London Children's Museum — Attraction in Ontario

If I could sum up my experience in one word? DEPRESSING.

I don't usually take to the internet to vent about negative experiences, but this was the worst place that I've ever spent money to entertain children. Save yourself the time, the money, and the frustration and AVOID GOING HERE, especially if you don't live in London. Short words cannot express my profound shock at how out of date, how poorly maintained, and how dirty this "museum" was on our visit.

Most things are broken and/or missing. The best displays are LITERALLY THE EXACT SAME as they were nearly 30 YEARS AGO when my parents brought me here as a child, except that they've had over two decades of wear and tear. Yes, they are the EXACT SAME DISPLAYS, made out of the EXACT SAME MATERIALS. Imagine over two decades of wear and tear on the displays, the floors, the dumpy "playground" outside (one slide, a pointless wooden train fence/frame, and Southern Ontario's weirdest miniature bridge), and even the props for the various rooms. Really, you still have some of the wooden toy food and drink items from 1992? There are next to no dress up clothes for kids any more, no interesting, interactive displays, and half of the stuff that you could use once upon a time are now screwed or bolted shut!

Now you may think that I'm being a little unjustly harsh here, so I'll concede that perhaps they have some sort of funding issue that I'm not aware of, but where does the $7 a person (including 2 year old toddlers) go? What is the money from the multitude of children enrolled in their day camp paying for? Not new displays. Not decent maintenance. Not even cleaning, because I've never seen so much dust, dirt, or grime. The entire first floor smells like a washroom, dust is an inch deep in every corner, and on every wall display or rarely used item. The dolls are visibly disgusting, there were stains that looked like vomit on the pillows under the tree house, and every single soft fabric item felt and smelled like it was last washed about ten years ago.

An adults point of view aside, our three year old has a lot more fun at the local public park, and a walk in the woods is more educational.

I will say one positive thing: the staff were very polite and courteous, especially the lovely women at the front desk. Beyond that? I can't imagine a single reason why I would return in the future. Please raise some funds and fix this place up! I don't live in the community, but if they came up with a decent strategy to renovate, I'd make a donation, and I can't imagine that with a little effort they couldn't get local high schools and businesses to help with new, more modern, interactive displays that actually work. I loved this place as a child, and I would love my children to actually enjoy it if we were to ever return.

What a sad, broken shell of my cherished memories my 2015 trip to the London's...

We were excited to see your new location with our grandchildren aged 5 and 9 having been to the old museum space with our daughters years ago, and our grandchildren more recently. The Treehouse was excellent as was the Stream area( more aprons would be helpful as it is a busy area) My grandchildren were happy with the dryers on the wall as they got wet as no aprons were available . The Farm Works ( other than the ball return which they enjoyed once they discovered how it worked), Community Works, and Unearthed areas were nicely done but were geared towards 1 to 6 years of age which is fine if there were more things to interest older children. The Discovery Lab opened about an hour after we got there ( apparently it open an hour then closed an hour then open again in waves- this is information people should know when entering). Materials and sample felt projects were provided but the verbal instructions were not audible as a family of 6 huddled around the front desk as the staff spoke softly to that group and no one else outside that area could hear. When approached afterward, the staff were friendly but this is self motivated area limited to the materials put out for the activity. No staff circulated to ask if assistance was needed. My 9 year old grandson took his felt project home to sew with a real needle and thread and was put out with the hold punch and threading or glue gun ( adult supervision needed) options. My 5 year old granddaughter was happy I could use the glue gun on hers. More could be done for older children here. The Space show was good ( equal to the old Museum's) but the Old Museum's Space Section was better. It had a better atmosphere- the new one is too bright and the buttons to press are just for small children or toddlers. The Space Capsule should have come to the new museum and some effort to model the inside of a spaceship to get into is missing. Overall , there are less science based activities geared to 6 to 10 years of age than I would have expected and appreciated. The Discovery Lab should maybe have some science experiments on a rotating basis with art based ones. I hope the whale skeleton makes it back to...

Love coming here with my son! My parents bought us a membership and it has been excellent, the only reason for 4 stars is it is quite disappointing that a parental membership doesn't apply for both parents or two people (like a daycare provider and 1 parent for example) that way the odd time the other person wants to take their child they can, going here although is fun to take my son, it's an activity for my son not the parent. Having to pay a a membership at all for a parent I think is a lot when I'm not the one playing but not being able to use for both parents is really disappointing, especially with how expressive they are. I think if they would allow two adults to be under one membership, that would make a lot more sense.

I love the new set up it is very cool! My son is obsessed with the water area! My son has Cerebral Palsy and will be delayed in his ability to walk so one thing that would make this place even better is if there were more near ground toys / stations to play at, the dino pit is hard for him because it requires balance. The more I went I found a few nooks and areas that he could play at. The water station the 3rd time I found stools for him to stand at and they gave me a chair the time after so I could stay there longer with him and hold him at the water station, which was so nice. It would be great if they had stools a bit taller for the higher areas so he could play there as well.

The slide is fun but it is hard to get down and get in, a bar or something to hold to adjust yourself in to sit on the slide would be helpful when taking a toddler down.

The dryers by the water station are really cool but they don't really dry him off at all, would be good to have a stronger dryer.

Overall I highly recommend checking it out and will definitely be back! In regards to a future membership I won't be getting one for us next year unless there's more understanding on both parents being allowed to switch off and take their kid.

Also, every staff member there has been excellent, extremely friendly...