Visiting with children
Facilities
Eating and drinking
You can find child-friendly food at the Gallery Café and at the
Court Cafés in the Great Court, see here for further
information. High chairs are available in all of the cafés
and the restaurant.
At weekends and during school holidays, families with children
are welcome to use the Ford Centre for Young Visitors as a
picnic-style eating area. It has high chairs, water fountains and
vending machines for treats.
Please do not eat or drink in the galleries
Hundreds of books, games, puzzles and pocket-money priced
souvenirs are available from the shops in the Great Court.
Toilets
There are toilets on every floor of the Museum. Accessible
toilets are located in the Great Court, the Ford Centre for Young
Visitors, the Clore Education Centre and to the north of Room
66.
Baby feeding and changing
There are baby feeding rooms in the Ford Centre for Young
Visitors and near the East stairs.
Baby changing facilities:
Ford Centre for Young Visitors
Great Court
East stairs
North stairs (level 0)
North stairs (level 3)
Bags and buggies
If you need to leave bags or other equipment while you visit,
there are lockers (£1 deposit) in the Ford Centre for Young
Visitors. Please note, this closes at 17.00 daily.
Access
Wheelchairs can be borrowed at both entrances.
Magnifying glasses are available for loan from the Information
Desk.
Large print booklets accompany Hamlyn trails and Ford activity
backpacks and there is a list of objects which can be touched.
For information on sign-interpreted events and further access
information please ask in the Paul Hamlyn Library, located through
Room 2.
What is there to do?
Ask in the Paul Hamlyn Library about…
Hamlyn Family trails free
Six trails to help you explore different parts of the Museum at
your own pace. There are four trails for six+ years and two trails
for children under five.
Ford activity backpacks free
Different backpacks full of puzzles, games and other activities
to do in the galleries with the whole family.
Please note backpacks take one and a half
hours to complete and are therefore not available after 15.30.
Events programme free
Find
out what workshops, performances, storytelling and other events
are on.
Art materials free
Borrow crayons, coloured pencils and pads to create your own
pictures as you visit.
Hamlyn children’s library free
A wide range of books for all ages.
Ask at the Information Desk for…
Family audio tour £
Join Stephen Fry on a trail of bodies, beasts and board
games
Hands On free
A unique opportunity to handle objects from the Museum’s
collection. Volunteers will help you and answer your questions
11.00–16.00 on the following days:
Daily
Enlightenment Gallery Room 1
Temporary exhibitions Room 2
Living and Dying The Wellcome Trust
Gallery Room 24
Monday – Friday
Money The HSBC Gallery Room 68
Tuesday – Thursday
China, India, South Asia and Southeast Asia
The Joseph E Hotung
Gallery
Room 33
Ancient Cyprus The A G Leventis
Gallery Room 72
Room 18 has casts of the Parthenon frieze, raised line drawings
and a model of the temple to touch. Children can also touch a
wooden carving of a Native American Thunderbird in Room 24.