Q&A | ‘We need to ensure all children are able to have a meaningful experience’

What are the key issues facing children’s museums?

Children’s museums have a unique role as cultural organisations that  provide hands-on, playful, and inclusive learning experiences that spark curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking.

They offer safe spaces for exploration and discovery, family bonding and celebrating diversity across communities. This helps children develop social, emotional, and problem-solving skills while fostering imagination and lifelong learning.  

The context for providing these spaces and remaining true to our core purpose has changed considerably and become much more challenging in recent years. Some of the key issues we currently face include:

• Remaining relevant to children’s lives in an age of digital media – how do we get the balance right in the experiences we offer? 
• In an increasingly diverse world, we need to ensure that all children are able to have a meaningful experience regardless of background, ability, and circumstances
• Competition for families limited time and resources – there are lots of opportunities for families to spend time together so children’s museums need to differentiate themselves through our unique play-based experiences
• Funding to deliver our mission – The competition for funding has escalated while available pots of funding have diminished.  Admission and secondary spend income have never been enough to ensure sustainability and we cannot expect our audience of young families and schools to bear the burden of increased costs. New business models are required to preserve our important work

How do you see children’s museums developing in the future?

I think we will see more children’s museums evolving into community-centred, hybrid learning spaces that combine our unique and successful play- and discovery- based approach with digital tools and experiences.

This will involve working in partnership with other cultural organisations, service providers and local and regional stakeholders to create a hub for community engagement, while the museums themselves focus increasingly on inclusivity, sustainability, and skills for the future.

This builds on our existing strengths in fostering creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving.  An approach like this should open doors to funding opportunities from sources that aren’t currently accessible to children’s museums, and result in new collaborative style business models that bring mutual benefit across the hub partners.

So, it ticks all of the boxes above in terms of tackling key challenges!

In what ways can museums support children and the challenges they face?

Museums have a significant and meaningful  role to play in supporting children and helping them cope with current challenges.  

Children’s museums are uniquely positioned to do this given our role in providing safe, playful, and inspiring learning spaces. Some of the ways in which we can provide and extend this support include:

• Facilitating the development of  digital literacy  and safe and appropriate use of social media 
• Supporting health and well-being through joyful, social, and stress-free experiences
• Celebrating diversity and inclusion and helping children feel seen, heard and valued
• Empowering  children and young people to engage with global challenges, like climate change, through creativity and hope

By incorporating these elements into our exhibitions and programming we help children and young people develop essential skillsets, confidence and resilience. 

This November, Eureka! will host the Hands On! International Association of Children’s Museums biannual conference in Liverpool Tell us a bit about the event.

Making a Difference: Raising Aspirations, Exceeding Expectations will bring together voices from across the world to share ideas, challenge assumptions and celebrate the extraordinary potential of us all to make a difference for children and families in our cultural settings, in what is an increasingly difficult environment.

Across two days, delegates will hear from leading figures in education, culture, and children’s rights.

From opening provocations by Dr Helen Charman (Young V&A) to the heartfelt advocacy of Baroness Floella Benjamin, and the insights of Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza, the programme is enhanced by voices that place children at the very heart of our work.

The event is more than a conference –- it is a call to action. By bringing together practitioners, thinkers, and advocates from around the globe, it will spotlight how organisations can play a transformative role in young people’s lives, not only as places of learning, but as catalysts for confidence, creativity, equity and joy.

Discounted places are available to Museums Association members - email info@eureka.org.uk for discount codes.

• See the full programme