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Visiting London’s Museum of the Home with kids

There are few more evocative words than ‘home’ – and what home means for us, the images it conjures up, are some of the questions explored on a visit to London’s Museum of the Home with kids.

1970s style West Indian family living room at the Museum of the Home in London, one of the series of period rooms
review visit*

Newly reopened after an £18 million three-year facelift (including some pandemic-induced delays), the former Geffrye Museum still has its period rooms through time that previous visitors will recognise, but the museum now has almost double the space with displays tracing everything from changing fashions and technology, to the impact of religion as well as homelessness.

There’s also a section on the recent lockdowns, with visitors sharing their thoughts on how home has changed over the past 12 months – and if you’re visiting the Museum of the Home with kids, lots of interactives to help entertain.

Just the collections alone are engaging for kids though: being able to compare your home to homes through history, is instantly relatable.

Although from an adult perspective, mildly alarming to discover items from my own childhood on display as exhibits!

View of frames with various photos near the start of the galleries at the reopened Museum of the Home in London
Old-fashioned Macintosh computer as part of a display at the reopened Museum of the Home in London
Display on religious items and decorations to be found in various homes, as part of the collection at the Museum of the Home in London
Decorative inlaid cabinet once belonging to diarist John Evelyn at the reopened Museum of the Home in London

And along the way, the displays help visitors of all ages to get an understanding of changing society through people’s living spaces, including life for servants, and tackling topics from slavery to feminism.

There was an engrossing little coded message to translate, linked to the proper behaviour for girls, as well as a puzzle alongside a poem on those fashionable families whose wealth depended on the trade in humans, as well as sugar.

Children's area at the Museum of the Home in London with trails, colouring, books and stools - my review of the Museum of the Home with kids
One of the puzzles at London's Museum of the Home as part of an exhibit on slavery - my review of the reopened Museum of the Home with kids
Coded puzzle for children at London's Museum of the Home - my review of the reopened Museum of the Home with kids

It all helps make it very accessible for families, plus there are several free museum trails to pick up as an added bonus, along with explorer bags for under-fives (and children with SEND), along with tables to sit and do colouring.

If it’s all sounding very serious, there are plenty of fun interactives too: dropping a token into jars to show whether you keep your ketchup in the fridge or cupboard (fridge was winning hands down), mystery button pressing, a chance to play Mario Kart on an old SNES games console and dressing up.

Interactive display at the Museum of the Home in London - this one asking visitors to share a token on where they store their ketchup, one of many fun interactive elements if you're visiting the Museum of the Home with kids
Interactive game at the Museum of the Home in London, with three buttons to press to make the sound of various household devices - one of the fun things at the Museum of the Home for kids
Man plays Mario Kart on an original SNES games console in one of the displays at the Museum of the Home in London, perfect if you're visiting the Museum of the Home with kids

One of the most memorable was a touchscreen game to squash bedbugs. Testing that one out left me feeling distinctly itchy but it was rather addictive – coming away with a score of 80, I decided not to take up the suggestion of swapping careers to pest control!

Interactive screen called beat the bed bugs, one fun (if itchy) game to try at London's Museum of the Home with kids
Interactive display on different cleaning products used over the years in homes including one made from the swim bladders of fish with scent to smell - one of several great options at London's Museum of the Home with kids
Interactive display on different cleaning products used over the years in homes including one made from the swim bladders of fish with scent to smell - one of several great options at London's Museum of the Home with kids

Next to it was another engrossing display on the weird and wonderful things used to try to combat household pests, including a chance to smell a few – some of which seemed just as unpleasant as the problem they were trying to solve.

Along the way, you can also see the various labour-saving devices invented over the years and the growth of technology – an old TV set, a dial telephone very like the one I grew up with, an Alexa device that my daughter would be more familiar with.

Display of entertainment technology ranging from old-fashioned TV and wireless to stereo equipment at the Museum of the Home in London
Display of various cleaning devices including carpet sweeper and early vacuum cleaners at the reopened Museum of the Home in London - my review
Display of technology and furniture from recent decades at the Museum of the Home in London, including a dial phone and Ikea Billy bookcase - my review of the reopened Museum of the Home in London
Collected technology used in the home over more recent years, including thermostat, computer and Alexa device - my review of the Museum of the Home in London
Display of traditional games at the Museum of the Home in London, including Monopoly, cribbage and dominos - one of several fun displays if you're visiting the Museum of the Home with kids

There are games too, many from the days before technology, although plenty – like Monopoly and dominos – are still a staple today.

