We are delighted to reveal the shortlist of museums in the running to win the Family Friendly Museum Award. Each year, we celebrate museums, galleries, castles, historic homes and heritage sites that are most welcoming, fun and accessible to all ages. It’s now up to families to decide the winner – find out more about getting your own family involved here!

We received over 500 family nominations for nearly 150 museums based everywhere from Swansea to Glasgow. An expert panel, including children, young people and accessibility experts, whittled down the nominations to the shortlist announced today. 

Scroll down to explore the full shortlist – and discover the museums near you that are going above and beyond to welcome family visitors!  

Just some of the innovative ways shortlisted museums are welcoming families of all shapes and sizes include: annual exhibitions devoted to sharing stories of D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people, welcoming events like B.Y.O.B (Bring Your Own Baby/Bump) gallery tours and weekly relaxed openings! 

Vanessa Eke, Chair of Kids in Museums, said: “This year’s shortlist is a testament to the fun, accessible and varied activity museums across the UK offer their family visitors. With the summer holidays coming up, we hope that families will enjoy an affordable, memorable visit to a shortlisted venue.” 

The shortlist for the Family Friendly Museum Award 2024 is: 

Best Accessible Museum 

  • Cooper Art Gallery Barnsley 
  • Streetlife Museum, Hull 
  • Wakefield Museum

Best Small Museum 

  • Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea 
  • Museum of the Order of St John, London 
  • National Civil War Centre, Newark 
  • Nothe Fort, Weymouth 
  • Story Museum, Oxford 

 Best Medium Museum 

  • Discover Children’s Story Centre, London 
  • Museum of the Home, London 
  • Museum of Making, Derby 
  • Turner Contemporary, Margate 

Best Large Museum 

  • National Galleries Scotland – Modern One, Edinburgh 
  • Science and Industry Museum, Manchester 
  • Young V&A, London 

This year, a new award category celebrates museum staff and young people working together in a long-term, meaningful and impactful way, such as through youth panels or forums, young volunteer schemes, and history or art clubs.  It was open to museum applications only and will be judged by an expert panel, including the Kids in Museums Youth Panel. 

Best Museum Youth Group 

  • Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow 
  • Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter 
  • Tees Valley Museums 
  • Wakefield Museum 

It’s now up to families to decide the winners!

Over the summer holidays, selected families across the UK will be assigned an undercover mission – to visit the shortlisted museums and rate them on how well they meet the Kids in Museums Manifesto, a set of guidelines on what makes a great museum visit for all ages. Their experiences will decide a winner for each museum category and an overall winner of the Family Friendly Museum Award 2024, to be announced at an awards ceremony in Yorkshire in October.

Fancy becoming one of our Undercover Family Judges and helping to decide the winners? Sign up now.

We’ll be sharing more about our brilliant shortlist on our website and social media over the summer. Follow the Family Friendly Museum Award on social media by following us @kidsinmuseums and the hashtag #FamilyFriendlyMuseum.