Museums With a Baby: Adventure Babies Classes and Free Baby Bags at the Natural History Museum, and Buggy Parks at the V&A (England)

A museum can be one of the easiest days out with a new baby: it is dry, usually step-free and full of things to look at. Two London-area museums go further and run sessions or lend kit just for babies. This guide uses the Natural History Museum (NHM) event and access pages and the V&A visiting pages, and covers museums in England only. Class prices, times and facilities can change, so check the museum’s page before booking. For packing and timing, see the guide to days out with a baby.

Adventure Babies at the Natural History Museum

The NHM describes Adventure Babies as a sensory storytelling class designed to boost development and nurture a love of books. There are two class types. The pre-crawlers class suits babies from birth to about one year old, who are not yet moving much, and runs in four slots from morning to late afternoon on various dates. A second class, for children up to four, is described as the most mobile and suits siblings or friends of different ages.

Sessions include sensory props, a story about the natural world, a sing-along and messy play without the clean-up, and the museum notes that parents can socialise while the babies play. Part of the session takes place in low lighting with a light projector that does not strobe. After the class, the museum offers a ready-written self-guided tour of the rest of the building. The class is in the Marine Invertebrates Gallery in the North Wing.

Booking and what to bring

The NHM page says bookings are required and tickets are listed at £22, or £19.80 for members, for various dates. Tickets must be bought for every baby and child present, and a maximum of two adults can attend per child ticket. The museum advises arriving 10 minutes before the session and says the event begins promptly, with no entry once it has started and no refunds for latecomers. Bookings can be changed to another date if the museum is told at least 30 days before, with a £10 administration fee per booking.

The museum recommends bringing a muslin or towel, some wipes and a change of clothes in case the messy play gets messy. It advises entering by the Central Entrance on Cromwell Road, which is step-free, and says the nearest baby changing facilities are in the toilets opposite the Shake Bar, near the Dino Gallery entrance.

Free baby bags at NHM Tring

The NHM at Tring in Hertfordshire offers baby-specific kit at its front desk. The museum says families can borrow a free baby bag, with contact details taken for the loan. The bag holds an animal puppet, a sound button, a soft mat for sitting down in Gallery 5 with a baby book, a rattle and other toys. The museum suggests the animals and architecture are a good chance for a baby to crawl and explore in the galleries.

For slightly older children, free Toddler Time kits in four themes are available on term-time weekdays from 14:00, and trails cost £1 from the shop. The Tring page says buggy access is provided through the Park Street entrance, because the main entrance on Akeman Street has eight steps. A lift reaches every level, and baby changing facilities are in the male and female toilets outside the cafe and in the accessible toilet. Free parking on Hastoe Lane includes two parent-and-toddler spaces.

The V&A: buggy parks and baby changing

The V&A says entry to V&A South Kensington and Young V&A is free and no ticket is needed, though some temporary exhibitions charge. Each museum has a cafe, shop, buggy park, accessible toilets, baby change facilities and a place to store items. At South Kensington there are spaces for buggies inside the Exhibition Road Courtyard entrance and at the Cromwell Road entrance next to the cloakrooms. Baby changing facilities are in most toilets, and the Quiet Room has a fold-out baby changing station.

The V&A has a bag rule worth knowing: luggage with wheels, and bags larger than 56 × 45 × 21cm, are not allowed in the galleries and must go in the cloakroom, which is charged per item. The nearest step-free Underground station to V&A South Kensington is Knightsbridge, about 1km away, because South Kensington station is not step-free. At Young V&A, the museum says it is fully accessible and a buggy can be kept with you, with a buggy park inside the entrance and an overflow space at busy times.

Planning the visit

Book the NHM class in advance, allow time to reach the Central Entrance and the Marine Invertebrates Gallery, and pack the museum’s suggested muslin or towel, wipes and a change of clothes. At the V&A, keep to the bag-size limits to avoid a cloakroom charge. The guide to packing kit when travelling with a baby has a checklist that also suits day trips.

FAQs

Is an Adventure Babies class free?

No. The NHM lists tickets at £22, or £19.80 for members, and requires a ticket for every baby present.

Can I bring a buggy into the V&A galleries?

The V&A has buggy parks at its entrances; at Young V&A the museum says a buggy can be kept with you.

Is the NHM at Tring free?

The museum describes six free galleries, and the baby bags are free to borrow.

The bottom line

For a baby-friendly museum day in England, the NHM offers Adventure Babies sensory classes in South Kensington for babies from birth to about one year, plus free baby bags at Tring. The V&A is free to enter and has buggy parks, baby changing facilities and a clear bag-size rule. Booking, arriving early and checking each museum’s current page are the main steps to a calm visit.

Sources

• Adventure Babies (nhm.ac.uk)
• Facilities and access at Tring (nhm.ac.uk)
• Visiting FAQs (vam.ac.uk)
• V&A South Kensington visual story (vam.ac.uk)
• Visit Young V&A (vam.ac.uk)