The Children's Museum

The Children's Museum is a museum for children located in Ixelles, one of the municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region. It occupies a restored period mansion on rue du Bourgmestre, offering close to 600 square metres of exhibition space designed specifically with young visitors in mind. The museum is often described as a pioneer of its kind in Europe — an institution built entirely around children's play and learning rather than around a traditional collection aimed at adults.

What makes this museum different?

Instead of display cases and information panels, The Children's Museum is built around experience. Children are not meant to observe from a distance — they step into the exhibition, touch things, build, dress up and experiment. The museum's approach is psychological and participative: adults accompany their children, but it is the child who discovers, at their own pace, how the surrounding world works and how to navigate their own emotions and relationships with others.

Notably, there are no computers or video games anywhere in the museum. In their place are stage sets, wooden toys, themed corners and workshops led by the museum's own team. This is a deliberate choice — the goal is for children to learn through movement, touch and imagination rather than by passively watching a screen.

How is the exhibition organised?

The museum regularly renews its main exhibition, building it around a single overarching theme that guides young visitors through several stages — from a first encounter with the subject, through play and experimentation, to reflection on what they have learned. Successive versions of this format are numbered as consecutive editions, which shows that the institution has spent years consistently developing its own exhibition model rather than relying on ready-made travelling shows.

Who is it for?

The programme is aimed primarily at families with preschool and early-school-age children, although individual exhibitions are sometimes adapted for different age groups. The museum also runs workshops and group activities used by schools and organised groups from around Brussels.

Why visit this spot in Ixelles?

Ixelles is a municipality known for its eclectic architecture, its ponds (the Ixelles Ponds) and its proximity to the surrounding park, so a museum visit pairs easily with a walk through the neighbourhood. The building itself — a period mansion repurposed for a new function — is worth noticing from the outside alone, and its interior shows how historic urban architecture can be given new life for educational purposes instead of being left as an empty landmark.

Frequently asked questions

Is this museum only for children? The programme is designed with children in mind, but accompanying adults are welcome and often take part in the interactive activities themselves.

Are there computer games or screens inside? No — the museum deliberately avoids electronics in favour of toys, stage sets and hands-on workshops.

Is the exhibition permanent? No, the museum regularly changes its main theme, creating new thematic "journeys" for visiting children.

Where exactly is the museum located? In Ixelles, a municipality bordering central Brussels, in a building on rue du Bourgmestre.