Family-Friendly Museum Design: Top 10 Features for Under 5s

Written by Rhianna | Project Producer at Katapult

As a parent to two wonderfully chaotic girls under 4, I am very much aware of the challenges facing parents when taking your children out for the day. Not only is it a battle to leave the house in the first place, (in a haze of half packed changing bags, snacks for the fussy child, and ensuring you’ve not left without the favourite toy), it’s also a real challenge to find new experiences that cater for pre-schoolers that aren’t a soft play, the local park or group.

Probably like most parents, I have considered every eventuality of the day’s plans before we’ve even left the front door, so will often take the easy option when entertaining the kids.

So how can cultural spaces like museums ensure that their attraction is front of mind for parents of young children, who perhaps see them as places that don’t welcome young families? I’ve pulled together the top 10 things I think attractions should include to be family-family museums, especially for children under 5.

1. Let’s Move!

Toddlers are energetic, wriggling, bouncing small people. Moving slowly and being quiet is often not in their remit and although this can be tricky when out and about, it should be seen as an opportunity. We need to engage with their curious minds, and allow these small guests to explore the exhibits in their own way.

Why walk in a straight line through a room when you can follow a mapped out squiggle, or walk through a doorway when you can squeeze through a tunnel? If transportation is a key theme, why not make it part of the experience? Think of

the Mail Rail at The Postal Museum in London, or the creative world of Discover Children's Story Centre.

2. Hands-on Tech

Screen-time usage is an ever-present issue, and the last thing parents want when out and about is to be putting them in front of a screen. With this in mind, museums should consider how to make any digital interactives as hands-on as possible.

The Science Museum in London has some brilliant examples of combining science and tech in their Pattern Pod. Children can create kaleidoscope style symmetrical images, explore water and create ripples without getting their socks wet, and create cool patterns that move along with them as they dance and jiggle!

For the children unable to visit museums and art galleries but able to get online, cultural venues can take their exhibits and stories into the home environment.

The Tate Gallery has a section on its website for children with lots of different arts and crafts resources, along with games, quizzes and content on artists and their stories. The Digital Museum of Learning based in Switzerland has various online exhibitions, as I write this they have exhibitions on identity and the environment- allowing kids to get curious about culture and history!

3. Senses and Storytelling

As most pre-schoolers are unlikely to be able to read, museums need to ensure storytelling is innovative and can paint a picture without written word. Consider all the senses, what can be seen, touched, heard, smelt- even tasted? Transport your young guests to different places or times by engaging all the senses and making it playful. CitySniffers in Amsterdam is a walking tour with a difference, hosted by the Amsterdam Museum.

Guests download an app, collect a Rub and Sniff card and explore the streets of Amsterdam to find different scent spots. The Discover Children’s Story Centre in London invites visitors to absorb themselves in imagined worlds, with tactile and multi-sensory experiences guests can touch, hear, see and discover- everything is playable.

The Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds is the UK’s largest independent medical museum, where you can walk along a super smelly Victorian street showcasing life before advanced medicine. It also has a soft play for under-fives where you can crawl through the digestive system and leave via the ‘poo’ slide- truly unique!

4. Let’s Role-Play

There are lots of local ‘play villages’ for role-play fun. So how can you differentiate? The Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, US has a ‘Front Step’, where children can tend to an urban garden and sweep the front porch.

At Eureka in Halifax, West Yorkshire, children can scan a pregnant woman’s belly, and at ThinkTank in Birmingham there’s a race track inspired by the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Celebrating cultural events or re-imagining historic moments by way of role-play is a wonderful way to engage young minds and encourage learning through play.

Depending on the exhibit in your museum, this could be a permanent or temporary experience to mirror what’s happening in the

world/local community at that time.

5. Include Everyone

When it comes to accessibility, providing access information and a sensory map on your website is non-negotiable, so guests can plan which spaces may or may not work for their family. 86% of respondents to the Euan’s Guide Access Survey 2024 check websites to find out disabled access information before visiting a new place. 77% of respondents said they have found a venue’s website to be misleading, confusing or inaccurate when checking before a visit, so clear and accurate information is incredibly important.

