Kids

belle, Time Out is NOT just for the people of London. We "provincials" do venture into your city sometimes and use Time Out to find out what's on and where to go. Or are our standards not high enough for you?

Mara and Helen - this is Time Out London - for the people of London who have high standards and don't buy half-cooked articles that haven't been researched well. So it's best not to comment when you don't know what you're talking about.

Why don't just stop moaning about the museums in London. You are all so lucky to have such a varied range of museums for children..Just enjoy them!!

PS The Imperial War Museum has some of the rudest and most unhelpful staff I have ever come accross in a museum, and that was when I took a school group. So bad that I have vowed never to take another group there - so visit at your peril. They may have friendlier staff at weekends - lets hope so!

I agree its a shame that museums aren't more welcoming to kids but I have to ask - have any of you actually said anything to these places? If you don't complain, no-one will ever know that you had a totally unsatisfactory visit and will think they are doing fine. Most museums have a comments box at least that lets you say what you think. There are some really good museums out there and I think its a shame that this article has concentrated on the big few that we've all heard of and not examined any others. These places all have lots of visitors and lots more funding than the local museums who have to generate their own income yet are often more welcoming. Maybe Time Out needs to use a bit more imagination when writing articles and not just stick to central london - I certainly wouldn't venture into central london to visit a museum with my 6 month old at the moment - even negotiating the tube is bad enough...

will people stop moaning. I live in the countryside and there's nothing but fields and sheep to keep my kids entertained...no changing facilities, toilets, interesting exhibitions to look at. I count myself lucky when I get to visit a museum

I am afraid this article is not very useful although it is good to hear about the lesser known museums. Perhaps it is trying to look at ONLY the museums that have signed up to the Kids in Museums manifesto (whatever that is) but anyway it gives a pretty meaningless impression of how child friendly these museums are (or aren't.). I woudl not want to rely on it when taking kids out.
It is no good ticking boxes about buggy access and changing facilities really when considering the V & A, for instance. It has been a firm family favourite with us for years, but only with kids who are interested in the collections. The museum hardly makes concessions to kids at all unless you manage to get into one of its kids workshops
For instance the cafe is unbelievably badly organised - one of the most chaotic museum cafes I know - and often very crowded. so I have never been able to avoid queueing for 15 mins at least, sometimes much, much longer and then you often can't find a table. Utter nightmare with kids, don't even think about it!!!!! The courtyard is okay, ahd sometimes its little cafe is open, but if you're going to sit outside and let the kids run arbout why not make the trip to the Diana Prncess of Wales Playground which caters for kids properly?
On the other hand very popular venues like the Science Museum are omitted, and actually it woudl be useful to be warned that kid friendly bits of this museum can sometimes become very crowded indeed. We have had to beat a retreat before now because the kids are scared of the huge crowds and cannot get in to Launch Pad, and you need a Plan B and some alternatives in mind if you are going to take kids there during bank holidays or half terms just in case you are crowded out entirely.
That's the kind of stuff it would be useful to know in a Kids in Museums article. .

oke...........

I'm sorry but this is a pretty droll article. I wish you'd asked someone experienced in taking children around museums to write this piece. For one the most child-friendly spaces within museums (and most popular with mums) have not been mentioned. I'm not going to mention them here as I dont want to do the research for you and make these gems even more crowded but there are spaces dedicated to babies, toddlers and under 5's in a few museums that are wonderful. I often meet with other mums there and our kids can spend a lovely time playing and exploring. What I find interesting is that some of the museums mentioned in this article are the one's I'm referring to but you (a major one however has been neglected) but you havent pointed out the children's spaces in them. As usual I dont know why Time Out bothers with a Family section as it does such a poor job of reporting in it.

I took my baby (6 months) to the Van Gogh exhibition, in a sling so not prob with negotiating stairs. However, changing facilities limited and nowhere to feed him, got lots of funny looks in the members room (average age 78) when he whinged a bit and I tried to breastfeed him. It was a pretty stressful experience.

The museum of childhood could do a lot more to be child friendly. It’s interesting for adults, but of far less appeal to kids than you’d expect, given the scope to entertain, given the subject matter and all. There weren’t any activities on the day we visited, which didn’t help. Virtually all the exhibits are behind glass. One or two have a button to press to make the train etc go – which is ideal. But many of those that could be interactive aren’t. There are a few things to play with, a bit of dressing up etc, but all of these together won’t sustain more than a dozen children. Even on a quiet day, this museum won’t entertain your kids or you for very long. I’d hate to imagine what it is like on a busy day during half-term. I’d take the kids to the national history museum or horniman before returning here.

Posted on the wrong museum's comments box- clearly inappropriate but hopefully some nice person will relocate for me!

I'm surprised to read the positive comments about the Royal Academy in respect of children, especially the Summer Exhibition, as this was not my experience last summer when I went with my two year old daughter.
Firstly, we did receive some looks from the staff at the front desk when it was clear that we needed to go round with the buggy; she is heavy and I was pregnant with twins, so there was no way I was going to hoik her around in my arms. Secondly, we weren't offered an art tray.
Third, I was the only one there with a child ( a weekday but busy nonetheless) and the other visitors were less than welcome to us even though my child was mostly well behaved. Fourthly, many of the artworks themselves are very low down hence inviting sticky fingers to explore. I was forever moving my child out of the way lest she damage something.
Fifthly, there was a copper sculpture as a centrepiece. My child ventured inside ( whose wouldn't) only to find that we had instigated some sort of security panic- several staff ran towards us screaming ' get her out of there'.
Overall, we found the venue snotty, unhelpful, and unwelcoming . My child loves art and goes to the Tate Modern regularly- she loves to exclaim at things and point things out. One exhibit was to her a giraffe'- its a giraff'e, mummy, she screamed excitedly at some modernist painting. This produced some tut tuts from other visitors. My conclusion was that I would probably come back with her next year but would not expect a warm reception. An adult venue it is and I have to say that seems very much to be the expectation of the staff and most of the visiting public.