Children's Museum Brussels — Attraction in Ixelles - Elsene

So, we finally managed to get there! As in it was open and, luckily, not overcrowded. If you want to visit, please pay attention to have cash (no Bancontact!) and also to the working hours (from 14.30 to 17.00!!). The webpage has all the details and if you call with other questions the people are really nice and helpful. You might want to consider that during holidays there is an overflow of kids and the place is not so big- you might have to either be there first or wait until some of the visitors get out. When the weather is fine waiting is no problem, as it has a nice playground attached. And goats :) On the inside: the place is great for youg kids (mine is three now). It is not huge, but well organised and varied. Everything is interactive on different levels (not only gadgets, but things to move around, to match and to figure out the meaning). They have very hands-on activities, workshops with bilingual (FR/NL) animators, lots of corners to explore and discover. I had a lot of fun myself. There is also a small caffe on the first floor. If you come, plan for more than an hour for the entire tour. My favourite place: the room where kids have superpowers and write/draw their fears on a piece of paper & nail it to a wall, so the fear will stay there and slip...

If you need an indoor destination this is a good option but their practice of charging for each adult as well as the children makes it an expensive destination. Other issues is there is no English language signage or exhibits despite having been recently renovated. Also if you are mobility impaired there is an elevator but when I inquired about using it for grandma the staff advised it was better not to use is and made some comment about it needing a key and getting stuck. I’m not sure if it was a safety or willingness issue.

I’d also like to complain about the stereotype bashing used in at least one exhibit. See the photos. “I’m Johnny Cool. I wear a hat all the time and everyday after work I drink beer.” Awe-some. At least it feels universal as the depiction of the Frenchman was as black and white mime shirt with a beret and a “Dastardly...

About the outdoor playground: disappointed about the poor renovation of this once really amazing playground. Not one standard swing any more, all in plastic now, smaller than before, downsizing from 3 to 1 small slide only The playground, that was before accessable for all ages, a meeting point where everyone had a corner, is now not adapted for kids under 3 years any more, unless you want to run behind your children the whole afternoon, taking care that they don't hurt themselves.

The space would be big enough to add at least one more Module that hopefully could balance this mistakes out and...