Kids in Museums has announced the 20 organisations shortlisted for this year’s Family Friendly Museum Award.

The annual award celebrates museums that are particularly welcoming to children, young people and families.

Kids in Museums is a charity dedicated to championing family-friendly museums and heritage sites through a variety of initiatives, including a manifesto that offers simple guidelines on making museums easily accessible to all ages.

The shortlist comprises museums across all four nations of the UK and was selected from 80 nominations.

The shortlist

Best Large Museum

  • Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle
  • Horniman Museum and Gardens, London
  • World Museum, Liverpool

Best Medium Museum

  • London Transport Museum
  • The Box, Plymouth
  • Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum
  • University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge

Best Small Museum

  • Abbey House Museum, Leeds
  • Bailiffgate Museum, Alnwick
  • Dorset Museum
  • Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
  • Wisbech and Fenland Museum

Best Accessible Museum

  • Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
  • Postal Museum, London
  • The Egypt Centre, Swansea

Best Digital Activity

The winners will be chosen by undercover families who will visit museums during the school summer holiday and test out digital activities from home. The families will judge the museums on how well they meet the contents of the Kids in Museums Manifesto.

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The winning museums will be announced at an awards ceremony in October, with a winner declared for each category and an overall winner decided for the Family Friendly Museum Award 2021.

Due to Covid restrictions, last year Kids in Museums held a one-off celebration of museums’ best digital activities for families. This year it is embracing a hybrid approach, recognising the work of museums both on- and offline since October 2019.

This year also sees the introduction of a new Best Accessible Museum category, recognising museums that make an extra effort to include families with children or young people who have special educational needs and disabilities.

Emmajane Avery, chair of Kids in Museums, said: “Congratulations to all the museums shortlisted for this year’s Family Friendly Museum Award. We had a great response despite the challenging circumstances, showing how important these places are as the settings of some of our happiest family memories. We hope our family judges enjoy their visits over the summer holidays and we look forward to hearing their verdicts.”