See & Do

Museum of Childhood

Free

Attraction

Hightlight

City Centre
Family Friendly

Take a day out to the world’s first ever museum dedicated to the history of childhood. A family friendly attraction in the heart of Edinburgh city. A visit to this museum will spark some great memories of the past and amongst the displays you will find toys, games, clothes, books and dolls, dating from the 1800s to the present day and best of all it’s FREE, but they do ask for donations.

Explore a child’s life at home, at school and at play. See blasts from the past like Muffin the Mule, the first star of children’s television and Radio Rex – a 1920s voice activated toy. Favourite toys which last the test of time are also on display including a Buzz Lightyear, the action figure from 2000 and a Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone from 1979. And don’t miss the dressing-up area and tee-pee in the imaginary play area which offers families the chance to play together.

Opened in 1955, the Museum boasts an impressive collection of toys, games and artefacts relating to British childhoods. See fascinating and rare objects as well as toys you may recognise from your own childhood.

The collection at the Museum of Childhood explores all aspects of British childhood from the mid 19th century to the present day. Play and entertainment are represented by toys, games, dolls, fancy dress, items relating to hobbies and pastimes, books, magazines and comics. Childcare and life at home, nursery and school also feature, along with a substantial costume collection reflecting children’s fashions and lifestyles. The museum also has a photographic archive.

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Museum of Childhood

4.32094 reviews

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Asli

2 weeks ago

Small but a definitely enjoyful museum! The best part was surely the doll's room. I was surprised to see such different dolls together in one room haha The entrance with all those lovely messages about childhood times made me smile. You can definitely feel it is not just a combination of childhood related objects inside but an effort to make the experience the fullest with fine details considered in each corner. I really liked how some parts of the museum was so interactive, I can definitely see people can rekindle their childhood here. The entrance is also free, you should definitely take a visit!

Amanda Connor

a week ago

What a fantastic place. Thoroughly enjoyed reminiscing. Everything is laid out so well. Great place for taking kids to as there's lots of things for them to do. Highly recommend. Also it's free! A donation can be made however.

K. Peake

2 months ago

This museum is an absolute gem for a free visit, starting with info about the early stages of life that children experience! Details are taken in from the different eras of time for them, artefacts and culture of old schools are demonstrated even. Plenty of board and card games, alongside toys throughout periods of time are shown in a fascinating collection! Appreciate how they have small notable things like train sets, the doll room collection is really interesting in itself too.

Jack Kwong

2 months ago

Amazing work. The vintage toys definitely make the watch feel like it’s a masterpiece from the collection. Thank you for the dolls, teddy bears, board games, puzzles etc grime the old days of Edinburgh even the country. Cheers.

Sam Palmer

5 months ago

Entry is free, but with a suggested donation of £5 and well worth it. Very interesting history of the museum collection and the history of the development of childhood in children over the last couple of hundred years. There's a huge collection of dolls, including some very old ones and some very interesting ones. Some of them (well lots of them actually, have really quite disturbing faces and you wouldn't want to be left in a dark room with one of them 😳). The other rooms were equally interesting with lots of other fascinating toys and games. Well worth a visit.