Plus plenty of chance to play pick your favourite: between three comfy chairs from across history, for example, as well as a rather intriguing Victorian option you could buy from a catalogue, turning a corner of your room into an intimately cosy space for two.

Display of three comfortable chairs from over the centuries at the reopened Museum of the Home in London

For those who’ve visited the museum in its previous incarnation, the rooms through time are still there, with some very fun descriptions to bring them to life.

The signs tell a story of what the inhabitants would be doing, whether it’s a family settling down to play cards, a servant cleaning before guests are expected, a single man in his serviced flat, a family in a bright 70s living room.

The pictures they conjure up are vivid enough that you could believe the people have momentarily stepped out through another door and will be back to pick up their lives any second.

One of the period rooms at London's Museum of the Home, set up as if a family was about to play cards - my review of the reopened Museum of the Home in London
View of an open-plan loft apartment at the Museum of the Home in London, one of the museum's period rooms
One of the period rooms at London's Museum of the Home, with wood panelled walls, and heavy carved dark wood table, plus tapestry on the wall - my review of the reopened Museum of the Home in London
Living areas in a 1930s style serviced flat at the Museum of the Home in London, one of the museum's series of period rooms
One of the period rooms at the Museum of the Home in London with Wedgwood blue walls and polished wood furniture - my review of the reopened Museum of the Home

It’s another great touch if you’re visiting the Museum of the Home with kids too; the signs often talk about what children would be doing, but even if they would have been packed off to bed or a nursery, it’s far more engaging than simply looking at furniture.

Outdoors, you can wander through the gardens through time as well. On a sunny day, it was a lovely shady green space to stroll as we looked at everything from Tudor-style knot gardens to herb gardens and pretty Victorian cottage gardens, the flowers blooming and bees humming happily.

View across the gardens through time at the Museum of the Home in London including one of the signs giving details of the period which inspired it
View across the gardens through time at the Museum of the Home in London, including the exterior of the old almshouses
View across the gardens through time at the Museum of the Home in London

The museum itself is in former almshouses and you wander through the old chapel along the way, plus there’s a small exhibition on the building’s history upstairs by the library.

In the chapel, as well as several other places in the museum, are screens with performance poets and artists talking about everything from immigration to creative inspiration, as well as that first question – what does ‘home’ mean to you.

Display about how lockdown has changed our home lives at the reopened Museum of the Home in London
Child's handwritten card in a display about lockdown at the Museum of the Home in London, reading 'you cant go out a lot and a lot of shops are closed. And it seems a lot crazy!!'

Looking at a collage of rooms in one London block, where the identical spaces have all been decorated differently, it was a reminder of just how many influences go into answering that simple question.

Need to know: London’s Museum of the Home with kids

Entry to the Museum of the Home is free but tickets must be prebooked. Currently tickets are being released in four-week blocks, from the opening date of June 12 until July 11.

There’s a one-way route around the museum, and two exits into the gardens, but it’s easy to repeat the route if you want to.

Display on how changing trends and fashions influenced homes, including the arts & crafts movement, at the Museum of the Home in London

You’ll also find temporary exhibitions: the current exhibition, Holding the Baby, looks at the experiences of single parent families during austerity.

The museum is right next to Hoxton overground station (you can change at Highbury and Islington or Whitechapel to get the correct overground line) around 15 minutes’ walk from Old Street tube station.

Several buses also go to Hoxton Station, including the 26 route from Liverpool Street station.

Image showing a graphic of the London Eye on the Essential Guide to London with kids ebook cover, and the words 'click to buy my 33-page guide to London. Itineraries, tips and all you need to know before a visit to London with kids' linking to my the London with kids shop page

There are baby changing facilities in the accessible toilets, as well as being buggy accessible. There are free lockers too.

The museum also has a café with family-friendly menu and highchairs (and quiet spaces including reading rooms for breastfeeding) plus a shop.

For more tips on visiting London’s museums with kids as well as ideas of free things to do in London with kids, check out my other posts

PIN FOR LATER: LONDON’S MUSEUM OF THE HOME WITH KIDS

Review of London's Museum of the Home with kids - the reopened museum is almost twice as big as the old Geffrye Museum, with its period rooms, gardens through time and lots of interactives which make the museum a great day out in London with kids

Disclosure: I was invited to the press preview before the museum’s reopening date for the purposes of review – all opinions on exploring the Museum of the Home with kids are my own and it’s free to visit

Images copyright MummyTravels

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Award-winning family travel blogger and mum to the mini traveller, aka Minnie. Together we've visited Europe, America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, tried a cruise and a road trip, and survived countless long-haul trips. London (UK) based. Serious beach habit.

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