A family walking up the stairs into Leeds City Museum

Family Guide to Leeds City Museum

We are a welcoming, family-friendly museum in the heart of Leeds, and proud previous winners of the Family Friendly Museum Award.

Step into the museum and come face-to-face with animals from around the world. Venture further to explore archaeology – and search for fossils or pottery in our mini dig zones. Try on costumes and make music in our Voices of Asia gallery. Walk through the history of Leeds with hands-on interactives to keep all ages occupied. Try something new and discover your favourite museum objects.

Designed for families

Discover how Leeds City Museum has been designed for families, to make learning, history and culture fun and friendly for all.

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Family-friendly displays

Displays are designed to be easy-to-read with added labels especially for young visitors.

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Interactive displays

Discover hands-on exhibits, with playful nooks and reading areas.

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Colouring tables

Be inspired and get creative around the museum.

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Toddler Town

Explore our play area for under 5's in Leeds Story. Please note: this is currently closed for essential maintenance.

Activity Trails

Pick up a trail at our entrance. We have permanent trails and extra pop-up trails for special events and school holidays.

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Herbarium Café

Get snacks or lunch in our relaxed café with space and facilities for families.

Herbarium Café

Exhibitions

Our Special Exhibition programme is aimed at family audiences with accompanying events.

Current Exhibitions

Youth Engagement

The Preservative Party, our group of young curators, help curate our spaces.

Discover The Preservative Party

An adult and 2 children doing crafts with face paint on

Events Programme

We hold regular family activities in the museum, including weekly under 5 events, such as:

Tiny Tigers under 5s crafts, Friday mornings 10am-11.45am
Rory’s Saturday Crafts for families, Saturday mornings 11am-12.15pm
Arty Facts - sketch our collections up close, last Sunday of the month 1pm-4pm
Seasonal school holiday activities and events
Pop-up Sensory Room for SEN families (pre-booking required)
Additional family events for a range of ages – from theatre shows to VR Cinema events
Events for home educated families

Discover all our events

Access information and facilities

We have toilets on all floors, with baby changing facilities available
We have a Changing Places toilet with a hoist and bed
Herbarium Café has highchairs available and a range of seating options
Colouring activities and book zone in the café
There is lift access to all floors, with wide walking routes within galleries
Seating and portable stools
Picnic area available at weekends and school holidays
We are breastfeeding welcome
There are BSL videos in the Life on Earth gallery. There is converstation interpreting available with SignLive.

To find our more about our facilities, visit our Access Information page.

Access Information