The Childhood Galleries

The Childhood Galleries house the V&A Museum of Childhood's permanent displays relating to the social history of childhood and are organised into the following themes: Babies; Home; What We Wear; Who Will I Be?; How We Learn; Good Times.

The displays have been designed to enable visitors, especially children, to compare their own experiences of life with those experienced in the past and in different cultures.

Throughout the galleries visitors will find representations of childhood from the Museum's collection of art works which complement the objects. There are reading areas within the galleries where visitors can discover more about the themes explored and both adults and children can engage with the related interactive exhibits.

Babies

The Babies area examines how babies have been cared for in the past and how they are cared for today, as well as the way in which children like to pretend to look after babies with dolls.

The display includes toys used by children in role play, such as toy prams, as well as real life nursery objects dating back to the 1600s, including a baby walker and 'pudding' safety hat from the 19th century.

Lullaby songs, including 'Rock a Bye Baby' and 'Hush, Little Baby' play quietly in the background in this relaxing, safe carpeted area for young children and babies to crawl around and explore nursery toys.

Good Times

The Good Times area looks at children's experience of holidays, parties and celebrations, joining clubs and simply playing games. Objects on display include party costumes and musical instruments, a toy merry-go-round (about 1920), a Nimbus 2000 magic broomstick from the Harry Potter stories (2003) and an early game of Goose (about 1750).

It also explores the great tradition of the British seaside holiday with mementoes, postcards, seaside toys and a girl's knitted bathing costume (about 1935).

At the heart of Good Times is a large sandpit beach for young children to play in and deck chairs for adults to sit in and read the paper. There are adult and child-sized Punch and Judy booths for visitors to put on their own shows for family and friends, and a dressing up and dance area with a free jukebox. For calmer play there are board games, such as Draughts and Snakes and Ladders.

Home

The Home area explores how people have lived over the past 400 years. The display is arranged to give the feel of a city square, encircled by houses and complete with park bench. The surrounding displays show key examples from the dolls' house and dolls' house furniture collections, dating from the 1600s to present day. The gallery includes the Museum's famous Nuremberg House (1673), and life-size household items of various periods to help comparison of design throughout the ages. Here visitors can play with Victorian and contemporary styles of replica dolls' houses and pretend to have tea in a child-size Victorian kitchen, complete with cooking range and dresser.

How We Learn

The How We Learn display shows how toys can be used for learning important skills, such as counting, reading and spelling, both at home and at school. Objects on display include a school abacus from the 1920s, the De Luxe Typewriter (about 1960) and early play computers and jigsaw puzzles.

What We Wear

The What We Wear display uses real and play items to illustrate the changes in fashion over the past 300 years. Included are a combination of fashion dolls, for example the Old Pretender (about 1680), actual children's clothing, jewellery, paintings and dressing aid toys. The display highlights children's fashions from the 1700s to present day including a girl's crinoline from the 1860s and Pokémon trainers (1998). It explores how fashion and clothing have been used as statements of identity, status and even rebellion.

In What We Wear visitors can touch fabrics from the clothes on display and try on replica hats and shoes from different times in the past and check themselves out in the mirror.

Who Will I Be?

Who Will I Be focuses on toys that children use when playing at being grown-ups, such as the Flymo toy lawn mower (about 1988) and a toy sewing machine made by Meccano in 1967.

It also reflects the variety of jobs, careers and roles which children can aspire to, and may or may not follow when they grow up. It explores how expectations of gender have influenced toy manufacture past and present.

A role-play area for children features a work/play vehicle which regularly changes from an ambulance to a police car, to a fire engine and even an aeroplane, and includes clothes for dressing up.

Building bricks offer children the opportunity to explore their practical and creative skills. Will they become an architect, construction worker or go into demolition?

Families: Three Generations

This section explores the lives of three families over three generations. They all live in the East End of London, one of the most diverse and culturally dynamic cities in the world. Read more about the three families here