Children’s Museums

Children’s museums (CMs) have a history spanning more than 100 years. The first was the Brooklyn Children’s Museum founded in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899. Two decades into the 21st century, there are at least 400 CMs around the world and the field is continuously expanding. It is not altogether easy to define a CM. There are two associations today working internationally and worldwide with CMs: The Association of Children’s Museums in the United States, which was founded in 1962, and Hands On! International Association of Children in Museums, which was founded in 1994 to promote CMs in Europe, and became international in 2014. Even though CMs are a North American invention, today they are found in every continent. CMs are designed for children to ...