London Children's Museum
Children's museum in London, Ontario
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The London Children's Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum located in London, Ontario, Canada.[1] It was the first children's museum established in Canada,[1] 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.[2] Its current executive director is Amanda Conlon.[1]
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| Established | 1975 |
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| Location | 100 Kellogg Lane London, Ontario N5W 0B4 |
| Coordinates | 42.9791°N 81.2629°W |
| Type | Children's museum |
| Visitors | 100,000 |
| Founder | Carol Johnston |
Executive director | Kate Ledgley |
| Website | www |
The original museum was based in the old City Centre.[1] 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.[1] In 2014 it sold the Wharncliffe Road building to a London developer, but will remain a tenant until at least 2021.[1]
The museum moved to a former and refurbished Kellogg's cereal plant in the city's east end factory district at 100 Kellogg Lane.[2][1][3] The museum will occupy the building's fourth floor, which has 25-foot (7.6 m) ceilings.[1][3] After the move, the museum plans on creating new exhibits.[1] In 2018, the museum hired an Oakland, California company to design the exhibits in the new building.[4] 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.[4] It also includes a large rooftop playground.[3] On December 25, 2024, the museum's old location at 21 Wharncliffe Road was sold.
Exhibits include Bellina, a whale skeleton suspended in the atrium, an arctic exhibit, and a dinosaur exhibit.[1]
Affiliations
The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.
