The Manitoba Children’s Museum is a non-profit, charitable children’s museum located at The Forks in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
The museum was founded in 1983. It opened its first exhibit in a 4,000 square feet (370 m2) warehouse on 21 June 1986. The museum boasted three permanent galleries: the Grain Elevator and Train, Making Sense, and The Big Top, and drew 65,000 visitors the first year. The museum expanded at the location in 1988, doubling its space.
In 1989 plans were initiated to move the museum to a new space. In 1994, after a $4 million capital campaign, the museum moved to its permanent home at the former Kinsmen Building (also known as the Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway Repair Shop or the CNR Bridges) Structures Building) in The Forks, Winnipeg. The building at the Forks location is Manitoba’s oldest surviving train repair facility. Constructed in 1889 by the Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway Company, the building originally included a machine and blacksmith shop, an engine house, and a ten-stall roundhouse and turntable. Designed by John Woodman, it was a typical example of a late nineteenth-century industrial building and was formally recognized as a Provincial Heritage Site on 22 March 1995.
Following a $10M capital campaign in 2010 and 2011 which included the development of 12 new permanent galleries, a renovated Arts & Exhibition Centre, and the Buhler Welcome Centre addition, the Children’s Museum reopened to the public in celebration of its 25th birthday on 4 June 2011. The 12 galleries were designed as separate structures so that if one is under repair or construction, it does not affect the other galleries. The galleries were designed by Montreal’s Toboggan Design. The 2011 renovation included adding a 3,500 square feet (330 m2) Welcome Centre with a new admissions desk, museum shop, and lunch room.
Galleries
- Time Squared
- Tot Spot
- Tumble Zone
- Mellow Marsh
- Illusion Tunnel Bed Bug Exterminator Winnipeg
- Junction 9161
- Engine House
- Story Line
- Milk Machine
- Splash Lab
- Pop m’Art
- Lasagna Lookout
The museum is also home to the historic Eaton’s fairytale vignette display, Eaton’s “Santa’s Village,” which is open seasonally from mid-November to early January for the holidays. The display has been fully restored and relocated from the ninth-floor annex of Eaton’s downtown store. The display includes fifteen vignettes, including classics such as Cinderella, Humpty Dumpty, and Three Blind Mice.
Previous galleries include:
- The Tree & Me
- WonderWorks
- OurTV
- LiveWire
- The Sun
The Children’s Museum hosts a different traveling seasonal gallery every summer. These galleries have been:
- Tapescape
- Castle builders
- Jump fly
Affiliations:
The museum is affiliated with the Canadian Museums Association (CMA), the Canadian Association of Science Centres (CASC), the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), and the Virtual Museum of Canada.
Address: 45 Forks Market Rd, Winnipeg, MB
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