The Royal Museums of Greenwich website has a brilliant webpage that details accessibility across all of their museums, including facilities locations, access guides, sensory maps, braille guides and more. The National Emergency Services Museum in Sheffield has clear photos of where guests may have accessibility issues due to the museum being housed in a Grade II listed building, for example showing uneven steps and cobbled floors.

Many museums support guests in other ways, for example by giving out free sensory backpacks, providing SEND guests with additional items to help stimulate and support them during their visit. Venues may offer specific session times that are quieter, or tactile exhibits and audio descriptions purposely created for younger children with visual or hearing impairments so that they can also engage, learn and enjoy.

The UNCRC (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) outlines that every child has the right to play. The Museum of the Home in London is a registered warm bank, and has a playroom for families to feel comfortable and welcomed, giving them a safe space to relax and play for a longer period of time. How can your venue become a community hub, creating a welcoming space for young families who might need extra support?

6. Help a Tired Parent/Carer

It’s likely that parents and carers are googling ‘places to go with under 5s’ ahead of their visit- and comparing their options- so make your website as clear as possible. Show what exhibits, attractions and facilities are available on the same web page so parents don’t need to hunt around for information. If not a children’s museum specifically, incentivise with specific session times so that parents don’t need to worry about loud children disturbing other guests, or offer host-led workshops or sessions to entertain the children and give the parents five minutes.

Ensure there is good visibility around the museum in case a child runs wild, perhaps having clear ‘waiting’ points, or staff on hand for children that get lost. Be clear on what can and can’t be touched- make the signage for this clear to children too- by colour coding or by using clear icons. If you really want to entice (tired) young families, tickets that include a coffee voucher never go amiss either!

7. Big Smiles

Ensure staff are engaged and expectant of young visitors bringing a new dynamic to your attraction. Parents can be wary of going to museums in case their children create a disturbance- welcoming staff who smile, are playful and encouraging with youngsters goes a long way! It is also important to train staff on how to best welcome and aid families with SEND children- a study by Scope in 2018 found that 87% of parents of disabled children between 0-5 felt judged by members of the public whilst out with their disabled child (Kids in Museums).

8. Take-away Items

And I don’t mean a pizza. Offer my daughter a sticker, a badge or a stamp and she’ll talk about it all day. It can be the smallest thing, but a trail to find stamps or stickers, a craft activity that results in something you can take home, or a small take-away item on exit can be the thing that keeps that little person engaged and motivated to continue through the museum experience. However, I must also add that small plastic toys are not desirable for any parent, so there’s an opportunity to think creatively based on what your key messaging/core exhibits are- how about plantable seed paper in a fun shape, or a simple cardboard puzzle? Takeaway items keep the museum front of mind and keep the fun going once you’re home.

9. Be Interesting

Kids love learning, but it has to be on their level, both literally and figuratively. Consider exhibits that are lower to the ground, or even on the ground to invite interaction. If exhibits can’t be lowered, ensure there are steps available so children can reach. Make everything (or at the very least some things) playable. Include exhibits that encourage parents to play along with their children. Create gamified, self-led interactions with exhibits so that small children know exactly what they need to do without explanation.

The Boston Children's Museum includes an exhibit that helps children ‘Prepare for Kindergarten’; riding a school bus, packing a backpack, making friends and gathering around for storytime, which could not be more exciting for a pre-schooler! The MOXI in California has an Innovation Workshop in which kids can

upcycle donated items into cool new inventions- perfect for creative children!

10. Caffeine required

Finally, here’s a biggie (for a tired mum!). I want to be sure my girls are going to have the best time whatever we’re doing, but it’s also important that the parents and carers get a treat too. A great family friendly cafe, with good coffee for us and beans on toast for the girls are non-negotiable for our family, but it also helps to have activities (as simple as colouring books and pencils, toy train track etc) there to wile away the time as we wait for our order (which can often feel like a lifetime when you’re trying to entertain two small children).

At The Boosters Cafe in the National Space Centre in Leicester you can sit under rockets while you eat your meals and sip your coffee. Not only do they have all the essentials for a young family (high chairs, child meals, bottle warming, a microwave) but they also have water fountains for refilling your own bottles, locally sourced food and coffee, and all of the packaging is made from plant-based material so you can tuck in guilt free!

Hey, why not go all out and take inspiration from a theme park by implementing a digital experience into the cafe to keep the kids quiet, just for five minutes while I finish my drink?