Children’s museums began in the United States with the Brooklyn Children’s Museum (1899). The Association of Youth Museums has almost 400 members; of these, 200 museums are currently in operation and 100 are in the planning stages. Children’s museums take many forms, from interactive centers for art, science and nature to handson discovery rooms in larger museums, not to mention museums entirely for children.

They tailor exhibits to the developmental capabilities of children, complete with activities, language and displays appropriate for children of various ages, learning styles and developmental abilities.

When the Brooklyn Children’s Museum was founded, John Dewey was teaching the thenradical notion that individuals learn powerfully through personal experience. Maria Montessori also influenced the early development of children’s museums with her theories of teacher as facilitator and the value of children having independence and sharing activities and equipment. In 1901 the Smithsonian opened its first Children’s Room with the theme “Knowledge begins in wonder.” In the 1960s, Jean Piaget’s theories of child development affected educational institutions in powerful ways, particularly his assertion that to know an object is to act upon it. In 1961 Michael Spock, son of the famed pediatrician Benjamin Spock, took charge of the Boston, Massachusetts Children’s Museum and revolutionized the museum world for children. He designed exhibits meant for interaction—the first being “What’s Inside,” showing the inner workings of everyday things such as toasters, water heaters, a car engine and a sewer system.

In keeping with Piaget’s concepts of the stages of children’s development, the staff developed spaces for children’s needs. For example, for the sensorymotor stage (birth to age three), the staff developed a baby pit with mirrors, blankets and small climbing structures. A toddler area had small group activities like blocks, and older toddlers had arts and crafts materials available along with puzzles, play structures and activity tables.

Staff members became interpreters who were ready to answer questions and demonstrate components of exhibits. The Boston Children’s Museum philosophy was that “the museum was for somebody rather than about something.” The hands-on science and technology center was born when Frank Oppenheimer opened San Francisco, CA’s Exploratorium in 1969. He believed “visitors should control and manipulate the elements of the exhibit and that staff or volunteer ‘explainers’ could help them understand what was happening” (Cleaver 1988:10). His Exploratorium inspired the many science and technology participatory centers across the country Most children’s museums strive to engage visitors in the experience of learning about the world they inhabit and encourage discovery dealing with unknowns in a safe way and making sense of new experiences. Exhibits created with an emphasis on the process of learning help visitors—whether children, teenagers or adults accompanying them— understand more about their own learning style and motivations for learning, whether visitors take a random or a linear or methodical approach to experiencing the museum.