Canadian Children's Museum — Attraction in Gatineau

Great place to take kids! There are a lot of nooks and crannies for young kids to disappear from your sight line, so make sure to have enough adults. For kids under 5, I would take no more than 2 kids per adult; a 1:1 ratio would be better. There is stroller parking available, and I would recommend parking them. Some of the paths are too tight to easily maneuver a stroller, especially with so many children running about with parents at their heels.

There is no microwave available in the cafeteria, so either plan to purchase food or take a lunch/dinner that doesn't need to be heated up. The cafeteria accepts cash, credit & debit. Make sure to take refillable water bottles with you unless you want to pay $3 per bottle in the cafeteria. The food is decently priced, but the bottled drinks are definitely not. I love that there is a Beavertails store there! (For those of you who don't know: beavertails are famous & delicious local pastries.) Members get 10% off in the cafeteria, so make sure to show your card. (They won't ask you whether or not you're a member.) Not sure why this isn't on the menu, but they do have a decent veggie burger if you ask for it. The fries are gross though, so pick another side. If the weather is nice, the outdoor patio is right on the Ottawa River and has a great view of the Parliament Buildings.

If you're driving there, you may have to put 'The Museum of History' in your GPS; the Children's Museum is inside of the Museum of History (formerly the 'Museum of Civilization'). Note: unlike in Ontario, it is illegal to turn right on a red light in Québec. (If it's a right turning lane with just a yield sign - the kind with the little triangular 'island' - then it's fine as long as you yield to traffic that has the right of way.) There is paid parking available in an underground garage. Expect to pay around $12.50 for parking if you're not a member and around $9.50 if you are. (Members will receive a coupon from the security guard at the entrance of the Children's Museum - the one who stamps people's hands & gives out the 'passports' - and they do usually ask if you parked downstairs.) I believe that the machines take credit cards only, but I'm not 100% sure. Make sure to take the correct elevator: one elevator is just to go to the parking garage (the one by the escalator near the admissions counter) and the two elevators next to the gift shop / coat check go down to the cafeteria.

I would plan to stay for around 2-3 hours with young kids; with older kids, you could stay there all day without their getting bored. There are also documentary movies showing there that you can purchase tickets to see; I don't think younger kids would enjoy them, but grade-school kids might find them interesting. There is a gift shop with all kinds of toys, games, clothing, and other memorabilia. There is a baby nursing room & the bathrooms have drop-down...

When you enter the exhibition the staff will give your child a passport booklet. There are stickers where your child places the country's sticker with its page to indicate they have visited the pavilion. All the country pavilions appeal to some cultural specific items i.e. food, clothing, vehicles etc. This is a great place for kids to interact and engage with arts and crafts, arts, building blocks, music and diverse cultural experiences. There is a small cafe for patrons to purchase smoothies, snacks, fruit juice, soft drinks and coffee drinks amongst its offerings. There is a Haida first nations totem pole collection and Haida art. Amazing collection of historical art, clothing and artifacts. This should not be missed. The gift shop has quite a collection of indigenous jewelry and art. Some of it includes the art of Janvier. The imagination activities room has large foam blue blocks are great. I made a large house structure for the kids. Groups of kids come through from daycares and summer kids groups. They can get rowdy but the teenagers are worst. I personally think teenagers, especially boys, should be banned from this area. They through things around nearly hitting some of the smaller kids. But this area isn't regulated by any staff. This would be my only criticism of the museum. I give it...

Used to go here as a kid and preteen with my siblings. I haven't been back in almost 2 decades as I don't have children, but I did catch glances of it while visiting the adult part of the museum (it still looks the same as I remember).

If you have children and you don't take them here you are doing a great disservice. Most of the reviews here are from adults that first experienced this place as adults. I am here to tell you as someone who attended from ages 7-15 this place is AMAZING as a kid. It feels incredibly massive, and truly like it transports you to a different world. I remember they had a stamp system (I'm not sure if it still exists post-covid) but basically each section would have a passport stamp that you could put in a little mini passport they give you at the entrance. That to me as a kid was the most fun part of the entire visit. I really wanted to get every single stamp and fill up my book.

Truly, as a child, this was the #1 museum in my memories that never disappointed even after repeated visits. If your kids get bored quickly from this place it's because their dopamine receptors are fried from too much unsupervised ipad time and it is not because the museum itself isn't fun. If I could live here as a kid...