The London Children's Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum located in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. It was the first

children's museum Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums fea ...

established in Canada, founded in 1975 by Carol Johnston two years after visiting Boston Children's Museum during a family trip. As of 2021, the museum receives 88,000 visitors each year and has an operating budget of approximately $1.2 million. Its current

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

is Amanda Conlon. The original museum was based in the old City Centre. After several moves in its early days, it acquired the building of the former Riverview Public School in 1982 with a grant from the Richard Ivey Foundation. In 2014 it sold the Wharncliffe Road building to a London developer, but will remain a tenant until at least 2021. The museum will move to a former and refurbished Kellogg's cereal plant in the city's east end factory district at 100 Kellogg Lane. The museum will occupy the building's fourth floor, which has ceilings. After the move, the museum plans on creating new exhibits. In 2018, the museum hired an

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

company to design the exhibits in the new building. These include eight "immersive and interactive areas for children and their families", among them a garden patio, a main street-themed exhibit, a river-themed exhibit, and a room dedicated to archaeological discovery. It will also include a large rooftop playground. Exhibits include Bellina, a whale skeleton suspended in the atrium, an arctic exhibit, and a dinosaur exhibit.

Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and

Virtual Museum of Canada The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Children's museums in Canada Museums in London, Ontario Museums established in 1975 Companies based in London, Ontario 1975 establishments in Ontario