world but also researchers, students, teachers, and collectors. It is highly interactive and perfect for families with children of all ages. The museum features 100,000 square feet of experiential learning environments and dynamic exhibits such as the Toy Halls of Fame, Reading Adventureland, Field of Play, and Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden.

The museum houses the National Toy Hall of Fame and the World Video Game Hall of Fame, pictured below.

The Strong has become known as a must-see national destination because people of all ages—especially children—are drawn to play. Look at your own exhibits and collections for signs of how play has shaped history, and consider how you could creatively present this angle. Perhaps you display a collection of antique toys, or show multimedia presentations with commercials or advertisements directed toward children, or create a hands-on exhibit about what play might look like in the future.

Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, NJ

Located in Liberty State Park near famed Lady Liberty herself, the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City is a museum for all ages dedicated to showcasing the power and promise of science. The 300,000-square-foot museum houses 12 exhibition halls, live animal encounters, a giant aquarium, theatre, the world’s largest IMAX Dome Theatre, live simulcast surgeries, and a tornado-force wind simulator.

The Science Center recently received a $5 million gift from former teacher Jennifer Chalsty to create the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere. The Science Center is already the most visited museum in New Jersey, attracting over 650,000 visitors every year, and is the largest interactive science and technology museum in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area.

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is one of the world’s largest science museums, home to more than 400,000 square feet of exhibition space.

It features a five-story movie screen, a 40-foot tornado, an actual United Airlines Boeing 727 and a German U-505 submarine, the only German sub in the U.S. The museum turned both the jet and the sub into exhibits. On board the sub (which is also a National Historic Landmark) visitors learn how it was operated and how it was captured by the U.S. military during World War II.

Now it’s your turn

These five institutions are incredibly inspiring examples of how museums can become beloved spaces for families and communities. These museums are dedicated to serving families and making sure people of all ages find something worth their attention in every exhibit.

If you want to make your own museum more family-friendly, consider the amenities you offer. Do you have a family restroom, and if not, are there changing stations in both your male and female restrooms? Do you have water fountains and a place to purchase a light snack? For museums aiming to attract families, these practical considerations are just as important as creating interactive exhibits and activities geared to children.

At Codex, we’re passionate about culture, heritage and using technology to tell better stories.

If you’re working at a museum and are interested in how we can help you tell your story in a more engaging way - Don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d love to chat with you!