They used to call it the Museum of Childhood but now they call it Young V&A. It's been in Bethnal Green since 1872 and full of toys since 1974, with a mission "to enable everyone, especially the young, to explore and enjoy the designed world, in particular objects made for and made by children." It closed for a major refit in May 2020 (well, technically March 2020) and reopened last weekend entirely transformed. Roll up any day from 10am, indeed the earlier the better because once the children arrive the museum is effectively theirs.
Outside all that's changed is the name. That and the presence of glum security folk by the gate and smiling museum team members by the door, whereas previously you walked in unapproached. When I lined up to take that first photo one of the security detachment asked me why I'd taken it and whether I was a journalist, but wouldn't be drawn further on why he thought that might be an issue. But that was the only bit of friction I encountered and the smiling museum team only smiled, and blimey when you walk in and pass through the foyer and take in the new layout won't you look at that.
The central area is called the 'Town Square' and is essentially a huge mingling space, or running around space if you're small. It's not normally this empty - you should have seen the overflowingness of the buggy parks half an hour later. The obligatory cafe is at the far end. Yes it's a Benugo and yes it has a limited menu but rest assured that the management are more than happy for you to bring in your own food and eat that instead, and they'll even heat up the contents of your Tupperware if you ask. The main galleries are off to either side, a short step up to PLAY and IMAGINE, or take the mirrored swirly staircase to the top floor for DESIGN and EXHIBITION. And all clearly labelled in big chunky lettering - a lovely touch.
Venture into PLAY and you'll soon see this is nothing like the former incarnation of the museum. Previously it was mostly static displays but this is far more interactive with objects relegated to a supporting role. Nowhere is this clearer than the 'Mini Museum', a segregated section for mini visitors under the age of three where crawling, toddling, grabbing things and letting off steam is the order of the day. Exhibits exist (themed by colour so Kermit's in the green case) but this is effectively the V&A showcasing Play by letting you get on and do it. I liked the inventive A-Z installed at child-height along the wall outside (Queen... Robot... Spoon) but I doubt it'll be any tinyperson's introduction to phonics.
A separate section called Build It allows slightly older children to get hands on with combinable tubes and tracks (and it too gets ridiculously busy within a short time of opening). Don't worry, there are also large glass cases containing a spacehopper, a box of Lego and several other objects retrieved from deep storage so all is not lost for visiting nostalgic adults. But the section I really liked was the The Arcade at the far end, a temple to games of all kinds from old boards to RPGs to modern digital stuff. Everyone'll have their evocative favourites (yay Mousetrap, ooh the board from Escape From Colditz, aah Sonic the Hedgehog, and blimey it must be 50 years since I last played Take The Brain).
What all the teenagers wanted to play was the big screen games console, naturally, whereas I was drawn to the 8-bit simplicity of Lil Onion Detective, a Bitsy whodunnit (perhaps best played at home in your browser rather than using a joystick with a queue gathering behind you). Full marks for diversity with the inclusion of Arranged!, the board game in which Rishta Aunty the matchmaker tries to marry you off to unsuitable men. And full marks for optimism for including a worktop with a selection of tracks, cards and counters on which you can invent and play your own board game, because I genuinely can't see any group of small visitors having the patience to invent something cohesive and hang around and play it, not when there are buttons to press on the wall instead.
IMAGINE, across the hall, is a different kettle of fish. It's aimed at a slightly older audience and is filled with stuff to inspire a child's mind rather than bits to grab hold of. One section focuses on self-expression through our chosen possessions and another, more typically V&A, on objects that might be found in a typical living room or kitchen. A lovely touch amid the displays of model houses is a sliding door at child's crawling level which opens up to reveal a secret Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lair. Dolls houses get a complete room at the other end, all stacked up and illuminated like a village at dusk. I'm not quite sure what the point of the tiny sloping-floor room is but maybe I'm too tall to appreciate the illusion.
The central section is set out like a stage backed by plush red curtains, which may be to encourage children to project themselves to a passing audience but they all seemed much more interested in watching the play about death on the big screen behind. The best room, from a nostalgic adult perspective, is 'Adventure' where all sorts of fictional characters have been assembled. There are pirates and Pikachu, dolls and Daleks, marionettes and Moomins, even a group of posable Spice Girl figures designed to make anyone over the age of 30 feel very old. I particularly liked the family of knitted monkeys accompanied by a full handwritten backstory devised by two brothers in the 1960s, proving you don't have to rely on commercial characters, you can make it all up for yourself.
Upstairs is DESIGN, targeted at upper junior and lower secondary, in which visitors are encouraged to think about why what we use looks like it does. That means displays of children's chairs and ride-on suitcases, of traffic cones and ketchup bottles, and yes absolutely the obligatory Chopper bike. A few inventions have been picked out to get full-on comic book treatment, including the genesis of the microscooter and the creation of Extinction Rebellion's logo, which feels very much up with the times. But this was by far the sparsest part of the museum, as well as the quietest, so may be a good place to escape to if the freneticism of the lower floors gets too much for you.
The final space is EXHIBITION but that's entirely empty at present because the first (Japanese-themed) show doesn't open until October. This sealed-off space gives the upper balcony a tumbleweed feel, but is all the better for standing back and admiring the building or watching the playful maelstrom unfolding beneath. The museum's designers can't have been sure how visitors would react to the innovative space they created but it looks to have been a magnetically interactive success. Just avoid weekends if you want to enjoy Young V&A in relative peace, and rest assured there's plenty for parents to be looking at while their offspring are having fun with something else entirely.
