The second oldest and one of the largest children’s museums in the world, Boston Children’s Museum has been a collecting institution since it was founded in 1913. As we approach our 100th anniversary, our collection holds 50,000 objects representing a slice of Boston history, as well as cultures and species from around the world. At last count, we have 35,000 cultural artifacts and 15,000 natural history objects. Although we are not actively collecting today, this number continues to grow slowly but surely through gifts and donations.
Many of our permanent collections are used in exhibits and programs throughout the Museum. Take a look in Science Playground to see the variety of bird and animal specimens on display. Visit the Japanese House to see and experience our largest collections item. Walk along the bridges between exhibits and peek in the windows. In nearly every exhibit in the museum, collections objects can be found.
However, with so many objects to choose from, clearly many things are kept in storage. Through this blog, we will give you a weekly peek behind the scenes to see some of the Museum’s hidden treasures, learn about upcoming exhibit projects and programs, and see what we are working on in collections. These photos are just a glimpse into the Museum’s vaults. Remember anything from your own childhood visits that you want to see again? Let us know and we’ll see what we can find…
The Power of Play 