Share your ideas for a revamped Canadian Children’s Museum

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For immediate release

Gatineau, Quebec, October 9, 2018 — Whether you are young or young at heart, the Canadian Museum of History wants to hear your ideas for revitalizing the Canadian Children’s Museum — starting with an online survey and a “Reimagining” event on Sunday, October 21.

The Children’s Museum is a popular place for children and families to learn and play, and has been an integral part of the Museum of History’s visitor experience since 1989. However, much has changed in the past 29 years in the way people visit, learn and interact in museums. The renewed Children’s Museum will reflect current approaches to play and learning, respond to today’s children and families and attract new audiences by being more inclusive and accessible in both its content and its design.

“This ambitious undertaking is to ensure that we continue to offer engaging, accessible and dynamic activities for the next generation of young families,” said Jean-Marc Blais, Director General of the Canadian Museum of History. “We are excited to reach out to Canadians, many of whom enjoyed coming here as children, and are now parents themselves. We want to know what they value most about the Children’s Museum now, and what new experiences and changes they would like to see.”

Members of the public are invited to participate in activities and share their ideas and feedback during a “Reimagining the Children’s Museum” event at the Museum on Sunday, October 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can also provide input by completing an online survey between now and Sunday, November 18. Additional surveys throughout the multi-year project will help inform the renewal as it progresses.

The Children’s Museum will continue to offer hands-on learning and family fun throughout the renewal process, remaining open in its current configuration until January 2020. From February 2020 until the renewal is completed in the summer of 2021, many modules will be temporarily relocated within the Museum of History, accompanied by a dynamic lineup of family-friendly special exhibitions, activities and programs.

The revitalized Children’s Museum is being developed with its visitors in mind — children between 0 and 10 years of age and their accompanying adults — in consultation with leading experts and practitioners in the fields of childhood development, early learning, inclusion and accessibility. It will occupy the same footprint as the existing space, but with an improved layout.

The Children’s Museum has welcomed more than 12.5 million visitors since it first opened in 1989, in what was then the new Canadian Museum of Civilization. It was expanded in 1994, 1995 and 2007. For three decades, this museum-within-a-museum has invited children to travel the world, enriching their lives and broadening their experience by exploring other cultures through exhibitions, costumes, toys, games, props and hands-on artifacts.

Located on the shores of the Ottawa River in Gatineau, Quebec, the Canadian Museum of History attracts over 1.2 million visitors each year. The Museum’s principal role is to enhance Canadians’ knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the events, experiences, people and objects that have shaped Canada’s history and identity, as well as to enhance Canadians’ awareness of world history and culture. Work of the Canadian Museum of History is made possible in part through financial support of the Government of Canada.

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