Museum of Childhood
Address: 42 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1TG
Located on Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile, the Museum of Childhood is home to a large collection of toys and games from the 18th to the 21st century. Popular with visitors of all generations, from playful children to nostalgic adults. The museum was started in 1955 by an Edinburgh Town Councillor named Patrick Murray. He had read in the news that a collection of Victorian dolls were being sent away from Scotland to London, because there was nowhere local to display them. So he had the idea to set up a toy museum in Edinburgh.
It became the first museum in the world dedicated to the history of childhood. There are now over 60,000 items in the collection. In 2018, the museum underwent a major refurbishment to improve the layout and displays, adding new items and creating an interactive gallery, which explores a child’s life at home, school and play.
5 things to at the Museum of Childhood
- Look out for toys you may remember from your own childhood. Such as Corgi cars, baby dolls, comics, Barbies and Sindys, Storm Troopers and My Little Ponies.
- See the more unusual exhibits. Including an early Steiff Bear collection, a very detailed dolls house with over 20 rooms and 2000 items inside, and a miniature 1880s grocers shop complete with prime cuts of meat and its own tiny butcher.
- Enjoy the refurbished interactive space on the ground floor, with new cases, floors, lights, objects and dedicated zones focusing on memories of childhood at home, in school and at play.
- Explore other aspects of growing up, from schooldays and clubs to clothing, health and holidays.
- See the costume collection all about children’s fashions and lifestyles.
