The London Children’s Museum curates powerful play experiences through immersive environments, authentic materials, and meaningful relationships. As a champion for children, we advocate for their unique perspectives, contributions, and ways of learning.
Vision
A community where children’s voices are honoured, play is valued, and lives are transformed by a love of learning.
Values
LISTEN CLOSELY: We listen to our community and prioritize children’s voices as the primary consideration in our decision making.
BE AWESOME: We acknowledge the innate strength, competence, and capability of each person. We value diverse perspectives and encourage people to be their authentic selves.
STAY CURIOUS: We encourage wonder, discovery, and creativity, empowering individuals to take charge of their own learning.
BE HELPFUL: We recognize and respond to the needs of those around us, both inside our walls and out in our community.
INCLUDE EVERYONE: We ensure equitable access to play through collaboration with community partners, and the continuous evaluation of our programs, services, and structures. We foster a sense of belonging by building a welcoming and inclusive environment for all ages.
DREAM BIG: We celebrate innovative ideas, risk-taking, and continuous growth. We challenge ourselves and others to reimagine possibilities.
HAVE FUN: We share in the inherent joy of play.
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Statement of Pedagogy
Children are competent, capable and curious
Children are natural and curious learners. From the time they are born they immediately begin seeking ways to explore and learn from the world around them. They are capable of complex thinking and competent to expand their learning and understanding. Learning happens when children play. Play is essential to every child’s development. Through authentic experiences and meaningful interactions with people, spaces and things, children feel safe and in control of their environment. For a child to construct knowledge, they need to explore at their own pace and experiment on their own terms. We believe parents, caregivers and educators want the best for children and value children’s play in its own right.
Children make meaningful contributions to the world
Through their individual choices, wishes and preferences, children make meaningful contributions to the world around them. Children should be celebrated for their unique strengths, ideas, thoughts and feelings.
Relationships are important
Children play and explore in the context of relationships with other children, adults, environments and time. As they grow, their relationships expand from caregiver and family, to friends and neighbours, to the community and the world. In play, children try on different roles and relationships. We create opportunities for children and their grown-ups to slow down, spend quality time together, and experience the luxury of becoming lost in play.
We are child-responsive
We listen to the many different ways children express their ideas. We acknowledge the interests of the child in each moment. We thoughtfully and intentionally design experiences and exhibits to encourage positive reciprocal interactions. Children are encouraged to ask questions, be inquisitive, lead, guide, investigate and wonder.
We invite children to indulge their curiosity
We use what we learn from children to develop high quality, enriching and engaging experiences and exhibits that create opportunities for children to fall in love with learning. Visitors can develop theories about how the world works, learn about who they are and discover who they might become. Exhibits and stimulating learning experiences invite them to explore history and heritage, investigate the complexities of science and social relationships and celebrate the beauty in art and culture. Children are encouraged to indulge their curiosity and play their way to a life of innovation and creative discovery.
